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01-07-2021, 12:44 PM
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Is anyone aware of successfull hybridization of Gongora with Encyclias?
Last year I pollinated an Encyclia flower with Gongora pollen on a whim. The resulting seed pod has developed pretty much the same as the naturally pollinated ones on the same plant, normally a sign of a successful pollination I think. Now a different species of small greenish flowered Encyclia has bloomed and I crossed them with 2 different species of Gongora, both ways. All of them seem to be developing healthy seed pods.
Now these aren't very closely related. I really didn't expect it to work. Is normal seed pod development a good sign of a successful hybridization or is a common thing for non-viable seed to be the result of a hybridization across different groups of orchids?
Curious what people with more knowledge about hybridization have to say about these crosses. I got a ton of these seed pods developing now. Would be pretty cool if this was a first.
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01-07-2021, 02:30 PM
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It isn't unusual to get seed capsule development even if there is no viable seed. Something other than the presence of ultimately viable seed may be what stimulates capsule development - the simple presence of pollen, the first hint of seed development that isn't ultimately viable, or just the manipulation of the flower. If it waited for confirmation of viable seed it would be too late, and once the process starts there may be nothing that specifically stops it.
You already know this is an unlikely combination. One rare case might happen, but it seems you have several going on at once. It may not be impossible, and if the plants are strong there is no harm in waiting to see what develops, but it is unlikely. Or you may have the magic touch and you'll make a fortune distributing exotic orchid hybrids.
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01-07-2021, 05:32 PM
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Well... they are in the same subfamily, so that helps, but I still think they're pretty far apart to be viable.
The only intergeneric gongora hybrids registered involve paphinia, cirrheae, and the trigeneric with coryanthes and stanhopea.
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01-07-2021, 05:47 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ray
Well... they are in the same subfamily, so that helps, but I still think they're pretty far apart to be viable.
The only intergeneric gongora hybrids registered involve paphinia, cirrheae, and the trigeneric with coryanthes and stanhopea.
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Which are all in subtribe Stanhopeinae. Very neat cross! It will be interesting to see how far it develops.
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01-07-2021, 07:26 PM
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They're 2 of my favorite genera. I'm very interested to see how this turns out!
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01-07-2021, 10:43 PM
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Gongoras are Cymbidiums. Encyclias are Cattleyas. I think it's highly unlikely. It might have been pollinated by something else, as well. Quite a few monocots produce apomictic seed when pollinated by incompatible pollen.
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01-07-2021, 10:58 PM
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Unfortunately, it's impossible for a viable cross. Those genera are too distantly related.
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01-09-2021, 09:28 AM
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Thanks everybody for the feedback. I guess I'll just wait and see if if anything germinates that looks like it could be a result of that cross, which sadly will take about 1-2 years as the Encyclia seed pods take forever to pop. The Gongora ones will be quicker.
I'm kind of just looking for anything to cross the Encyclias with because I really don't want any more of them, but they tend to produce a ton of seed and germinate easily if left to their own.
Another cross that I did was with Epidendrum ciliare ( I guess it's Coilostylis ciliaris now) which should be possible based on a cross that I found on OrchidRoots, Epicyclia Valerie Parker. I'm curious to see if hybrid seeds will germinate outside of a petri dish.
As far as non-compatible orchids producing normal seed pods, I've found that most often a pod will start developing but abort a few days to a couple weeks into development. Or sometimes it develops but very stunted. It does seem like there are some sort of internal protections that keep the plant from investing too much energy into a useless seedpod. That's kind of why I got my hopes up because the seed pod from last year looks identical to the ones that were naturally pollinated.
Last edited by SG in CR; 01-09-2021 at 12:39 PM..
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