Phrag. kovachii 'Purple Mystery' -update after day 11-

Drorchid · Mar 10, 2014

The first picture I posted of Phrag. kovachii 'Purple Mystery' was after 3 days of it being open. Usually the flowers tend to look the best on the 3rd day, because that is when the color is the darkest and the flower shape is the flattest. I already said that this particular flower would stay flat (this is the second time this clone has bloomed for us), so I thought you guys would want to see what it looked like after being open for 11 days. It has recurved slightly and is definitely not as flat as on the third day, but I think overall it has still stayed pretty flat, escpecially if you compare it to some other clones! This is good news, because this means that through some line breeding in the 2nd or 3rd generation, most kovachii flowers will be able to stay pretty flat and not recurve back as much.

Here is a picture of the front:

Side picture:

As a comparison a clone that DOES recurve a lot!:

Robert

Drorchid · Mar 10, 2014

Another kovachii that stays pretty flat, is Phrag. kovachii 'Tesoro Morado' Ironically this was our very first kovachii that ever opened for us, and to this date it is probably still the best flower we have seen. I would say 'Purple Mystery' is a good second when it comes to flower quality.

Here is progression of the flower of 'Tesoro Morado' in-case you hadn't seen it:http://www.slippertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15485

Robert

Fabrice · Mar 10, 2014

Thank you Robert. Very interesting to see that.

The main problem of kovachii flower (after recurved petal) seems to be the flower texture no?
Very good in the 1st days, it seems to be less good after some days.

If you confirm that, do you think it's possible to improve that with selection work? Did you already see kovachii with best texture than other or is it always similar?

Drorchid · Mar 10, 2014

Fabrice said:
Thank you Robert. Very interesting to see that.

The main problem of kovachii flower (after recurved petal) seems to be the flower texture no?
Very good in the 1st days, it seems to be less good after some days.

If you confirm that, do you think it's possible to improve that with selection work? Did you already see kovachii with best texture than other or is it always similar?

I think it may be possible in the long run to improve the flower texture somewhat, but it will be a characteristic that is harder to breed for. And to answer your other question, No, I haven't seen too much variation in difference in flower texture when flowers mature.

I think the texture of the flowers change when the flower gets older, because the petals keep growing and expanding, so it is basically like pulling on a piece of rubber from say a ballon, the more you pull on it and expand it, the thinner and less saturated in color it gets. When you see the flowers in person the texture issue doesn't really bother me. Even when the flowers are older (like the 11 day old 'Purple Mystery') they are still pretty impressive to see in person. I think shape is a bigger concern than texture, so if we could improve on that, it would be a much bigger improvement than changing the texture.
Robert

Fabrice · Mar 10, 2014

"like pulling on a piece of rubber from say a ballon, the more you pull on it and expand it, the thinner and less saturated in color it gets"

It could be not clearer. It's exactly that.
I questioned you about that because I saw just one time a kovachii in bloom and it was the last day flower. Of course texture was very poor.
And we see clearly with your picture the texture changing.

I think you're selection work is on a good way with Purple Mystery and Tesoro Morado what are very good flat flower for the specie.