# Phrag. kovachii 'Morobamba'



## Drorchid (Jan 13, 2012)

*Phrag. kovachii 'Moyobamba'*

Our latest kovachii that opened up: Phrag. kovachii 'Moyobamba'. It is a cross between 'Laura' x 'Ana'. It has one more flower spike coming!

Flower:






Plant:





Robert


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## nikv (Jan 13, 2012)

Very nice! So what are your plans with it? Do you have any hybrids planned?


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## Shiva (Jan 13, 2012)

I like it! I mean really, really, really like it!


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## gonewild (Jan 13, 2012)

Nice!
What is the significance of 'Morobamba'?


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## Erythrone (Jan 13, 2012)

Really really really nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Chuck (Jan 13, 2012)

Very nice bloom! It is well photographed also.


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## Drorchid (Jan 13, 2012)

gonewild said:


> Nice!
> What is the significance of 'Morobamba'?



oeps, I misspelled it, it should be 'Moyobamba'. It is named after a town in Northern Peru, and also means "Circular Plain' in Quechua. As the flowers are pretty "circular" we thought it was an appropriate name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moyobamba

Robert


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## slippertalker (Jan 13, 2012)

Nice flower and plant.....my kovachii's have spikes but the spikes have stopped progressing. Is that something you have seen with yours or is it my particular problem? The inflorescenses are seemingly ready to bloom but the buds aren't forming. They have been in spike for several months.


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## Drorchid (Jan 13, 2012)

slippertalker said:


> Nice flower and plant.....my kovachii's have spikes but the spikes have stopped progressing. Is that something you have seen with yours or is it my particular problem? The inflorescenses are seemingly ready to bloom but the buds aren't forming. They have been in spike for several months.



I am guessing the plants are staying too dry. We grow ours on an "Eb and Flow" system, so they get watered twice a day. We had the same problem when we used to grow them like our other Phrags (when we watered them twice a week, and growing them in a regular bark mix). At the time they would form flower spikes, but then they would just sit there without forming flower buds or abort. Now that we grow them on an Eb and Flow system they don't have that problem anymore. Call or email Jason and he can explain the specifics of how we grow them.

Robert


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## Dido (Jan 13, 2012)

What mix you are using. 

Nice flower by the way


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## gonewild (Jan 13, 2012)

Drorchid said:


> oeps, I misspelled it, it should be 'Moyobamba'. It is named after a town in Northern Peru, and also means "Circular Plain' in Quechua. As the flowers are pretty "circular" we thought it was an appropriate name.
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moyobamba
> 
> Robert



I figured. :wink: 
But thought maybe you were referring to a different bamba.


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## eggshells (Jan 13, 2012)

Always reminds me of mickey mouse when I see this flower. Really lovely.


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## biothanasis (Jan 13, 2012)

Impressive flower!!!


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## John M (Jan 13, 2012)

VERRRRY nice, Robert! It's so nice to see this! The plant looks really happy too. 

After you mentioned earlier that you now grow your PK's in the eb and flow system, I repotted my seedlings (which I've had for a lo-ooooong time and which are still quite small), into clear plastic cups with a drainage hole about 1" up the side, creating a reservoire of water in the bottom. I also make a point of watering them heavily more often, flushing out the reservoire. Now, they're rooting well and beginning to grow like never before.

BTW: What is the NS of this flower?


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## wojtek (Jan 13, 2012)

Oh Robert ! Your kovachii are incredible


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## Paphman910 (Jan 13, 2012)

Nice flowers and photo! Nice flowers and the photographer deserves the other credit for taking such a nice photo!:clap::clap::clap:


Paphman910


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## W. Beetus (Jan 13, 2012)

Extremely nice!


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## Jorch (Jan 13, 2012)

Always love the deep purple velvety flower


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## SlipperFan (Jan 13, 2012)

:drool: :clap: :smitten: :smitten: :clap: :drool: :smitten:


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## littlefrog (Jan 13, 2012)

Someday I will get one of these... Or convince the two remaining 2" seedlings I have to grow.

Sweet.


