Hybridizing

COURTISY OF 

Lenette Orchids 

1440 Pom Orchid Lane - Kannapolis, N.C. 28081(704) 938-2042

HAVE A TIP---------HYBRIDIZING

1. USE FRESH FLOWERS AND POLLEN: This is so important. Chances are older flowers or pollen will give little or no seed.

2. USE THE BOTTOM BLOOM ON THE SPIKE: This is especially true with Cattleyas. Phalaenopsis are not that critical. In fact some hybridizers think the last blooms on the spikes seem to set seed better. Sometimes fall spikes set seed better on Phalaenopsis.

3. CHECK THE MOON PHASE WHEN POSSIBLE: Cattleyas will definately give more seed when pollinated on the full of the moon. Many hybridizers swear about making crosses on certain moon phases. After all, if the moon can control the tides surely it has some influence on the growth of the pollen.

4. TIME OF DAY: Personally I make a cross when i have the time to do so but many growers will only make crosses during mid-morning hours. We do know that when taking slides of our flowers that there is a tremendous difference in the quality of the slides you take. Late morning is always best. Slides taken in mid-afternoon will be of poor quality.

5. ALWAYS USE A CLEAN INSTUMENT TO INSERT THE POLLEN: We have used a dirty stick taken from the greenhouse floor and gotten good seed but I would highly recommend using a clean toothpick or forceps. Always put the pollen on a clean surface before you pick it up. We take an extra flower and break it off a plant and then take the toothpick and get some of the sticky from the entrance to the ovary so the pollen will adhere to the toothpick.

6. INSERT THE POLLEN AS MUCH AS YOU CAN: Gently insert the pollen down towards the ovary as far as you can. Normally this will mean that you cannot see the pollen. Some people only put the pollen on the stigmatic surface but most like to push it down and out of sight.

7. HOW MANY GRAINS OF POLLEN? Most use one whole grain. Some quarter each grain on very valuble pollen while others use two or three grains. Many hybridizers do believe that the more pollen you use the more seed you will get on novelty crosses.

8. DO NOT REMOVE THE POLLEN FROM THE POD PARENT: This is especially true with Phalaenopsis. Always leave the pollen in the flower you plan to pollinate so that the pollen will have time to travel down the ovary before the flower collapses.

9. POLLINATE TWO OR MORE FLOWERS ON HARD TO BREED PLANTS: With Cattleyas you will need to pollinate only one flower but with some hard to breed phalaenopsis I would do two or more flowers. In some rare cases certain clones will only set seed pods from one side of the flower spike.

10. FIND OUT WHICH PARENT WILL MAKE THE BEST POD PARENT: Some clones will only accept the role of the father or mother but most will do either way. We had a yellow cattleya that would only breed as the pollen parent and I might add did so very willingly. Normally speaking howeverwhen a plant is reluctant to breed you use that plant as the pod parent. Always use one parent (pollen parent) that is a good breeder when hybridizing. If you try to use both parents that are hard to breed chances are you will get no seed. I can't stress the importance of knowing which parent plant will breed when making way out crosses, or from novelty types within the Phalaenopsis family.

11. COUNTING CHROMOSOMES: If we only knew the chromosome count of all of our stud plants it would make hybridizing a breeze. Unfortunately we must guess most of the time .Tetraploids (double the normal chromosomes) normally breed easily if bred to each other or diploids. Triploids are hybrids between diploids and tetraploids and they normally are reluctant to breed.

12. CUT EXCESS FLOWERS OFF THE THE SPIKE AFTER POLLENATING: After you have pollenated a couple of flowers on a spike and there are left a lot of blooms or buds and you think you will not need them, then cut the rest of the spike off. This will give the plant more energy to devote to growing pods instead of blooms.

13. ALWAYS USE A STRONG PLANT TO CARRY THE POD: Needless to say a weak plant will not have much chance of carrying a seed pod. Some first bloom seedlings in the novelty phalaenopsis will simply not carry a seed pod although the pollen will be good. Always let the pod parent be your largest and strongest with plenty of roots. It takes some clones several years from first flowering to be sexually mature.

14. USE A HEALTHY VIRUS FREE PLANT IF POSSIBLE: Unfortunately hybridizers have to use some plants that are virused in order to have a certain gene pool to work with. If you are using a virused plant always use it as the pod parent. Naturally you would not want to put virused pollen into a healthy plant. After you have harvested a pod from the virused plant it is a good idea to use dry pod flasking so that the virus will not effect the resulting seedlings. Normally in green pod culture you do not transmit the virus but it is possible.

15. HOW LONG SHOULD THE POD BE LEFT ON THE MOTHER PLANT? This is a loaded question. To give you a short answer, as long as you can. Ideally speaking it would be great if we could cut the pod and sow it the day before it splits open.Normally the following will give you a good guide to go on: Cattleyas 5 to 6 months. Phalaenopsis 4 to 8 months. On your standard Phalaenopsis such as whites, pinks, stripes, WCL, etc. only four months is sufficient. On the novelty types such as reds, yellows, etc. leave them on as long as you possibly can. Paphiopedilums 8 to 10 months. Oncidiums, (greenleaf and mule ear type) 5 to 6 months. Equitant Oncidiums 2 to 3 months. Miltonias 4 to 5 months. When the pod is approaching its full time check it DAILY to be sure it gets sown before it splits open. You will get much less contamination and better growth if the pod is sown by the green pod method. It is much easier to sterilize the pod than the seed. Most people wash the green pod with soap and water then sterilize it with 10% clorox. We use a tooth brush to clean the pod. You can use 3% Hydrogen Peroxide to sterilize the dry seed. You will need to shake the seed in a vial of peroxide very vigorously for about 30 minutes before you put it into your bottles. Be sure to pour out of the bottles all the excess peroxide or the seedlings will not grow properly.

16. ALWAYS USE QUALITY PLANTS WHEN HYBRIDIZING: By the time you have made the cross, sown the seed and flowered the resulting new hybrids a lot of time and money will have been spent. It is paramount to use only the very best quality flowers you can. A cross between outstanding parents sometimes turns out to be a dog.

17. ALWAYS USE VERY VIGOROUS PLANTS: You will be transmitting the same qualities as your parent plants so if one of your plants is a stinking grower then so will be some of the seedlings produced. At times hybridizers have to use certain clones that grow poorly in order to obtain a certain gene pool but under no circumstances should two clones be bred together that are poor growers and producers. Always take into consideration such things as substance, texture, flower count and overall shape and size of the blooms. You might want to consider the flower count and if the flowers are well spaced on the spike. Just remember that like produces like. If one of your parent plants has a fault that is especially noticable then be sure that the other parent excells in that same trait.

18. POD PARENT IS NORMALLY MORE DOMINATE: When making crosses with parents that are not alike always remember that the pod parent will dominate. So if you are after color for instance let the parent with the most desirable color carry the pod if possible. When breeding parents of like characteristics it generally does not matter which plant carries the seed pod.

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