Phrag besseae 'Mega' x self

[silence882]

Got a flask of these from Sam when they were available several years ago. Insects (mites, maybe?) killed half before I realized they were even there. This is the second to bloom.

I'll get a photo in better light if it's ever warm again in the DC area.



Stephen

 

[NYEric]

Nice. If you have any you need to get rid of... Yay besseae! Do you have snow?

 

[tnyr5]

Holy crap you bloomed one that doesn't suck!

 

[Djthomp28]

Lovely!

Also I had something similar happen to an Acker compot of Apollo. It was really disheartening.

 

[PeteM]

Lovely!

Also I had something similar happen to an Acker compot of Apollo. It was really disheartening.

Acker’s got more Apollo flasks listed.. I put my name on the list this round.

 

[silence882]

Nice. If you have any you need to get rid of... Yay besseae! Do you have snow?

I have but 5 left, and 1 is growing weird. The first one that bloomed is in spike so maybe that'll be nice and strong on its second growth.

We got 4" of snow. Barely an inconvenience. It's gonna be around a while as cold warnings keep popping up on my phone.

Holy crap you bloomed one that doesn't suck!

I thought it was Mega x Zephyrus Mega that was producing the abominations? Or are the Mega selfings doing it too?

 

[silence882]

Here are some proper photos thanks to a freak warm day.

 

[PeteM]

You got a real nice one. Love the wider petals. Yeah.. freak 80 degrees outside, madness.

 

[silence882]

Here's its sibling. This is about the fourth flower on the spike:

 

[PeteM]

These are all looking fantastic so far. Keep me posted if any become available for sale or trade.

 

[GuRu]

The first flower was already very good ... but the flower of the sibling is even better .... by its form and a deeper colouration (if the photos shows the colour right).

 

[NYEric]

Yay besseae! Thanks for sharing.

 

[TyroneGenade]

Might be worth another round of selfing. They look very lovely.

 

[silence882]

Might be worth another round of selfing. They look very lovely.

Do I self them or do a sib cross? I do not know anything about line breeding...

 

[TyroneGenade]

I would sibling cross the best ones. There is slightly less chance of concentrating bad genes... Unless we know this one has already been through several rounds of welding and the bad genes have been weeded out.

 

[silence882]

I would sibling cross the best ones. There is slightly less chance of concentrating bad genes... Unless we know this one has already been through several rounds of welding and the bad genes have been weeded out.

Thanks! 'Mega' is the best of the besseae from OZ's like breeding. It must have been through several generations of breeding already, although there's no way to know how many without a direct line to Terry Root's brain.

 

[PeteM]

I would sibling cross the best ones. There is slightly less chance of concentrating bad genes... Unless we know this one has already been through several rounds of welding and the bad genes have been weeded out.

I thought it was recommended to self the best one so you can see what you really have to build on.

 

[TyroneGenade]

I thought it was recommended to self the best one so you can see what you really have to build on.

I don't really know.

Inbreeding can concentrate mutant alleles. To my mind crossing two of the best reduces the risk of homozygous bad alleles.

But if the plant has been line bred through generations with strong selection against bad alleles any advantage from an outcross is too small to be worth it as you run the risk of diluting the good alleles you want.

If this is the result of generations of line breeding then, IMHO, self the plants.

 

[silence882]

Well the first bloomer of the year is long gone, so I selfed this one. Next year I'll try for the sib cross.