Nobby's Amy Cross

[orchidsarefun]

getting around to repotting all of these, its a gradual process because its so tedious. Root development is tremendous - see photo. The majority are in individual pots, I will probably leave the smaller ones in compots. They love it outdoors ! I was reading that at higher temps phals put on vegetative growth - that is evident to me, at lower temps, phals switch to reproductive mode. I still want at least one of these to bloom in the next month or so....

[My Green Pets]

Congratulations, they look fab! And so many!

[orchidsarefun]

Originally Posted by CambriaWhat

Congratulations, they look fab! And so many!

thanks. Issue is that the "experts" ( and common sense ? ) say that you need to have a representative sample to see most of the visible results in a seedling cross. I can already see differences - for example leaf colour/spotting, leaf shape and the colour of leaf undersides, ranging from green to purple. I want to see if these differences are reflected in bloom colour in some way. Basically if leaf colour is purple, is bloom colour red ? - that type of thing....

[lotis146]

Originally Posted by orchidsarefun

thanks. Issue is that the "experts" ( and common sense ? ) say that you need to have a representative sample to see most of the visible results in a seedling cross. I can already see differences - for example leaf colour/spotting, leaf shape and the colour of leaf undersides, ranging from green to purple. I want to see if these differences are reflected in bloom colour in some way. Basically if leaf colour is purple, is bloom colour red ? - that type of thing....

The experts say you need a representative sample for what? To register it as a new cross or is that in order to get a real feel for consistency, the results of your cross?

They look so good, hope your potting went well, repotting can be sooooooo tedious. I'd be nervous handling all those seedlings. I love that the spots are still present, that's got to make you excited.

Good job.

[orchidsarefun]

in theory, in a seedling population with 2 different parents, no 2 seedlings should look identical. They can look identical, but still be genetically different. The question is how many seedlings to raise where you get as many phenotypes as possible in your representative population. One of these phenotypes may be "it" - the one with the best blooms, best growth, best everything. You don't want to miss "it" by growing up 20 seedlings, when the 21st, or 31st or 41st or 51st is "it". Or maybe "it" isn't even in your cross ! You only need a single blooming seedling to register your own cross.
A good example is Freckles. I am not saying Freckles is "it", but I may not have got freckles if I only kept 20 seedlings.....

[orchidsarefun]

I have repotted basically all the seedlings. Interesting stat - out of approx 50 seedlings, only 7 have spotted to somewhat spotted foliage and 'freckles' is still the most impressive - in terms of the silvery colour and the frequency/type of spots. Dang if I lose 'freckles' !!!
The others have "normal" leaves - and if I didn't have tags in my other seedlings, I could see how they could get mixed up. I am a firm believer in tightly packed sphagnum and pliable plastic pots for phals of a certain size - I can see the results in impressive root growth. I highly recommend this method.


---------- Post added at 06:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:04 PM ----------

timeline of leaf growth of 'freckles' also interesting and can probably be applied to all of the seedlings - ( data from photos on thread )

2 August - start of leaf
31 August - visible, probably 1/8 inch
23 September - fairly large.

The leaf grew considerably faster in September than the whole of August. My mature phals have roughly a new leaf every 6 months as a comparison. These seedlings are about 14-15 months old. The wait is on for a spike - and how/if that relates to leaf size and number of leaves on the plant.

[lotis146]

They look so cool! I'm crossing my fingers for you that Freckles makes it. I have a Phal whose new leaf came in with an "area" of mild spots that are more faint like can be seen in some of the other "spotted" seedlings. I've noticed that the characteristics of new leaves change as they get bigger, no big surprise, doesn't everything? I've got another Phal - Minho Princess x Lightning - who has dark red margins in some places of the leaves; its keiki (several weeks old now, growing a third leaf, no roots) has some dark red streaking as well. It looks really cool, I hope they stay. My point is that it would seem to say a lot that freckles has retained those traits this long and to that degree. The silvery color is really neat too, good job, and thanks for keeping us posted. May blooms reign upon you!

[MattWoelfsen]

I hope people take notice of your comment "I am a firm believer in tightly packed sphagnum..." Your results show strong and healthy plants. Too many people on this board profess such a dislike for sphagnum and are always advocating that if sphagnum is used, it should be loosely packed.

[orchidsarefun]

thanks for the input all, much appreciated.
There are also noticeable differences in leaf shape and the colour of the under-leaf. This particular cross has 10 species in its genetic background and it appears that I am getting a manifestation of each species in some form or another. I have been unable to find any research on relating leaf colour/shape/size to bloom colour and hopefully my results - when I get to see blooms ! - will be able to illustrate if there is such a link.
Two examples:

[No-Pro-mwa]

I love this thread. Can't wait for blooms.

I do have a question though. How do you make sure you don't get crown rot on them when there is water in them? Is it that you make sure you water early and then the fan dries them up?

I would be in there with a paper towel.