# How do you choose a kovachii hybrid plant not in bloom??



## Gilda (Jul 23, 2015)

Do you go by leaf size..length /width. The same grex with one having more growths but they are smaller , with more narrow leaves. One with fewer growths but wider longer leaves. A previously bloomed but you didn't see the bloom ???? Help me make a decision ? Is there a rule to follow when choosing your plants ??? TIA !!


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## mrhappyrotter (Jul 23, 2015)

I look for wide leaves, particularly if the cross also has besseae or dalesandroi in it. 

Generally speaking, if you want the best chance of the biggest flowers, go for the plant with one large growth over plants with several smaller growths. The smaller sized, but multigrowth plants are sometimes that way due to stress, and anyway, I mostly don't trust multigrowth plants unless I've seen evidence of it having bloomed at least once.

Keeping that in mind, I prefer plants that stay small enough to fit under lights, so sometimes I'll choose plants based on the fact that one of them is really compact compared to the others. 

If I'm considering a previously bloomed plant versus an unbloomed seedling (of comparable size and breeding quality), I'd generally go for the unbloomed plant. This is especially true if I can't at least see a photo of the flower from the bloomed plant. I also really like the feeling I get when I'm the first person to have ever seen the plant's flowers, unbloomed plants are like old-school cereal box prizes. And, while not strictly true, I always feel like if that previously bloomed plant's flowers had been of decent-exceptional quality, it probably would have sold when it was in bloom.

There are exceptions to that, though, if the previously bloomed plant is something I've been looking out for, I'm not terribly worried about the flower quality, and the price is right (i.e. cheap). Also, if it's a variable cross and there's a particular trait I'm looking for in the flower, then I'd consider buying the bloomed plant so long as I felt the seller was trustworthy with the description. For instance, I'd love to have a red/orange P. Fritz Schomburg, but many of them fall into the more purple/pink/pale color range. So, if I were to buy that cross, I'd strongly consider buying a previously bloomed plant if the vendor said the flower was on the orange side.


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## Gilda (Jul 23, 2015)

Thanks for your input. The reason for the question, was I ordered several of the same grex, but noticed a lot of variation and trying to choose one to keep, I just wanted to go ennie, meenie ,minny, moe 
I have chosen one previously unbloomed, my feelings ,I would rather see the first bloom, bad or good. The multi-growth had me baffled though. More growths you would think to be a good thing, but like you said ,plant is smaller,like a runt.
I usually choose bigger plants, wider leaves etc., but with second generation kovachii x's, didn't know what to look for. Thanks again!


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