I have heard of that being done, with the idea being that you'll get some
plants that have genes from both pollen-parents (A&B) with the pod parent
(Z), or (A+B) x Z. It had nothing to do with the health or vigor of the
plant carrying the capsule.

However, I think Mick is correct. On the assumption that the capsule
"takes" in the first place, the progeny will most likely be A x Z, B x Z, or
some of each and you'll have to wait and sort them out.

I recall correctly (that assumption gets more suspect by the day...), an
ovum can only be fertilized by a single "male" gamete. The instant there is
penetration of the cell wall, chemical changes make fertilization by another
impossible.

--

Ray Barkalow First Rays Orchids
http://www.firstrays.com
Secure Online Ordering & Lots of Free Info!


"Larry Dighera" wrote in message
...


Is anyone familiar with a fertilization technique involving pollinia
from multiple cultivars applied to a single stigma?

The over production of most seed capsules is often wasteful. Each
cross consumes from the plant the full energy necessary to produce a
mature capsule containing many more seeds than are usually required to
judge that single cross. This consumption of plant resources may
influence the breeder to refrain from making additional crosses with
that plant as the pod parent in a given season, thus lengthening the
time required to complete all the crosses in a particular breeding
program.

If, on the other hand, the breeder dissects individual orchid pollinia
from their filaments, and places several on the stigma of the same
flower, wouldn't it facilitate n crosses each consuming only Vigor/n
plant resources? If the intended crosses are each uniquely
intergeneric, recognizing which f1 progeny are members of which cross
shouldn't be too difficult. And all the resources the plant expended
in producing a mature capsule are productively employed in a manyfold
reduction of breeding cycle time.

Does anyone have first hand experience with this technique or pointers
to literature?