paph seed pod--worth the bother?
 

My Paph Delrosi (huge pink flowers) has been in bloom for a while, and
one of the spent blossoms has created a seed pod. Has anyone tried to
grow a paph from seed? Is it worth the bother and the years of waiting?

Paphs from seed is the only way (other than division) to propagate paphs at
this time. It's definately worth the time and wait but you have to pick your
parents carefully. Selfing a primary hybrid such as Delrosi (delenatii X
rothschildianum) does not seem to me to be a wise choice to spend so much
time on. By simple Mendellian genetics, you can expect 1/4 to look like each
parent and 1/2 to be some sort of blend. Of course, it's not that simple but
it's the general idea. If you're curious as to what sort of range of
Delrosi-type flowers you can get in the F2 generation, and have the space,
and time, and facilities for flasking, you're in business. But I should
think if that's your goal, then go back and make the original cross. Due to
the time and facilities required for orchid growing, you really do have to
have an objective in mind before making a cross. The casual spontaneous
selfing is rarely worth the effort unless you were going to do that anyway.
Gary

"OrchidKitty" wrote in message
oups.com...
My Paph Delrosi (huge pink flowers) has been in bloom for a while, and
one of the spent blossoms has created a seed pod. Has anyone tried to
grow a paph from seed? Is it worth the bother and the years of waiting?

Kitty,

No.

Mick Fournier
HBI, Producers of Fine Orchids in Flask
www.OrchidFlask.com

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"OrchidKitty" wrote in message
oups.com...
My Paph Delrosi (huge pink flowers) has been in bloom for a while, and
one of the spent blossoms has created a seed pod. Has anyone tried to
grow a paph from seed? Is it worth the bother and the years of waiting?