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## Eric Muehlbauer (Jan 13, 2012)

So nice. Sorry, but I have yet to see a kovachii hybrid that impressed me in any way...please make more kovachii crosses! I'm looking forward to the day when kovachii is as easy to get, and as growable/bloomable, as besseae is now. I just hope my nursing home will have a room to grow it in!


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## Paul (Jan 14, 2012)

wow, this one is extremly nice!!


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## Susie11 (Jan 14, 2012)

Lovely! I just want to reach out and touch!


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## Gcroz (Jan 14, 2012)

Absolutely gorgeous. Do you have plans to have it judged?


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## John M (Jan 14, 2012)

As beautiful as it is, I don't think it would be wise to have it judged on this flower. That colour break on it's left petal would bring the score down quite a bit and if it got an award at all, it would likely be a low HCC. Personally, I think the judges would normally consider something like that to be a "fatal flaw", preventing them from considering that flower any further, no matter how impressive it may be.


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## NYEric (Jan 14, 2012)

I like it. I cant wait to come to OL and see them in person.


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## FlowerFaerie (Jan 14, 2012)

John M said:


> It's so nice to see this! The plant looks really happy too.



I think it looks rather belligerent! :evil: (But beautiful! :rollhappy


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## JeanLux (Jan 14, 2012)

Thanks Robert for visualizing one of my dreams (once more )!!!! Jean


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## littlefrog (Jan 14, 2012)

John M said:


> As beautiful as it is, I don't think it would be wise to have it judged on this flower. That colour break on it's left petal would bring the score down quite a bit and if it got an award at all, it would likely be a low HCC. Personally, I think the judges would normally consider something like that to be a "fatal flaw", preventing them from considering that flower any further, no matter how impressive it may be.



As a judge... It is really difficult to have a comprehensive list of 'fatal flaws'. What might be inexcusable to me might be tolerable to somebody else. No flower is perfect, so we will often deduct points for various 'flaws', rather than just eliminate a flower from consideration. I'd say some judges would have a serious problem with the color break. Some would consider it 'pointable' (in the sense that you would deduct points). I'm afraid some judges might not even notice... Judges are humans too, and we don't always see everything. A truly impressive flower (either large, or excitingly colored) might overwhelm somebody's interpretation of various flaws.

For me, personally, I would have to see the whole flower and compare it to the other awarded flowers (there aren't many, I think). I don't like judging pictures of flowers, so this is just my first impression. That color break might not even show up in person, sometimes the camera reveals flaws. I like the overall color a lot. I like the form, it is nice and round and apparently fairly symmetrical. I like the dorsal being a contrasting color. I like the petal shape, it isn't nearly as reflexed as most of the kovachii I've seen (in pictures, as yet I haven't seen a live one). That may change with age. As noted, I do not like the color break, but it is a fairly small region of the flower and could be purely mechanical, I don't think it is fatal. What I don't like about judging single flowered plants is that you can't see if there is consistency between the flowers. For slippers we often only see one flower. 

That is just my personal opinion. You'd have at least another two (and maybe more) judges on the team, you never know what they will think. Whatever the outcome may be, you never know unless you bring the plant to a judging. You are often your own harshest critic. The flaws you see might not matter to the team that looks at the plant. Worst that can happen is that you don't get an award, that is what you were expecting anyway, right?


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## Ozpaph (Jan 14, 2012)

littlefrog said:


> As a judge... It is really difficult to have a comprehensive list of 'fatal flaws'. What might be inexcusable to me might be tolerable to somebody else. No flower is perfect, so we will often deduct points for various 'flaws', rather than just eliminate a flower from consideration. I'd say some judges would have a serious problem with the color break. Some would consider it 'pointable' (in the sense that you would deduct points). I'm afraid some judges might not even notice... Judges are humans too, and we don't always see everything. A truly impressive flower (either large, or excitingly colored) might overwhelm somebody's interpretation of various flaws.
> 
> For me, personally, I would have to see the whole flower and compare it to the other awarded flowers (there aren't many, I think). I don't like judging pictures of flowers, so this is just my first impression. That color break might not even show up in person, sometimes the camera reveals flaws. I like the overall color a lot. I like the form, it is nice and round and apparently fairly symmetrical. I like the dorsal being a contrasting color. I like the petal shape, it isn't nearly as reflexed as most of the kovachii I've seen (in pictures, as yet I haven't seen a live one). That may change with age. As noted, I do not like the color break, but it is a fairly small region of the flower and could be purely mechanical, I don't think it is fatal. What I don't like about judging single flowered plants is that you can't see if there is consistency between the flowers. For slippers we often only see one flower.
> 
> That is just my personal opinion. You'd have at least another two (and maybe more) judges on the team, you never know what they will think. Whatever the outcome may be, you never know unless you bring the plant to a judging. You are often your own harshest critic. The flaws you see might not matter to the team that looks at the plant. Worst that can happen is that you don't get an award, that is what you were expecting anyway, right?


