Orchids

I love orchids because it is a plant with unlimited varieties. Back in university, I learnt how to make orchid hybrids. I hybrided my mom's hybrid orchids with local wild orchid but I never manage to see how my invented hybrid's flowers looks like. You see, when you polinate a flower, it will produce a seed pod...but in case of orchids...the seed is microscopic and it can only be sow in special media. Back to these years, I have lots of seed pods of my own invented hybrids, and I made some experiments sowing them in damped moss, etc (don't want to bore you with scientific terms here) but none of these seeds manage to germinate. I don't know...maybe some of them manage to germinate but we can't see them with bare eyes. We need a microscope to see them. After I graduated i don't have access to microscope or culturing equipments anymore. That's why, once I was dreaming of having my own small lab dedicated to do these kinds of work...producing my own hybrid orchids and culturing them. But maybe one day, for the mean time, you guys know what I'm up to...stamp carving!

Hybrid orchid is originated from cross-polination of two wild orchids. It can also be achieved by cross-polinating hybrids to wild, or hybrids to hybrids. Most commercial orchid are hybrids as they are the success polination of selected species with fragrant and beautiful flowers. But to come up with a successful hybrid is not easy...for example it took 10 years to develop an Aranda hybrid which later be named after Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah, our former First Lady.

I think the orchid blooming season is still here, make a visit to any nature park or orchid garden, you'll know what I mean. Here's a few pictures of orchids that I manage to capture during my recent visit to Tenom Agriculture Park.