I have a question / observation to put toward the Forum --- ever since
the four hurricanes last year (the last of which was Hurricane Wilma on
10/24/2005 which produced wind gusts of 185 mph (83 meter/sec) on our
property), I have notice a strange condition affecting my breeding
program. On an average year, I might make 400 - 500 breeding attempts on
my Paphs, usually resulting in sending over 100 - 150 mature pods to the
labs. Our greenhouses were recovered with brand new polycarbonate sheets
several months before the hurricane season and I converted all the
greenhouses over to fan & cool pads instead of the original natural
ventilation. I still use the rigid roof vents on our sawtooth design
houses for the first three cooling stages. Further cooling involves the
wet pads and high pressure fog. I replaced out 10 year old polycarbonate
panels with new panels because of chemical deterioration due to a
negligent farmer starting a forest fire on our property. The resulting 2
months of smoldering resulted in the polycarbonate turning quite yellow
and extremely brittle (to the point that the greenhouse construction
fell through the roof on 6 different occasions).
The changes in environmental conditions include more normal pre-burn
light conditions and a more controllable temperature during our long hot
summers. Enclosing the side and end walls in polycarbonate also resulted
in a stronger structure - the winds of Hurricane Wilma that caused over
$100,000 in damage around our home resulted in one plant falling off the
benches inside the greenhouse.
The question / observation --- I've made the normal quantity of Paph
hybrids this last blooming season, but the success rate has fallen to
possibly 20 or 25 pods actually germinating. This is not just a
phenomenon affecting my greenhouse. I have spoken to several other Paph
breeders in the Florida area that was affected by Wilma --- all of them,
including the person that does a fair amount of our flasking, have
reported the same thing --- lots of pods simply falling off or staying
on the plants the required amount of time, but totally empty. In my
case, several of the grexes were exact replications of crosses I have
done before with great germination rates - using the same plants. The
only difference in the plant material is that the plants are older by
one or two years, and if anything, even hardier and more robust.
Chemical and fertilization histories are the same - no changes in media
or anything else. RO water for irrigation w/ 6.5 - 8.5 ppm EC readings
(before fertilizer injection. pH of 6.3 in the irrigation lines.
I am wondering if there could be some relationship between the extreme
lows in barometric pressure and breeding potential of the Paphs - even
after the storms have passed. Sounds improbable, but what other
explanation is there???
Terry A. Glancy
Pine Ridge Orchids, Inc.
21100 SW 300 Street
Homestead, FL 33030
ph (305) 247-4839
(305) 247-3086
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.PineRidgeOrchids.com
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