Germination List

[MrCym]

Well, unfortunately I typed a huge post and poof, suddenly it disappeared to be replaced by some bird tweeting in a tree. I hate Computers at times!

We sent germination lists out to commercial customers and agents supplying the enthusiast market, yesterday. We are making a clear separation from now forward. As we have already indicated, we will not be making any clones from our exhibition types. Graham Guest said it best, long ago. Growing mericlones is like watching enamel paint dry! And then of course, Pirates add insult to injury by re-cloning everything released. If you buy seedlings from NHO, you will have something unique and exclusively yours. It is always exciting to bloom a new, quality seedling and we invite you to enjoy the experience. Of course we understand why commercial Cym growers need clones and we intend to supply them with the right hybrid lines to match their environment. El Retiro is a unique environment so our selections here may differ from those of a commercial grower in Holland or China or Australia. That's why we offer commercial crosses for them to make selections from. As we advance our breeding, it is becoming difficult to really narrow down a season as here, with the daylength varying by only 40 minutes year round, plants will bloom whenever they mature their growths. It is almost impossible to find even a big tub with five spikes open at one time.

Obviously, enthusiasts want plants to exhibit. Be assured we are right at the cutting edge of all exhibition types, standards, intermediates, true minis and warmth-tolerant (WT) lines. We encourage, nay, expect our customers to make hybrids themselves. Obviously the Grim Reaper has his eyes on me so my forward plan is to encourage a slew of younger hybridizers in any way I can. I anguished over whether to release some of our new Cym Llewellyn Kouba 6n X 2n lines and finally decided to share the wealth! Now, please don't expect us to supply our agents at the normal price though of course we will do this for commercial, royalty-paying, commercial growers. But be sure that the two hybrids that will be supplied off this Germination List will be both tetraploids and WT for a bonus. This means they don't need extra heat but they certainly will bloom just fine under atypical normal Cym conditions. We are far advanced in our WT lines and expect within the decade to have their flowers up to 9 cm in diameter! Plants like Parish Madness and Tavatchai Thongprasert are proving to be incredible parents. For TT we used a special Cym. bicolor provided by Mr. Thongprasert and we've got completely away from short pendant spikes with dull colors.

I have said it before and reaffirm that we will not be doing any more meristems for the enthusiast market. We want our customers to have the joy of blooming a seedling that is unique and even more importantly, exclusive to them. I couldn't care less if customers exhibit their plants for judging or just enjoy them. Be assured, you are buying cutting edge hybrids in pendulous, WT, standards, intermediates, true minis and our albas. But AOS judging is deplorably bad and the Aussies/Japanese/Pommies/Europeans are equally off track. We pay special attention to our alba lines. They are tough and we constantly outcross to colored varieties thereby ensuring continued vigor. No wimpy Aussie albas at NH. Plus we are rapidly developing alba WT types which by their very alba character, are better equipped to handle tropical and sub-trpoical sunlight.

We encourage enthusiasts to try their hand at hybridizing. Most Cyms today are tetraploid in the hobbyist world so fertility is rarely a problem. I am old now but younger guys like Bert Ruiter and Susumu Furuya have lots of experience and a generation behind them are a real trove of toothpick wielding "youngsters"! I am happy to assist in any way I can to ensure that the orchid genus we love, moves to an even more rewarding advancement.

"Young" Ruiter is crazy about spotted Cyms etc (that's as close as I will go with saying pelorics!) and I'm leaving him to take the spotted lines forward. The first quality spotted Cym that also grows well was Betty Watt 'Anh' 4n. Named for a stalwart of the SBIOS and shared with me by Anh, this has been a truly memorable parent. Now we have spotted Cyms coming through still but from now on I need to leave the line to Bert. Floricultura have announced they do not want any more standards for cut flowers or potted plants so that cuts out a chunk of our standard/intermediate Cym trade.

