Hi all,
I just bloomed my first orchid hybrid: Phrag Susan Robertson (Manzur la Aldea x Barbara Leann). I named it for my late aunt.
The pouch is pinched, but hopefully it is normal on subsequent blooms. This one plant bloomed 13 months out of flask. I have a bunch more that should bloom next year. Here it is blooming in its compot:
Turns out it's much easier and cheaper than I thought to make my own hybrids. The seeds were ready and the pod opened less than 3 months after pollination. I sent it to Shane at Orchid Origins and got the finished flasks back 18 months later. Total time between pollination and first bloom was 3 years. I ordered 10 finished flasks and the total cost was under $200.
I have 2 other crosses I made at the same time that are slower growers and I expect to take at least another year to flower. But they have longifolium as a grandparent. I have found that crosses with only micropetalum species in the background (excluding kovachii) are the fastest to bloom from flask.
My success rate in my limited breeding is that about 40% of my crosses set seed and produce finished flasks.
--Stephen
I just bloomed my first orchid hybrid: Phrag Susan Robertson (Manzur la Aldea x Barbara Leann). I named it for my late aunt.
The pouch is pinched, but hopefully it is normal on subsequent blooms. This one plant bloomed 13 months out of flask. I have a bunch more that should bloom next year. Here it is blooming in its compot:
Turns out it's much easier and cheaper than I thought to make my own hybrids. The seeds were ready and the pod opened less than 3 months after pollination. I sent it to Shane at Orchid Origins and got the finished flasks back 18 months later. Total time between pollination and first bloom was 3 years. I ordered 10 finished flasks and the total cost was under $200.
I have 2 other crosses I made at the same time that are slower growers and I expect to take at least another year to flower. But they have longifolium as a grandparent. I have found that crosses with only micropetalum species in the background (excluding kovachii) are the fastest to bloom from flask.
My success rate in my limited breeding is that about 40% of my crosses set seed and produce finished flasks.
--Stephen
