Three Tanacci Paphs

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Ross

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As long as everyone else is showing off their new Brachy's, I figured I'd jump on the bandwagon, too.:)
PaphTannaciThreesome.jpg


Paph Triple Bella
PaphTripleBella.jpg


Paph (Virgo x Steele Magnolia)
PaphVirgoxSteeleMag2.jpg


Paph (Conco-bellatulum x S. Gratrix)
PaphConco-bellatulumxSGratrix1.jpg
 
:clap: :drool: Very nice Ross, I can hardy wait to see what you'll be doing with these!
 
Ross,
Did you get more then these three from Nick? I got a doz and half showed up with buds coming up.
 
In a response to an earlier posting of a first-bloom Triple Bella one commentator expressed puzzlement in imagining what Nick might have been trying to accomplish in making this cross. Here Ross effectively answers that question as well as illustrates some alternate directions in Brachy breeding. As these photos illustrate, passing judgment on a cross based upon a single seedling is seriously premature.

Buying unbloomed seedlings is always a gamble. No breeder can possibly know in advance which of his seedlings will produce the best flowers. The odds that a single seedling will be one of the best of the cross are fairly low. That's why growers buy flasks and compots: to maximize the odds that they will get one of the best of the cross. It is also why some growers prefer to see the plants in bloom before making a purchase.

I don't know what Ross might have paid for that Triple Bella, but I'm sure it was far less than what the plant might have cost in full bloom at an orchid show. The added benefit was that Ross had the pleasure of seeing this plant bloom for the first time, which for many of us is a thrill in itself.

With respect to staking, it should be noted that allowing an inflorescence to hang down over the edge of the pot only forces the flower to open while fighting the effects of gravity, which will tend to pull the floral segments in the downwards. Staking the inflorescence (even with the bud pointing slightly upward) reverses that tendency, giving the flower a gravitational assist in opening. There is also an additional risk in allowing the inflorescence to hang over the pot in that the stem may not be quite strong enough the support the weight of the bud(s) and may kink at the point where the stem make contact with the rim of the pot, an entirely avoidable occurrence.

Nice plants, Ross, and nice presentation as well!

Regards
Rick
 
In a response to an earlier posting of a first-bloom Triple Bella one commentator expressed puzzlement in imagining what Nick might have been trying to accomplish in making this cross. Here Ross effectively answers that question as well as illustrates some alternate directions in Brachy breeding. As these photos illustrate, passing judgment on a cross based upon a single seedling is seriously premature.

Buying unbloomed seedlings is always a gamble. No breeder can possibly know in advance which of his seedlings will produce the best flowers. The odds that a single seedling will be one of the best of the cross are fairly low. That's why growers buy flasks and compots: to maximize the odds that they will get one of the best of the cross. It is also why some growers prefer to see the plants in bloom before making a purchase.

I don't know what Ross might have paid for that Triple Bella, but I'm sure it was far less than what the plant might have cost in full bloom at an orchid show. The added benefit was that Ross had the pleasure of seeing this plant bloom for the first time, which for many of us is a thrill in itself.

I agree!
 
Mr. Barry I would have to agree with your first two paragraphs but that third one. I would like to see the scientific reference that you got this info from. I've been growing for 22 yrs and I don't recall ever seeing photos of bellatulum in it's native habit staked as it gracefully lays over it's leaves and rest on a carpet of moss. I would think that bellatulum has been fighting gravity for erons and if I where to artifically prop it up it might work against me by reflexing too much. As a hobbyist I like to see varity in my GH, flowers below the pot and above makes thing interesting. I don't like to stake until the flower has "mature" and has settle down. Then I stake if I want a better presentation. Besides, wind movement, the sun moving across the GH all influences the flower stems. This to me hardens off flowers. And if I ever had plant with a stem so weak it laid on the edge of a pot, it would be in the trash. It Could be diseased or genetically flawed at any rate not worth breeding on with.
 
We seem to have some disagreement about when, or even if, to stake. I remember watching a judge loosen a tie to a stake, and when the flower flopped, she just passed the flower (i.e., chose not to judge or "point" it).

Beautiful 3 flowers, at any rate.
 
In a response to an earlier posting of a first-bloom Triple Bella one commentator expressed puzzlement in imagining what Nick might have been trying to accomplish in making this cross. Here Ross effectively answers that question as well as illustrates some alternate directions in Brachy breeding. As these photos illustrate, passing judgment on a cross based upon a single seedling is seriously premature.

Buying unbloomed seedlings is always a gamble. No breeder can possibly know in advance which of his seedlings will produce the best flowers. The odds that a single seedling will be one of the best of the cross are fairly low. That's why growers buy flasks and compots: to maximize the odds that they will get one of the best of the cross. It is also why some growers prefer to see the plants in bloom before making a purchase.

I don't know what Ross might have paid for that Triple Bella, but I'm sure it was far less than what the plant might have cost in full bloom at an orchid show. The added benefit was that Ross had the pleasure of seeing this plant bloom for the first time, which for many of us is a thrill in itself.

With respect to staking, it should be noted that allowing an inflorescence to hang down over the edge of the pot only forces the flower to open while fighting the effects of gravity, which will tend to pull the floral segments in the downwards. Staking the inflorescence (even with the bud pointing slightly upward) reverses that tendency, giving the flower a gravitational assist in opening. There is also an additional risk in allowing the inflorescence to hang over the pot in that the stem may not be quite strong enough the support the weight of the bud(s) and may kink at the point where the stem make contact with the rim of the pot, an entirely avoidable occurrence.

Nice plants, Ross, and nice presentation as well!

Regards
Rick

Thanks, Rick:)
One of the reasons I stake Brachy's is that the bottom of the petals tend to rest on the media as the flower opens and end up folded as they grow out. Here's an example of a Paph bellatulum where this occured.
Paphbellatulum3.jpg
 

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