So You Want to Grow A Hybrid Orchid?

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So You Want to Grow A Hybrid Orchid?

Sunday, December 28th, 2008    Subscribe To Our Feed

Orchids (more formally, Orchidacea) are a grouping of plants comprising over than 20,000 known species, quite a few of which are highly valuable in a commercial sense. Many people consider them to be the most intriguing order of plants in the whole vegetable kingdom due to their astonishing mode of growth and existence, their odd habits and the multitudinous shapes and forms of their blooms, which are different from those of all other plants — fine in texture and with exquisite and glowing tints.

Orchids are also to be remarked on because of their well-known adaptability and the degree to which they will easily cross-breed or cross-fertilize. This is so in their natural habitats as well as under cultivation. This fact also accounts for the virtually endless varieties of flowers and colors that can occur from the hybridizing process.

A little botany: The orchid flower as a rule is made up of these parts: the sepals, the petals, the labellum or pouch, and the column (or crest).

On most orchids the labellum is generally the most conspicuous part as well as the most important organ of the flower. Insects crawl or fly into it looking for the succulent juices contained within the spur or walls of the flower, pollinating the plant in the process and bringing about cross-fertilization in the bargain. This is how so many new varieties are produced in the wild, and these are the orchids that are termed natural hybrids.  But under cultivation this task must be accomplished by human caretakers using tiny camel’s hair brushes and with a careful eye and judgment as to the proper time for fertilization. It is in this way that the most gorgeous hybrid orchids are produced, and these are called garden hybrids.

One of the the things that makes orchid growing so exciting is the possibility of producing our own orchid hybrids. It takes knowledge and a good bit of patience, but even novices have created some astounding orchids through hybridizing.

If you are wishing to experiement with hybridizing orchids, you should first gain some good experience in basic cultivation of these plants.Only when you have gained confidence in working with orchids should you try the demanding task of hybridization. Orchids are slow growing, and slow to produce blooms, so you must be comfortable with waiting often years to find out if your hybridizing attempts are successful. Nontheless, when it succeeds, it’s an incredible experience.  You can produce not only some beautiful flowers in this way, but also orchid varieties never before seen in the world.

Naturally, you must search out all the how-to information that you can before attempting to hybridize orchids. Fortunately, there are good books available on all aspects of orchid growing, including step-by-step instructions on hybridizing orchids.

The most accurate and clear guidebook to contemporary orchid cultivation, many growers agree, is Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, which can be downloaded over the Internet. Howard’s well-written guide constitutes a comprehensive education all by itself. And, it is perfect for beginning gardeners as well as more experienced orchid growers. In addition, be sure to visit the Orchid Secretssite, which is publishing an ever-expanding database of information on many topics of orchid cultivation.