some interesting possibilities...

[paphioboy]

does anybody agree with me that there should be more interesting crosses in the market like (cochlopetalum x barbata), (cochlo x pardalopetalum), (barbata x corypedilum) etc....?? :wink: undoubtedly, most of these are primaries, but why are newer unregistered crosses not attempted? like liemianum x sukhakulii etc...is it because it is against the current trend of breeding paphs? i've seen the (liemianum x suk) cross offered by a german nursery, but it is not registered yet... other crosses using species like hookerae, appletonianum etc would prove interesting too, if anybody has the resources to try them out...

 

[Candace]

Have you considered some of these crosses have been done but turned out so butt ugly no one wants to spend the money to register them? Or even have their name associated with them? It may have much to do with current trends or simply be that these crosses aren't worth the bench space. If no one wants to buy them, you can't keep a thousand uglies.

 

[littlefrog]

I've been there.... Sometimes you make a cross that you just don't want to take credit for.

I'm not sure that the crosses aren't being done. There is/was a big push towards novelty crosses a few years ago. There will be a big push again sometime in the near future. It goes in phases.

 

[slippertalker]

If these crosses produced high quality progeny that were financially profitable, you would see them. If you can't sell speculative crosses, then large scale hybridizers won't make them .Some of these type of crosses have been made, and Candace is right, many of them are not worth feeding to livestock.
On the other hand, a moment of serendipity can happen and create something truly exciting.
If you really want to see these types of crosses, I would suggest that you start making them. Perhaps you will reap the benefit. (or not)
Small scale hybridizers that specialize in specific lines of breeding can often venture into areas that the big guys don't see as viable.

 

[Ross]

I think another problem with unusual crosses can be poor seed viability. This again, discourages many large commercial operations from attempting these types of crosses. Getting only a dozen or two plants from a cross is not commercially viable! As mentioned by slippertalker, small producers can more readily afford to try crosses with potentially low viability, also.

 

[Candace]

Good point. I hadn't thought of that, but certainly true.

 

[Roy]

I agree with the Butt ugly comment. The crosses mentioned makes me wonder if those nurseries have lost the plot. I admit that some "experimental" crosses have been nice but those are just crazy.

 

[Eric Muehlbauer]

Cochlopetalums seem to cross really well with just about any type of paph, in terms of producing offspring. In terms of presentable offspring, it seems that they do very well crossed with coryopetalum and pardalopetalum types, and very well with brachy's and parvi's. Apparently they do pathetically with Maudiae types...and inconsistently with insigne types...Take care, Eric