Breeding Questions in Phalaenopsis

[charlaux]

Hi everyone,
For this summer,I am planning to do a breeding session and I started gathering information and these are the questions that I could not answer.

1) So we have a pod parent and a pollen parent.Does this influence who will be the dominant one ? For example I love the leaves of my phalaenopsis and would like to see the influence of that leaves in hybrid should it the be the pod or pollen parent or this does not have any influence ?

2) How can I make these two bloom at the same so that the breeding can happen ? What materials do I need to make the breeding process ?

Thank you for your help )

[PaphMadMan]

There are reasons why the pod parent may have more influence, mitochondrial and chloroplast DNA mostly, but they tend to contribute more to plant growth and vigor, temperature and light preferences, perhaps color patterns, than to predictable aspects of form of flowers or plants. So more influence of pod parent on leaf pattern, maybe... leaf form, less likely. I would tend to choose the stronger, better growing plant as the pod parent for those reasons, as well as the better chance of staying healthy while carrying a pod.

You don't need to get them in bloom together as long as you can accept that the one that blooms first gives the pollen. Pollen can be stored for weeks or months at least, though the shorter the time the better.

The only things you need to actually make the cross are good eyes, a steady hand, and a toothpick or similar tool to transfer the pollen. If you have the opportunity, make the cross both ways, and pollinate several flowers. It is never a 100% process.

[cucubirds]

Usually, pod parent dominates. but in some crosses both parents dominate.

I would choose plant that has good flower form & substance as pod parent and plant that has desire color/colorful/flower count as pollen parent.

As PaphMadMan mentioned, pollen can be stored for months. But fresh pollens work best.