Pee Wee 'Solana Beach' HCC/AOS
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Albert Nakaji
- Posts: 501
- Joined: Fri Mar 22, 2013 8:43 pm
Pee Wee 'Solana Beach' HCC/AOS
Got this from Loren Batchman some time back, as I was looking for WT breeding plants. Loren was sure it would bloom, but now that it has, I don't know what to do with it. I'm not particularly fond of green with brown. Good green with strong red would be great. Any suggestions?
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MrCym
- Posts: 14589
- Joined: Tue Mar 19, 2013 11:37 pm
Re: Pee Wee 'Solana Beach' HCC/AOS
Well Al, as you know the picture is much bigger than the flower in real life! Lots of luck in getting seed from anything except PeeWee 'Gold Coins' which is reputed to be a tetraploid. Most primary pumilum hybrids are very close to sterile. I know we have it with Peter Pan 4n and something else. I bloomed PeeWee hybrids years ago in New Zealand, trying for size now, like you. I counted the spike yesterday and it had 63 flowers so no problem with floriferousness!
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Albert Nakaji
- Posts: 501
- Joined: Fri Mar 22, 2013 8:43 pm
Re: Pee Wee 'Solana Beach' HCC/AOS
Yes, sometimes it's good to get an image and blow it up well beyond what the flower is in real life so that the eyes can better see what's actually there. The more I look at it, the more I know it'll find a new home.
The records show that Pee Wee has made relatively few hybrids considering how long it's been around. Additionally, none of those offspring have produced any hybrids themselves. Of the 10 hybrids, 9 were with Pee Wee as a pod parent, and one, Lloyd's Persistence, should have been a clear clue about it not being a good parent (even though there is an award in that cross).
It's interesting that in Cattleya breeding, when a species is used, they are generally fertile (unless it's a triploid). The difficulty comes in when intergenerics are made. DNA testing has shown that what were thought to be distinct genera are now considered to be not-so-distinct and even the same, and that may explain why certain combinations take readily and others don't (e.g., Sophronitis and Cattleya, Laelia and Cattleya, etc.). I suppose that's one good thing that partially (only very little) makes up for all of the present day name changes and confusion.
With Cyms, it's (to me) quite surprising that several species seem to be very reluctant breeders after the first generation. Cym pumilum is cited as an example of this, and there are others. Only through a forum such as this, or by conversing with someone who has great history and first hand knowledge of such things, can this information be acquired. This is a tremendous benefit for someone like me who is long on curiousity, short on years, easily frustrated with "failure", yet stubborn with toothpicks.
The records show that Pee Wee has made relatively few hybrids considering how long it's been around. Additionally, none of those offspring have produced any hybrids themselves. Of the 10 hybrids, 9 were with Pee Wee as a pod parent, and one, Lloyd's Persistence, should have been a clear clue about it not being a good parent (even though there is an award in that cross).
It's interesting that in Cattleya breeding, when a species is used, they are generally fertile (unless it's a triploid). The difficulty comes in when intergenerics are made. DNA testing has shown that what were thought to be distinct genera are now considered to be not-so-distinct and even the same, and that may explain why certain combinations take readily and others don't (e.g., Sophronitis and Cattleya, Laelia and Cattleya, etc.). I suppose that's one good thing that partially (only very little) makes up for all of the present day name changes and confusion.
With Cyms, it's (to me) quite surprising that several species seem to be very reluctant breeders after the first generation. Cym pumilum is cited as an example of this, and there are others. Only through a forum such as this, or by conversing with someone who has great history and first hand knowledge of such things, can this information be acquired. This is a tremendous benefit for someone like me who is long on curiousity, short on years, easily frustrated with "failure", yet stubborn with toothpicks.