| Q If you self-pollinate a Cattleya maxima ‘alba’ or, for that
matter, any while alba form of a Cattleya, will the siblings all be white or, if
not, what percent age will be white? I would like to ask the same question about blue Cattleya
species. I would like to self-pollinate and then flask the seed from my awarded plants
— or is mericloning the way
to go? A Self-pollination of any alba Cattleya species will always produce 100 percent alba progeny. But be careful that you are dealing with a genetic alba. For example, many white-appearing plants of Cattleya skinneri are actually weakly pigmented and will give lavender offspring. Additionally, with selfing, if the species is already strongly inbred, the plants may encounter sterility problems and possibly a reduction in vigor. The jackpot that is always potentially available in a selfing is that you might obtain an even finer form of the species than the one you started out with. For blue cattleyas, you often have to have a good imagination. In my limited experience, the blues seem highly variable in a selfing and I have seen a range from mid-blue to almost white from a selfing of Laelia anceps ‘Veitchiana’. —Andy Easton. |
Reprinted, with permission, from "Orchids" - The Magazine of the American Orchid Society, March 2001.