Summer project 2012- Plant suggestions

[Rowangreen]

Originally Posted by Wynn Dee13

I actually sent a PM to Camille today asking her this same question. I only could find plants of the Hadrolaelias at one vendor in Canada so I asked if I should add hybrids with one of the parents being one of the six Hadrolaelias so I could add other choices like Lc. Mini Purple (C. walkeriana x L. pumila). She told me to stick with only primary hybrids between the group of species so everyone would have similar plants. She thought if we added hybrids out of the group the plants would be too different.

Just wanted to clarify this: is it OK to have intergeneric hybrids if they are reasonably similar in culture? Wondering as I'd really like 'Brassias and hybrids' to include intergenerics, otherwise that's lots of lovely Miltassia types ruled out! I was going to suggest the general rule there might be that a plant should be at least half Brassia (and maybe include Ada's since I think they are officially Brassias now?)

[Wynn Dee13]

Originally Posted by Rowangreen

Just wanted to clarify this: is it OK to have intergeneric hybrids if they are reasonably similar in culture? Wondering as I'd really like 'Brassias and hybrids' to include intergenerics, otherwise that's lots of lovely Miltassia types ruled out! I was going to suggest the general rule there might be that a plant should be at least half Brassia (and maybe include Ada's since I think they are officially Brassias now?)

I can't answer for Camille but why not do two suggestions? One for Brassias and then a whole different suggestion for Miltassias? If we include intergenerics for one plant group suggestion that is A LOT of different hybrids.

[Rowangreen]

Personally I'd rather have one large group, as I like the idea of people being able to choose between a species or hybrid as they prefer and generally having more choice.

[Rowangreen]

PS: forgot I was going to suggest Maxillarias: popular on the last project choice, but we couldn't find one plant available in all regions (except tenufolia, which has been done and therefore would be ruled out). Haven't time now to do full search, but I had a quick look and they should be fine.

Also, forgot... sometimes when you mention a plant in a thread it seems it does something... recently I mentioned a new plant, went out, looked at it and saw mealies... (hopefully now clean). A couple of days ago in this thread I mentioned my Zygo triste. Guess what next time I looked at it I saw... a new growth! Totally unexpected as I don't think it's finished the last one yet, but then I think Zygo's do tend to ignore the usual order of things. My little Zygo now has 3 growths *G*

[camille1585]

That's a tough one. Traditionally projects have been species. One reason is that in the case of one plant projects finding the same hybrid everywhere is impossible. The other reason is that it got people to try orchids they never would have tried. Onc type intergenerics on the other hand, everyone has/had some in their collection, and you can find them in the supermarket...

Personally I feel like the project should stick to species, primary hybrids mostly and then some hybrids where one parent is a species. I'm not too keen on complex hybrids because it basically turns the project into a genus project, rather than very closely related orchids. What do others think? I'm organizing this, but it doesn't mean that I'm boss!

I still didn't get around to listing the suggestions properly (will do today!) I was too busy watching the Olympics this weekend.

[JaneEyre]

I agree, it should be species and primary hybrids. I haven't done one of these projects but, if I understand correctly, the point is to compare different growing conditions of the same or similar plant. Hybrids add too many variables to the equation.

[Wynn Dee13]

I agree too. We should stick to a group of similar species and their primary hybrids.

[Rowangreen]

Just to be clear I'm quite happy to abide by that if that's the decision. It's reasonable. However I'd like to argue the other side (for one thing I don't want a few plants I've been drooling over ruled out too quickly!)

I think this is different to other projects in that it opens things up a bit. As I've already said, I think it's great if those that are set on species can have a species and those that like hybrids can get something related.

If other projects have been about comparing growing conditions, perhaps it's OK to have one that also looks at the subtle differences between related plants? Eg within the Oncidium Alliance, does having a lot of Brassia in a plant make a difference?

I think availability is a factor. One of the nice things about this project is that it opened up the prospect of getting in some of those plants that didn't make it into other projects because of availability issues. If there are many, many choices available then I guess keeping the limits tight makes sense. However I found some of those 'common' plants were surprisingly difficult to get hold of in budget. Brassias and hybrids might be available at the supermarket (noids?), but they didn't seem to actually be so available from good sellers online, especially in the US.

Maudiae paphs I don't think could be included if we didn't allow a wide variety of complex hybrids there. I had difficulty finding suitable plants in budget. (I have a sneaky suspicion that some plant sold just as 'Maudiae' may also be complex hybrids, not actually the primary they are strictly meant to be).

From Camille: "Personally I feel like the project should stick to species, primary hybrids mostly and then some hybrids where one parent is a species"

Basically this makes sense... but I think we should be definitely open to the last bit where availability is an issue, and where it allows in some interesting plants. I think it's also worth considering some kind of '50%' rule rather than straight 'parent'. It's the same amount genetically, just might come from more than one side!

[stonedragonfarms]

I can see both points, but I agree with Camille on this one. We set out to find a genus or primary hybrids thereof that would be accessible to all. I think we should table the intergenerics for a possible project (or quickie project..?) and move ahead.
Just my 2c,
Adam

[FairyInTheFlowers]

Originally Posted by stonedragonfarms

I can see both points, but I agree with Camille on this one. We set out to find a genus or primary hybrids thereof that would be accessible to all. I think we should table the intergenerics for a possible project (or quickie project..?) and move ahead.
Just my 2c,
Adam

I actually like this idea. I think we should keep this specific project limited to the species and primary hybrids, and then do a separate "quickie project" that is wider in the terms of the project plant.