help needed in pollinating

[sharath]

hi friends. last week i cross pollinated my two phals but my flowers just dried and fellout. the flower stem did not swell or showed any sign of producing seeds . instead of crossing shall i self it .so that i can produce some seeds. can any one suggest me with this. thank u

[orchidlady]

There could be many reasons for the cross not taking. A common one with modern Phal. hybrids is they may have unusual ploidy like 3N. If this is the case, it is likely they won't breed even with a selfing. Also, it could be related to how long the flowers have been open. A friend of mine says that, in general, flowers are most fertile 2-3 days after opening. If the flowers have been open for a long period of time, the chance of successful fertilization goes down. Sometimes crosses don't take for unknown reasons.

Susan

[AtantaR]

Is there a data base for species and hybrid diploids?

[orchidlady]

Is there a data base for species and hybrid diploids?

I have never seen one. Phal hybridizers can generally be a good source for information.

Susan