species or hybrids

[SlipperGirl]

someone gave this link I liked it so I thought I would give it to all of you

Species Versus Hybrids? - Slippertalk Orchid Forum- The best slipper orchid forum for paph, phrag and other lady slipper orchid discussion!

[Vanda lover]

One thing I like about some hybrids is that by adding a different kind of orchid in to the line, it can cause them to bloom more often. If you cross one that blooms in summer with one that blooms in winter, it's possible the offspring can bloom at both times. I was told that my Vanda pakchong blue has a little rhynchostylis in it, which makes it bloom more often.

[JanS]

From the discussion it seems like most of us don't really care whether we have species or hybrids, as long as we like the flower result. I guess I am one of that majority...up to a point, though.

As orchids have become ever more popular among the mass population in the past 10 or so years - in the USA primarily driven by their cheap availability in big chain stores like Home Depot and Lowes - it seems there is ever-increasing pressure on commercial growers to come up with "improved" plant characteristics that appeal to the public and hence sell more plants. I see this the most with Phals. Bigger and bigger flowers to the point that the stalk has to be supported by multiple stakes since the plant itself could never support its own flowers - akin to growing "Butterball" turkey hybrids that can hardly walk on their own. And since Mother Nature cannot give us a blue Phal, even with advanced hybridization, people figured out recently to inject dye into the growing flower stem to get blue streaks in the flowers.

All this kind of cheapens the whole genus to me. Growing up in central Europe, one of the reasons I got into growing orchids was their tropical, jungle mysticism of lands I once hoped to visit. Some (not all!) of the hybridization trends of orchids these days seem to be greatly veering away from that exciting part of growing an orchid...

[Paul Mc]

JanS, I hear ya! I'm not overly find of the big box store hybrids these days myself. I tend to seek out harder to find and grow species now, simply for the variety and the challenge. But think of all the unsuspecting potential orchid addicts those big box orchids are sending our way (evil laugh)! LOL...

[greengarden]

That's sort of my feeling too. Also I find myself always drawn to the understated beauty of the miniatures like many Pleurothallids and Bulbophyllums. I'm not sure why but for some reason I find many of those flowers which may be smaller than a little finger nail much more stunning than the enormous phals and catts that have been hybridised beyond the point of recognition. I can still appreciate them as a flower but no more than I would appreciate a rose or a camellia, they just feel a little bit 'generic' to me.

[AnonYMouse]

I don't need the "challenge" of growing species (really, easy is fine by me) but I now choose plants that I didn't know existed twenty years ago. Growing them to flower is an ego boost but I just like the unusual flowers or growth habit.

ETA: I do check out the all noIDs at the stores.

[SlipperGirl]

Originally Posted by JanS

From the discussion it seems like most of us don't really care whether we have species or hybrids, as long as we like the flower result. I guess I am one of that majority...up to a point, though.

As orchids have become ever more popular among the mass population in the past 10 or so years - in the USA primarily driven by their cheap availability in big chain stores like Home Depot and Lowes - it seems there is ever-increasing pressure on commercial growers to come up with "improved" plant characteristics that appeal to the public and hence sell more plants. I see this the most with Phals. Bigger and bigger flowers to the point that the stalk has to be supported by multiple stakes since the plant itself could never support its own flowers - akin to growing "Butterball" turkey hybrids that can hardly walk on their own. And since Mother Nature cannot give us a blue Phal, even with advanced hybridization, people figured out recently to inject dye into the growing flower stem to get blue streaks in the flowers.

All this kind of cheapens the whole genus to me. Growing up in central Europe, one of the reasons I got into growing orchids was their tropical, jungle mysticism of lands I once hoped to visit. Some (not all!) of the hybridization trends of orchids these days seem to be greatly veering away from that exciting part of growing an orchid...

Well said.