Oncidium x Tolumnia breeding adventures

[Dorchid]

Nothing is a waste of time if you enjoy doing it. The process is often rewarding in itself but success can be even more so. As such, set yourself up for success through education, networking and gumption. Make friends who are willing to share capsules or seed with you; trade pollen. If you have a certain cross that just won’t take, move on. Develop a plan of where you want to go, don’t just chuck pollen…you may need to at first to get your footing but it’s good to have a goal in what you’re doing…keep it narrow. My threads have some pretty good info in them and tube has some good info if you sort through the noise. Everyone has their own reason for whatever they do, don’t let others tell you what life is worth. Also, I can guarantee nobody is going to be the next Fred Clarke but the just might be the next tmoney.

2.5 yo



Σ

[greenhouseFrog]

Originally Posted by Dorchid

Nothing is a waste of time if you enjoy doing it. The process is often rewarding in itself but success can be even more so. As such, set yourself up for success through education, networking and gumption. Make friends who are willing to share capsules or seed with you; trade pollen. If you have a certain cross that just won’t take, move on. Develop a plan of where you want to go, don’t just chuck pollen…you may need to at first to get your footing but it’s good to have a goal in what you’re doing…keep it narrow. My threads have some pretty good info in them and tube has some good info if you sort through the noise. Everyone has their own reason for whatever they do, don’t let others tell you what life is worth. Also, I can guarantee nobody is going to be the next Fred Clarke but the just might be the next tmoney.

Speak of the devil! Thank you for your input, Dorchid—I consider myself still in the chucking pollen phase, but I’m very much on the same page with you in regard to not spending much time on crosses that don’t take—not seeing much progress, so I don’t see myself spending much more time on these Onc. X Tolu. crosses when I have other, less difficult crosses that could be made! There is a bunch of noise when it comes to the info, but the cream rises to the top after a while—thank you again for your contributions here on OB, and I WILL be looking through your posts! And if I’m not mistaken, 2.5 years is blinding speed—very well done!

I don’t think there will EVER be another tmoney, though

[Dorchid]

Originally Posted by greenhouseFrog

I don’t think there will EVER be another tmoney, though

That’s exactly my point.

[tmoney]

hahah!! you guys (gals?, i don't even know any more) are funny....i suppose all us plant nerds are a bit off...

definitely don't let anybody try to tell you not to do or try breeding (that's more for any other readers who may come here in the future!). but for sure the boss and i are now at the point of having to make big decisions about our future with all of this.

dorchid has taken a probably more intelligent approach to figure out the hard, expensive part of the process. and lets face it, tissue culture is the future of the plant world and will be a good skill to have when we are living in bubbles on mars.

its also a more financially wise way to spend time probably just because other people can come to you for work. and the space requirements are much less per unit. shipping per unit is much less for obvious reasons. and i do really believe/hope that home breeding is back on the rise, which means more of us will need good labs (hopefully). honestly, the search to find a lab held our progress up for over a year. so, i think dorchid is on a good track and doing something they love that will hopefully see increased demand in the coming years.

sorry, you can tell where my brain is on the whole breeding thing, i immediately start panicking about what we are gonna do with our seedlings and how we can start legally selling plants...the not so fun parts about breeding!

oh, and im pretty sure our breeding stock is all line-bred stock. obviously the complex hybrids that we use are TC. the paphs are all line bred, seed grown and here it seems the species are pretty stable and breed true, but time will tell, hopefully....plus your comment on the flower size...yeah, you shoulda started with cats or something with bigger flowers!!!!

[greenhouseFrog]

Welp…no success this time around, but that doesn’t come as a surprise. The majority of the Oncidiums, their intergeneric hybrids, and Tolumnias(and their intergenerics) in my collection bloom a few times a year, so it’s not like I’ll be waiting long for the next attempt.

Back to the drawing board