D
Drorchid
Guest
After the comments on the size of the flower relative to the plant I began to wonder. Is this a multi growth plant?
As a breeder, what do you do with a plant like this? (i.e. one of exceptional quality)
Do you sacrifice the blossom, maybe collect the pollen, and hope it puts its energy into producing another growth?
Or do you let it go, maybe take it to be judged, and not use it for breeding on this cycle?
Or, even though it is a smaller plant, do you self it or out cross it?
I would think you would want to do what you could to maintain the line, so what is the best way to do that?
We are taking it to judging (to Parkside), but when it gets back I definately will use the pollen. Preferably I will sib it with another leuchochilum (we have some others that are about ready to crack), so I will at least keep the line going. I usually don't like to self pollinate, unless the flower is of exceptional quality like in this case, so I probably will self pollinate it (even if I risk loosing the plant) as well. These plants are often short lived, so I would hate not self pollinating it, and it would die say in 10 months anyway from some kind of rot. If I self it, I would at least get all of it's offspring, and I think it is big enough that it would be able to hold a pod. Now if it would get an FCC (which I doubt it will), I may change my mind and just use the pollen and cut the flower off, but we will see......
If it was a complex Paph, and a first bloomer, but of exceptional quality, I probaly would not self it, but use the pollen and cut the flower off, just because I know complex Paph's can live for a long time, and by cutting off the flower it does not weaken the plant.
Robert