A very sensible dissertation!


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## Jason Fischer (Jan 14, 2012)

To answer the judging question:

The closest judging center to us is Chicago, a 7 hour drive. One of our local judges makes the drive every month, so sometimes we do send things out with her, but to be honest a lot of the good stuff here just never gets judged. We do have our own AOS judged show the end of this month, and I have about 7 more kovachii in bud currently. Most likely I'll have a couple to bring to an AOS judged show this month, for the first time! However, of all the kovachii I have seen here, only three are worth having judged.

This particular clone is great, but not as great as 'Tesoro Morado', the first kovachii we ever flowered (still haven't seen better). 

We've flowered about 15 kovachii now. Every single one had a color break in one or both of the petals. That's just the nature of kovachii. I'm not sure if that can ever be 'bred out' of this flower. 

The good news is we have lots of 'Tesoro Morado' siblings and selfings in flats now. The seedlings will most likely start to be available by fall, and at a much lower price than the first round of kovachii. What's great is these are seedlings from the Tesoro Morado crossed with Chuck Acker's first kovachii which he called '#1'. Phrag. kovachii self-pollinates, so most likely our seedlings are a combination of 'Tesoro Morado' x self and 'Tesoro Morado' x '#1'. The reason we used Chuck's pollen was to hopefully increase vigor in growth as both plants were the first for both nurseries to flower.

I haven't been on here in a while, so Happy New Year to all!


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## Kevin (Jan 14, 2012)

Awesome, Robert! Great growing and blooming. Thanks for posting pics of these.

Is it typical, common or uncommon for the dorsal and ventral sepals to be so light in colour? I don't think I've seen that before. Interesting. It does catch the eye, but I'm not sure I like it more than others I've seen - they are all stunning, though. 
kovachii rocks!:clap::drool:


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## quaker (Jan 14, 2012)

Beautiful plant -- must try to get one of these -- Could I have yours?????
Ed


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## cnycharles (Jan 14, 2012)

thanks for the explanation of which seedlings might be mixed into the crosses; I was reading through the pages of the thread to ask the question 'how do you know if an outcross you've made will actually take, and not be the result of a flower selfing itself?' I guess you don't really know. Is there some technique that you could do to open up the bud before it can self, and remove the pollen so that it will only be an outcross?


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## e-spice (Jan 15, 2012)

That is completely spectacular Robert. Thanks for posting.


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## Marc (Jan 15, 2012)

Robert het ziet er geweldig uit!!!!!

It must be great to work in a place like that.


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## Drorchid (Jan 16, 2012)

John M said:


> VERRRRY nice, Robert! It's so nice to see this! The plant looks really happy too.
> 
> After you mentioned earlier that you now grow your PK's in the eb and flow system, I repotted my seedlings (which I've had for a lo-ooooong time and which are still quite small), into clear plastic cups with a drainage hole about 1" up the side, creating a reservoire of water in the bottom. I also make a point of watering them heavily more often, flushing out the reservoire. Now, they're rooting well and beginning to grow like never before.
> 
> BTW: What is the NS of this flower?



Thanks everyone for the nice comments (and Bedankt Marc!). Also glad to hear John that your plants are doing better now that your are watering them more often. We found that they do better for us too if they get more water. Like I said all the mature kovachii plants we are currently growing on an Eb and Flow system, and most of the hybrids we put the plants in saucers and have water sitting in the saucer most of the time.

