Phalaenopsis breeding using Mericlones
 

Hi all
I was talking to a commercial breeder here recently and he said that
when they use phalaenopsis mericlones to breed they get little seed but the
growers with the mother plants seem to get alot based on the number of
flasks they have available.
This is making the exact cross, using the same parents but the
mericloned forms.
Reasons discussed for this could be
Environmental
Flasking techniques
Somehow manipulating the tissue in culture
Anyone shed anymore info on this whether hard facts or even personal
observations.
Regards
STUART
SYDNEY AUSTRALIA

Phalaenopsis breeding using Mericlones
 

Stuart,

I'm very confused with your posting! Are you talking about breeding
(actually taking the pollen from the flower and putting it on the stamen of
another flower) or mericloning (taking a mass of meristem tissue and growing
it into a group of new plants that are identical to the host plant donating
the tissue)?

If you take two plants who are mericlones and cross them or self a plant,
you end up with a different genetic make-up and the resulting seed will grow
into plants that could be drastically different than the parents.

Can you restate your question?

Gene





"stuie stuie" wrote in message
...
Hi all
I was talking to a commercial breeder here recently and he said that
when they use phalaenopsis mericlones to breed they get little seed but
the
growers with the mother plants seem to get alot based on the number of
flasks they have available.
This is making the exact cross, using the same parents but the
mericloned forms.
Reasons discussed for this could be
Environmental
Flasking techniques
Somehow manipulating the tissue in culture
Anyone shed anymore info on this whether hard facts or even personal
observations.
Regards
STUART
SYDNEY AUSTRALIA

Phalaenopsis breeding using Mericlones
 

I agree with Gene - your post was a bit confusing. However, if I get the
gist of it: breeding with mericlones of cross (A 'good' x B 'better')
'Best' does not yield the volume of seed that is obtained when breeding A
'good' x B 'better'.

One fairly common possibility that you didn't mention is that mericlones are
usually done of plants with unique traits, and many of those unique traits
come about due to triploidy or tetraploidy. Polyploidy frequently effects
sterility.

--

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


"stuie stuie" wrote in message
...
Hi all
I was talking to a commercial breeder here recently and he said that
when they use phalaenopsis mericlones to breed they get little seed but
the
growers with the mother plants seem to get alot based on the number of
flasks they have available.
This is making the exact cross, using the same parents but the
mericloned forms.
Reasons discussed for this could be
Environmental
Flasking techniques
Somehow manipulating the tissue in culture
Anyone shed anymore info on this whether hard facts or even personal
observations.
Regards
STUART
SYDNEY AUSTRALIA