Phrag Glen Decker

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Phrag. Glen Decker was registered in 2011 by Alfredo Manrique and is 50% kovachii, 37.5% besseae, and 12.5% sargentianum with all the species diploid. The Phrag. Glen Decker shown in the following Flickr link is from a cross made by Jerry Fischer of Orchids Limited in 2009 as (Jason Fischer ‘Red Hawk’ x kovachii). Jerry’s records don’t show which of Orchids Limited’s kovachii plants was used, but Jerry knows it was one of their best for flower shape.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/45750268@N03/shares/6tBVj6

This is the first blooming of this plant and this first flower has been open a week. The width stopped increasing at about day 4. The petals are flat and there is as yet no reflexing. The horizontal NS of the petals is 11 cm, the vertical petal width is 4 cm, and the pouch at its widest is 4 cm. The longest leaf is 30 cm. The first flower is about 30 cm above the highest leaf. There look to be two flowers with this blooming. There are only about 6 online photos of Phrag. Glen Decker with which to compare but I don’t want to do the comparing.

Every serious Phrag grower must be grateful for the efforts of Alfredo Manirique and Manolo Arias in Peru and Glen Decker and Fritz Schomburg in the US who worked to create the legal spread of kovachii. They also did the first hybrids with kovachii, which had to be made in Peru with species and hybrids available there. Important early efforts regarding culture and further hybridization with kovachii were then made by Jerry Fischer, H. P. Norton, the Eric Young Orchid Foundation, and Chuck Acker. I apologize to the other kovachii pioneers that I don’t know about.

Phrag. Jason Fischer (registered Orchids Limited, 1996) is (Memoria Dick Clements x besseae), so 75% besseae and 25% sargentianum. Here is a link to a post by Robert Jan-Quene (Drorchid) in Slippertalk in which the first image is of the Jason Fischer ‘Red Hawk’ used in this cross.

http://www.slippertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17442

By coincidence, I have a Phrag Jason Fischer (besseae ‘Rick Hunter’ x Mem. Dick Clements ‘Red Wing’) from a very good cross that Orchids Limited made a handful of years ago that opened about the same day as the Glen Decker. This is a very good Jason Fischer, but not as round or quite as bright red as the ‘Red Hawk’ shown above. But, it let me make the following comparison photo with the Glen Decker under the same lighting conditions. The Jason Fischer horizontal NS of the petals was 9 cm and the blooms are correctly sized for comparison purposes.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/45750268@N03/shares/oQQFRC

There are currently 59 registered hybrids in which kovachii is either the Seed or the Pollen parent. Six of these are now backcrosses of kovachii with first generation kovachii hybrids. There are also a number of second generation crosses in which the first generation kovachii hybrid is crossed back to usually other micropetalum group species like besseae or dalesandroi.
 
I think we can't get 12+ cm flowers without at least 50% kovachii. We then fiddle with a good chunk of besseae and then a sprinkling of sargentianum/longifolium etc trying to get a good size, round flower that doesn't reflex and isn't stoloniferous, etc. My suspicion is that it is as much about getting just the right parent as it is the particular name in the cross. Maybe an outstanding tetraploid besseae with just the right kovachii would give the large, round, darker colored flower that doesn't reflex. I don't see how this flower can ever get to red, though.

That is why I like Erik's point about the diversity in shape and color still being attractive and important. The Glen Decker in this post is going after one particular type of ideal, but there are others that are important as well. I have a very nice Phrag Super Nova and Phrag Yoko W. Fischer that I bloomed this last year and while they aren't round and flat, I still really like them.


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I think we can't get 12+ cm flowers without at least 50% kovachii. We then fiddle with a good chunk of besseae and then a sprinkling of sargentianum/longifolium etc trying to get a good size, round flower that doesn't reflex and isn't stoloniferous, etc. My suspicion is that it is as much about getting just the right parent as it is the particular name in the cross. Maybe an outstanding tetraploid besseae with just the right kovachii would give the large, round, darker colored flower that doesn't reflex. I don't see how this flower can ever get to red, though.

That is why I like Erik's point about the diversity in shape and color still being attractive and important. The Glen Decker in this post is going after one particular type of ideal, but there are others that are important as well. I have a very nice Phrag Super Nova and Phrag Yoko W. Fischer that I bloomed this last year and while they aren't round and flat, I still really like them.


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Thank you, Terry. I'm really pleased to read this from a quality and qualified hybridizer.
 
Dot, along the lines of the large and full kovachii hybrid theme, I think Jerry and Jason are hopeful about two of their crosses, neither of which will create a new name!

I have a good sized seedling of the first, which is at least a triploid Fritz Schomburg, made with their besseae 'Rob's Choice' that we know is tetraploid and has really done excellent things to other kovachii hybrids. This besseae is crossed to kovachii 'Tessoro Morado' which Jerry still has suspicions of being tetraploid because of several different factors, but there isn't genetic proof. This might be a clear test of whether we can get the best properties of the two species to win out in a Phrag. Fritz Schomburg.

The other cross that Jerry mentioned to me, which I do not have a seedling from, is a Phrag. Glen Decker made with a 4N Jason Fischer and the kovachii might have been 'Tessoro Morado' as well. Jerry thinks this would increase the red in the end result and keep the good shape. I wonder if the size won't come down a bit. Now that I have seen my first Glen Decker bloom, I think I need to search the benches and see if I can find one of these seedlings as well.

As an indoor plant room grower under LED lights, I have some space limitations so I have to focus my Phrag expectations on a few themes. With kovachii, I decided to focus on large and full,


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Glen Decker was one of the early crosses made with kovachii, but it was registered a year or two later than the first hybrids and there have not been many pictures of it posted. I asked Jerry Fischer this weekend and they have not had very many plants make it through from the several Glen Decker crosses they have made.

If we can figure out the right parents to make a successful cross with many plants making it through the flat stage, I think this will be as good as any in the large, round, flat group of kovachii hybrids.


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