You asked what the NS was, well I measured it this morning and it was 18 cm across! When it comes to flower quality, like Jason mentioned we have bloomed 15 kovachii's thus far, and I definitely see a big variation in flower quality. Some already start to reflex as soon as the flower opens, as others (like the Tesoro Morado and this particular clone) stay pretty flat, even when the flower matures. Unfortunately like Jason Mentioned, almost all of the flowers have had some kind of color break in the flowers. I think that is because the flowers are so huge and develop pretty fast, so color breaks are almost unavoidable. 

Btw, we have a bunch of interesting kovachii crosses and backcrosses to kovachii coming along in the lab. The first year when we made crosses we did not get much germination, but we don't have that problem anymore. I am guessing within a year we will be offering a bunch of new crosses!

Robert


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## Yoyo_Jo (Jan 16, 2012)

eggshells said:


> Always reminds me of mickey mouse when I see this flower. Really lovely.



Ya, me too. M-I-C, K-E-Y, M-O-U-S-E!! ran through my head when I saw the first pix.

What a bloom, there are no words... :drool: :drool: :drool:


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## John M (Jan 16, 2012)

Drorchid said:


> You asked what the NS was, well I measured it this morning and it was 18 cm across! *Nice! A flower that size which is remaining flat must be a fantastic sight in person!*When it comes to flower quality, like Jason mentioned we have bloomed 15 kovachii's thus far, and I definitely see a big variation in flower quality. Some already start to reflex as soon as the flower opens, as others (like the Tesoro Morado and this particular clone) stay pretty flat, even when the flower matures. Unfortunately like Jason Mentioned, almost all of the flowers have had some kind of color break in the flowers. I think that is because the flowers are so huge and develop pretty fast, so color breaks are almost unavoidable. *Well, I guess the lack of consistency in the form....and the tendency towards colour breaks, gives the breeders like yourselves something to work towards and improving upon as the captive bred generations come along and new clones are chosen to use in further breeding. The next 20 years is going to be incredible! Look at how far Phrag. besseae has come from the jungle quality plants. If we see that kind of improvement in kovachii, the flowers of the future will be unbelievable!*
> 
> Btw, we have a bunch of interesting kovachii crosses and backcrosses to kovachii coming along in the lab. The first year when we made crosses we did not get much germination, but we don't have that problem anymore. I am guessing within a year we will be offering a bunch of new crosses! *Nice!*


..


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## Clark (Jan 16, 2012)

Pk is a large piece of eye candy!
Nice pop Robert.


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## Jason Fischer (Jan 16, 2012)

cnycharles said:


> thanks for the explanation of which seedlings might be mixed into the crosses; I was reading through the pages of the thread to ask the question 'how do you know if an outcross you've made will actually take, and not be the result of a flower selfing itself?' I guess you don't really know. Is there some technique that you could do to open up the bud before it can self, and remove the pollen so that it will only be an outcross?



Typically removing the pollen immediately (as the flower is still opening) will decrease the chance of self-pollination. However, if the pollen is already touching the stigmatic surface while the flower opens, you are bound to get some selfings. The good thing about making hybrids is that within less than a year out of the flask, the seedlings themselves will show the difference in leaf shape and size. Hybrids will grow faster, and selfings will grow slower with a particular shape and sheen to the leaves that's easy for me to recognize. When you plant out as many seedlings as I have over the past 20+ years, it gets easy to recognize species just by looking at the foliage of a seedling!


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## gonewild (Jan 16, 2012)

If kovachii self pollinates does that mean it does not depend on a natural pollinator?

And this is actually going to be a question....
If the natural wild population is reproduced by self pollination then the kovachii seedlings that are "crosses" between two selected clones are probably not representative of what a "wild" plant would be. That is unless the seed was actually produced by self pollination. So my question is how would this effect the growth of the seedlings? Maybe this can help explain the slow growth and slow maturity of the seedlings? Genetics mixed incorrectly?


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## Phrag-Plus (Jan 18, 2012)

Gorgeous!


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## li'l frog (Jan 28, 2012)

Got awarded today. I'll let the folks from O Ltd give the details.


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## Tony Beck (Jan 30, 2012)

Great flower, how old is an average kovachii before flowering for the first time.?


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