We also are building true mini Cym lines around parents like Imogene Coca 4n that will flower with multiple spikes in an 11.0 cm pot. We're starting with green but other colors will soon appear. Greenhouse space is at a premium for both heating and cooling and what you don't need in a place like North Dakota is a Cym Bert Ruiter in a 30 cm pot with spikes of 35 flowers But we're silly enough to believe we can tame even this monster in two generations. Look forward to what we may offer in 2034.....

I usually post Cyms with names. For a test today, I posted a current bloom of a selected orange intermediate on Facebook that had been posted several months ago, asking if viewers could recall the name. Boy, did things go quiet...... Finally a local showed he was observant and named Old Brown Shoe 'Tabasco' 4n as the posted pic. To be a good judge you need a very good visual memory. Mine's failing now but younger growers need to work on this skill.

The Cym market is crazy strong in the US at present. It's pretty good in Europe and Australia too. Glad to see those Phals getting real competition. China is a sleeping giant and even Colombia is discovering that something like Kuranda is easy to bloom and very appealing. For SH readers, enjoy your season and for NH growers, give your plants light and feed and anticipate the Fall!

[Rob Allan]

Andy, so how do I, as a hobbyist living on the island of Corfu in Greece, go about purchasing cymbidium seedlings from you? Is it just too prohibitive with regulations, shipping costs etc? 90 odd % of my collection that I am rebuilding here have been purchased from Bert Ruiter, but now he is focusing on the wholesale market and that source has effectively dried up. Rob.

[MrCym]

Rob, almost impossible unfortunately. We only have royalty customers in the EU and getting stuff via England is basically shut down too. A bit frustrating!

[richardb]

Yes, Rob. The UK introduced very much tighter import regulations just last week which means that we are now virtually cut off from the rest of the world for sourcing our hobby. At least we had the EU in past times but I have been studying the new process carefully and it seems to me that barriers are almost insurmountable for amateurs without tenacity to fight through a minefield of paperwork and increased associoated charges. I gather that places like Australia have had such strict laws for many years so I guess we shall just need to get used to the situation and adjust our hobby somehow to comply living in the hope that some entrepreneurial trader will grasp the opportunity to gain the initiative as prime importer.

[Gary S]

Well Richard, if the UK has copied our quarantine import restrictions for orchids, then the hobbyist and amateur are left in the dark.

What has your country introduced?

[sabredance2]

In a way we orchid growers have to accept some of the blame for these restrictions. Over the past 20 years we've witnessed Bureaucrats the world over get together and share their policies and procedures in the name of upholding CITES and Quarantine requirements, with in the case of orchid growers, no input whatsoever. Government Officials have emboldened themselves with self importance.
What was required was push back from our industry, providing constant pressure to these government officials to be accountable for their restrictive rules and regulations. When the Australian Cymbidium Society was established, one of its objectives was to act as a lobbyist for growers/enthusiasts. Indeed it was successful in its one and only push back, negating Western Thrip impositions to Tasmania. Sad that such a national body was allowed to wither and dismantle.
To add salt to the wound, the irony is that these Tax Payer funded officials require growers to fund every aspect of the compliance process - seeking import/export permits, quarantine documentation, inspections, and the icing on the cake, to fund any plants they deem require destruction. Within their departments I'm sure the instigators are pleased with their strong stance against perceived illegal trade.

[Nigel]

SABRE. WE missed out on that property in NSW. A neighbouring stud purchased it. With our horses and orchids and water license, we could have made a go of it. I rang you, but you were wining and dining with your phone turned off. Just needed another 1.5 million. I think you could have grown some nice orchids on the escarpments of the Widden Valley.
Bureaucrats run the world. Just today they are gifting 180 million to the Sports Complex in Canberra. It is 'run down.' Well who let that happen.
And Richard, good luck fighting the bureaucrats.
Best wishes to everyone.

[sabredance2]

Nigel, will be barracking for your girl today, is in it up to her eyeballs.