Stanhopea and Cattleya

By all means, do it! Can't hurt, might work. That'd be amazing. I will say I tried breeding a Vanda to an Oncidium, just for kicks--nothing happened.

I've tried, mostly without success. I've studied it more than I've actively bred plants--something I need to correct. I've got an Encyclia cordigera blooming now and a Leptotes bicolor that'll probably be open any time now, so I'll try that.

I've always kind of been interested in weirdo novelty hybrids--I like the concept of crossing a small, kind of oddly-shaped flower with a big spectacular showy one. I think that's why the Laeliinae interests me, you've got huge Cattleyas and then you've got Epidendrums that look like insects and things--theoretically they should be compatible. That's cool.

I've got a Tetramicra that I want to work with, but I don't think I've got its growing conditions down--it's not doing so well. But the Leptotes and the Encyclias are looking good. I'm sure down the line I'll put in a request to trade pollen with people here...

Ya know, like breeding a chipmunk with a standard poodle...

Julie

That one's right in there in terms of breeding to a Catt.; would work right to your purposes. I've never grown one myself, but I remember another grower saying they needed the same high Catt lighting, but much more than Catt water--only allowed to dry off very slightly between waterings.

Sue is very into the kind of experimentation you're talking about (the kind the taxonomy shows has at least a chance of working, even if its not been done yet, as opposed to the kind I'm talking about, which more than likely doesn't have a chance in hell), so I'll bet you two will be trading all kinds of pollen before long.

Anyway....

If this Catt ovary swells come next week, I'm going to be posting cartwheels all over the place.....

Glad you wrote in here!

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Louis J. Aszod

Glad to be here. It's nice to find a forum that's not just people insulting each other...

Well, to tell the truth, I think your nose is rather big.

Julie

Whew! I'm glad Julie said it first!

I'm glad you found us – sounds like you are, indeed, playing with some breeding directions in which I am also interested.

There are some interesting Leptotes and Tetramicra hybrids, but they are uncommon, and their breeding potential is relatively unexplored. I don't happen to have either.

I do have a Bardendrum Nanboh Pixy 'Cherry Moon' in bloom (has been continuously since I got it in November, with no sign of stopping until at least Fall), and an Epidendrum conopseum in spike. Let me know if you'd like to play with pollen from either.

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I am trying to hurt your dog.

Well said, I believe that was the correct response.

That would be great--both sound like a good idea. Especially the Bardendrum. I could trade you some Leptotes pollen when the buds open if you're interested.

Epidendrum conopseum, that one's really interesting. I remember seeing an article in an old, old copy of the AOS Bulletin (from, I think, about 1966) written by someone in Northern Florida where E. conopseum grows wild. She (he? I forget) decided to cross a whole bunch of Laeliinae species & hybrids to the Epidendrum as an experiment to try to breed for cold tolerance. The author wasn't interested in the Epidendrum's flowers at all, just its hardiness--but the article contained a bunch of photos of the results, which I thought looked really interesting, much more so than the pages and pages of standard Cattleyas that made up the rest of the magazine.

Yeah, I definitely get the impression that a lot of these experimental novelty crosses were only made in small batches and few of the resulting plants still exist, which is kinda sad.

Bardendrum Nanboh Pixy is a great plant; compact and very floriferous. I've tried crossing 'Cherry Moon' a few times, and nothing has come of it. So – fair warning – it might be triploid.

But yeah; let me know whenever you want to exchange some pollenia.

Do you do anything with Cymb/Phaius/Calanthe/Catasetum/Maxillaria/Lycaste/Zygopetalum/etc.? I've been trying some new directions in that area of intertribal madness (did you read my FAQ entry on 'CymbidiumGate'?). Unfortunately, nothing too exciting to show for it yet.

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I am trying to hurt your dog.

Sadly, no, practically everything I have is either in the Cattleya or Oncidium groups. I should have some Cymbidiums, since I'm in Southern California, but I don't. I was thinking of maybe looking for some Polystachya plants if I could find some that match my growing conditions, which are kind of narrow, now that I think about it.