Paphiopedilum Saint Swithin (rothschildianum x philippinense frma. album) x delenatii frma. alba

[Ernesto]

I want to make a Paph hybrid that looks like a white rothschildianum. To get there, I figured I needed a way to get a roth shape, a way to wipe out anthocyanin, a way to wipe out carotenoids, and a way to wipe out chlorophyll. I think there are many ways to do this, and this is the first route I’ve taken that has yielded promising results!

This is the furthest along I’ve gotten with Paphiopedilum breeding, so I wanted to share what I’ve got so far. I’ve germinated seeds via green pod method of Paph. Saint Swithin (roth x philippinense alba) x delenatii alba. Based on what I’ve seen online, the philippinense albino allele works in tandem with the delenatii albino allele to produce white to near white flowers in the offspring— philippinense alba lacks pigment save for chlorophyll, while delenatii suppresses yellows and greens (and the albinos lack anthocyanin!). Together, they make (poorly shaped) white flowers. The Saint Swithin I used as the pod parent should contribute an albino allele, as well as a “roth-y” shape and substance. It isn’t an award winning flower though, so to compensate for its shape I used a very nice delenatii alba as the pollen parent.



The protocorms are now beginning to photosynthesize and I’m making preparations for replates soon!

 

[Ozpaph]

good luck. Sounds like a long breeding timeline.
Why not use the 'half' albino SS sibs to start. At least the shape will be 'roth like'.
AFAIK there are no pure white multiflorals so white might be impossible without a spontaneous mutation.

 

[TyroneGenade]

What medium did you use?

When you replace make sure no ethanol touches the the plants or gets into the replates. It is better to use hydrogen peroxide as service sterilant while working with the flasks if you have limited space.

 

[Ernesto]

good luck. Sounds like a long breeding timeline.
Why not use the 'half' albino SS sibs to start. At least the shape will be 'roth like'.
AFAIK there are no pure white multiflorals so white might be impossible without a spontaneous mutation.

Thanks, perhaps I’ll see flowers before I’m 40

It’s an option for the next time the plant is in bloom— since it was a young plant I decided to only have it hold one pod, and I went with one that would yield a higher amount of white to white-ish flowers. The half album plants are both Aa, so assuming the albino mutation is at the same locus in philippinense and delenatii (which, based on pics of the hybrid Paph. Delphi made with alba parents, it appears to be) I would expect the ratio of alba to non-alba offspring to be 1:3. Also, the alba offspring would likely just be green and white, which many other breeders have already done.

Meanwhile the offspring of Aa Saint Swithin crossed to aa delenatii alba would have a ratio of about 1:1. Of course, I don’t know how robust the alba offspring are compared to normal color form, so I don’t imagine the survival rate would be equal. Also, parvi x multiflorals are tricky bloomers. But of the few that I get to bloom, there’s a shot at something special there— a flower free (or containing very little) anthocyanin, carotenoids, or chlorophyll.

 

[Ernesto]

What medium did you use?

When you replace make sure no ethanol touches the the plants or gets into the replates. It is better to use hydrogen peroxide as service sterilant while working with the flasks if you have limited space.

Half-strength P668 made with coconut water as a source of sugar. I followed Here But Not’s recipe for mother flasks.

 

[Ernesto]

Just an update on the mother flask— I’ve yet to replate, but many of the babies have begun forming leaves. Also worth noting that there are new protocorms germinating, and that some of them haven’t gotten the memo to start differentiating leaf tissue and have continued to grow in size.

 

[Ernesto]

Flask update: the plantlets are now 7 months old! Roots are robust and some have begun showing signs of tesselation in the leaves.

 

[Ozpaph]

only 6 years to go.

 

[fibre]

Well done!

 

[Ernesto]

10 month update: the seedlings continue to put on size, with the largest beginning to produce their fifth leaf. Tesselation of the leaves is even more visible now that the leaves are getting bigger. No replate yet (lol), and no signs of browning.

 

[tnyr5]

No replate needed, really.

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Looking really healthy. Where's a time machine when you need one?

 

[Happypaphy7]

Looking great!!

 

[Ernesto]

It’s been about a year now since sowing— these plants are really putting on size now, and the largest of the bunch are beginning to show signs of browning on the oldest leaves (and I’m sure the heat we’ve had in NYC hasn’t helped!) Is it time to deflask them and replate the rest?

 

[TyroneGenade]

Deflask all of them. It is unlikely you can pluck out some plants and replete others without damage and contamination. The roots are going to be a tangled mess.

Well done on getting this far.

 

[Ernesto]

I did my best to replate the smallest of the bunch and potted up the rest! I got two replates as well as five compots out of the mother flask

 

[My Green Pets]

Exciting cross! Congratulations on reaching this milestone.

 

[Ozpaph]

they look lovely, "Dad/Mum".

 

[NYEric]

Good luck. Remember me when they get bigger.

 

[Ernesto]

after replating the smaller seedlings, i decided that i had enough seedlings after deflasking to experiment with the remainder. a treated these replated seedlings with 50uM colchicine for five days, with the dosage and exposure time being based off a recent paper published using Paph. villosum 2-3 leaf plants regenerated from propagated plantlet cutting. they had the highest survival:conversion rate at 50uM for 6 days, so i decided to go for a gentler exposure time with mine in the hopes of slightly higher survival and hopefully similar conversion rate. also did the this with my other recently deflasked intersectional Paph cross, Jennifer Stage—alba x leucochilum frma. album