Identidication help Phaleonopsis + Few questions + Hello!

[everlastingspirit]

Before i start ........... Hi - first post!

Im Ben, 22 and live in midlands, uk and new to this board and started to really get into orchids after my partner bought me one and have started a bit of a collection so thought i would join.

First of all im trying to identify the below orange/yellow orchid with odd upper left/right petals (poss mutation?)



Second of all i have started pollination with the below (which i believe is 'elegant polka dots' unless anyone can correct me) and flowing is now as expected withering and closing over the stimatic patch. Hopefully should produce some beautiful flowers!



Any advice on culturing seedlings when harvested. Do i need to grow in nutrient jelly or are there any other methods. Appreciate any input on this. Plus is there anyway to know if you have found a unique cross/specie?

Third of all just for fun...a pic of some of my collection (welcome any comments). I also have a green/purple zgopetalum, dendrobium & pink phal (not pictured) but thought id say anyway!



Sorry for the long post & thanks for any help in advance.

Ben (The Everlasting Spirit ©)

[jkofferdahl]

The orchid you show is a Phalaenopsis (genus) hybrid. It appears to be what I'll call semi-peloric, which is why the petals appear as they do. There are literally tens of thousands of Phal hybrids, and thousands that looks virtually alike, so identifying a particular hybrid, even one such as this, is pretty close to impossible, I'm afraid. However, it's a wonderful flower!

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

1. I don't know the cultivar name, but yes, it does look like some kind of peloric hybrid. Peloric is the name given to those whose petals are in the shape of a lip.

2. When you pollinate hybrids, don't expect them to breed true (just in case you were hoping otherwise).

3. You need to sow your seeds in-vitro asymbiotically. Ex-vitro methods as I'm reading over and over are unreliable.

At the moment symbiotic myccorhizal in-vitro seed sowing for epiphytes are rare to non-existent. Symbiotic in-vitro methods are complicated because the myccorhizal fungi on the roots of the mother plant must be isolated. A specific kind of myccorhizal is associated with the seed germination process (they belong to the genus Rhizoctonia)

However...symbiotic in-vitro germination methods for terrestrials are well noted in Europe. If you're interested in this check out this site:

ground-orchids, informations and pricelist of ground orchids

4. Look for flasking media. There is a seed sowing/germinating kind. Then there's a replating kind.

You need the seed sowing/germinating kind first. Luckily you have about 198 to 298 days (Phal seed pods take that long to ripen) to research and find a way to get them.

I was told P658 from Phytotech Labs will work as a general purpose orchid seed germinating medium.

But I was also told that Aaron Hicks from the Orchid Seedbank Project (http://members.cox.net/ahicks51/osp/) also has a general purpose orchid seed sowing medium called W3 (a formulation developed by an Australian scientist named Kevin Western). Or you may purchase directly from Western Orchid Lab (Western Orchids Laboratory - Orchid Tissue Culture Medium / Media).

As far replating media is concerned, I have no idea.

Hopefully this sorts out some confusion from the sites out there.

5. Nice collection.

There are numerous sites that deal with orchid seed sowing try looking around.

As I'm fairly new to orchid seed sowing, at the moment I can only give very little information.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Oops! Wrong site for the symbiotic in-vitro.

It's this one:

Erdorchideen

[jkofferdahl]

OrchidKing, I agree with most of what you say, except your use of the term "peloric". Essentially you define it correctly, but here's a more correct definition: "regularity of structure occurring abnormally in flowers normally irregular". The normal irregularity would be the petals differing from the lip, and so the regularity would be the petals being like the lip. Thus I said "semi-peloric". Of course, I'm being a real semantic jerk here.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Eh...Whatever. I'm not crying over being incorrect and being told the correct answer.

At least now I know...and knowing is half the battle! (I had to have a bit of a cheesey moment with the cartoon G.I. Joe quote, especially when the movie's coming out soon... )