Finally got a chance to introduce myself - Orchid Board

Helen · #1 04-07-2007, 07:09 PM

Hi all,
I've been busy repotting, trimming roots, buying fertilizer...etc. etc. I'm sure all of this work will be worthwhile. I love flowers of all kinds very much but especially orchids!
I have a dendrobium sonia earsakul. An oncidium incurvum (seedling), and a Phal Everspring King, x MinHo Princess (have no idea what colour it will be) that I bought as a seedling last year. I just split it into four.
And of course, my troublesome Pontinara Red Crab (Cattleya family I believe) that just had bud blast when I brought it home a few weeks ago).
That's my orchid story! I also have a fabulous hoya that blooms every spring, I know it's not an orchid, but it is beautiful. I've had it for 30 years! Yep! now I've given away my age...hee hee

smartie2000 · #2 04-07-2007, 07:42 PM

hi nice to know you better...
did you say you split a phal into four? (I'm assuming you got four seedlings then)
Your Phal Everspring King x MinHo Princess should be pink. You may get some harlequins

Helen · #3 04-07-2007, 08:00 PM

Yes, when I went to repot the seedling there were four separate plants with roots....Pink? might it be solid pink? with any white? That would be nice.

What is a harlequin?

Thanks very much!
FT

smartie2000 · #4 04-07-2007, 08:14 PM

I wouldn't expect solid pink. You may get stripes or spotting or harlequins(which is an unique type of spotting or blotchs of colour). It's exciting because sometimes you don't know exactly what to expect on seedlings that aren't clones

smartie2000 · #5 04-07-2007, 08:17 PM

Here are some examples of harlequins:

I think you might get something like this
Big Leaf Orchids

Helen · #6 04-07-2007, 08:26 PM

Smartee, Now I'm getting excited but I guess I have to wait another couple of years to see the blooms...
So, seeing this phal is not a clone, would I call it a hybrid then? Trying to catch on to these terms.
FT

Lagoon · #7 04-07-2007, 10:32 PM

Howdy Dooo FT, welcome to the forum.
You sound excited & Addicted -- Fine qualities as far as I'm concerned. Hope you spend sometime here with us

Tindomul · #8 04-07-2007, 11:13 PM

I love Catt types but have never considered a Potinaria before. Welcome to the Orchid Board, glad you could join up!

Shadow · #9 04-08-2007, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FirstTimer

Smartee, Now I'm getting excited but I guess I have to wait another couple of years to see the blooms...
So, seeing this phal is not a clone, would I call it a hybrid then? Trying to catch on to these terms.
FT

Hello and welcome to the forum!

The clone can be a hybrid or a specie. It is a term used to distinguish a specific clone (read plant) from other species or hybrids of the same name. Usually used for outstanding representatives of the particular species or hybrids in order to distinguish them from others.

Don't confuse it with the term mericlone. I believe, Fren used the term Clone as short version of term Mericlone. And you became confused. When you mericloning a plant, you get the exact versions (seedlings) of the mericloned plant.

smartie2000 · #10 04-08-2007, 12:57 PM

Mericloning is a technique of cloning used in a laboratory to propagate many of the same plant, especially those that have desirble characteristic and those that are highly demanded. Scientifically the word clone can be used to describe either a division or a mericlone. Both procedures will yield plants with the same genetic material and the same results in the end. The main difference is that mericloning means that they are taking many plants out of a flask and they will have to grow them up from seedling size, and division of a plant would be a cutting from a mature plant.

A clone can be both a hybrid or a species because you can clone any plant by division or mericloning. These clonal names keep things organized.

Your phals are hybrids I don't believe that your phals are clones because you bought a compot of four seedlings. There is no clonal name and it would be strange to buy four of the same plants. These guys grow fast they should take only a year or more to bloom depending on growing conditions. If you want you can also give them clonal names in ' ' to keep yourself organized, since all four of them will look different.

And the definition of a clone is an individual with identical genetic material from which it was derived, so I believe that a mericlone can be called a clone fittingly. I understand that mutations can occur during mericloning process which would change the genetic material slightly, but mutations can occur during any type of cell division (for example cancer is a result of mutation during cell division). Rarely will there be a mutations. Some cloning mutations are good and some can be horrible (not to overload you with information...)