If you have admired orchids, you may already be familiar with hybrids. These are plants the take characteristics from both parents. Growers that develop hybrids determine what type of flower he wants to create. This may be based on several features, including color, stripes or spotting. Growers also select plants based on size and fragrance.
With this in mind, a grower will select orchid varieties that will endow the offspring with the desired characteristics. As an example, an orchid developer may choose to use a golden slipper orchid as one of the base species. This orchid, discovered in 1979in china, is a popular choice. It often passes on the rich yellow-gold color to the hybrid offspring, which often end up as beautiful varieties in the hybrid orchid family.
Once the grower has selected the two parent plants, the existing pollen is removed from the pod parent. This is the plant the will receive the pollen from the other plant. The plant supplying the pollen is referred to as the pollen parent. The grower will remove the pollen from the pollen parent – usually with a toothpick or similar instrument – and smear the pollen on the base of the pod parent’s flower column. The plants are labeled with the names of the both parents and the pollination date.
If fertilization takes place, an amazing thing occurs in the blossom of the pod parent. Thread-like tubes stretch out from the column to a part of the blossom know as the ovary. The ovary then swells and forms a seedpod. Inside, hundreds of thousands of tiny seeds are forming, each one connected to a single pollen tube.
It may take over a year for each seedpod to mature. At this point, the grower will harvest the seeds, and put them in a sterilized flask. This flask will have a solution of special nutrients and agar. If the seeds successfully germinate, tiny orchids will appear in the flask, like a carpet of grass.
After a few months, the grower removes the seedlings from the flask and places them close together in a community pot. He keeps an eye on the seedlings, frequently watering them so they will not dry out. In time, the grower transplants his new orchids to individual pots. At this point, patience is a true virtue. Orchids may take from a few years to over a decade to bloom.
Imagine the joy that comes when a grower finally sees the orchid he or she has worked so hard on to produce. If the hybrid is a new variety, the grower can choose to register is under a name of his choice. Any other hybrids that are developed after that using that species blend will be referred to by the name it was registered under.
Sometimes, a grower will find an ideal combination that creates quite the sensation among orchid hobbyists. This may receive awards, with plants the demand high prices. Whatever the monetary outcome, the joy of seeing an orchid’s blossom that has been created by the grower is a delight. Now you know the time and patience that creates the beautiful orchids you see.
Just as wonderful and unique as the Orchid is the famous Plumeria
