Dear All- It is easy to be doubtful of the flowering of these new hybrids if you take into consideration that it is not widely reported that the length of time that it takes to produce a blooming plant is greatly reduced over the old assumption that orchids take years to flower. If you look at modern production facilities in the Netherlands, The continental USA, and Hawaii the length of time that it takes for some of these hybrids to bloom is much less than the traditional 3-4 years that most of us learned from our amateur orchid references. It is now not uncommon to have some Phalaenopsis, maudiae type paphs, and yes Phragmipediums blooming in sometimes as short as 14 months from flask. This is obviously still not true of some plants like multifloral paphs (but now rather than 10-12 years they are flowering in around 3-4 years for some of the hybrids). I have seen this evidence first hand without a doubt that the proof is true and can give many examples of such. Under excellent culture I have flowered maudiae type paphs in 20 months from flask - the same plants that were grown in Hawaii and at a facility in the netherlands bloomed some two months earlier. And if you speak to Mr. Decker he will tell you that the hybrids are growing quickly and that the pure species is growing much slower - exactly what you would expect in this case. If you use just simple thought about a nursery in Hawaii that receives no seasonal change in day length, relatively no seasonal fluctuation in temperature, giving the plants the ideal amount of water and fertilizer- it essentially gives you near perfect conditions for growth - plants growing in these environments will mature at a much faster rate than on a windowsil or hobby greenhouse. If this is not true - do you really think that it would be profitable to be growing the millions of orchids that are sold each year if you had to grow them in a greenhouse for 3-4 years before they flowered and were capable of being sold?
Sincerely Marc _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
