In last Sunday's Green Fingers you had a glimpse of some of the hibiscus hybrids that grace gardens today. They are just the tip of the iceberg; at a plant market in Quezon City, in the Philippines, I saw a poster showing pictures of more than 100 hybrids, including 23 developed by the University of the Philippines' Institute of Plant Breeding (IPB).
THAI CONNECTION: The ‘Mussaenda philippica Queen Sirikit’, or peach mussaenda, a Philippine hybrid named after Her Majesty the Queen of Thailand.
Since then the IPB has developed dozens more; released in a series and named after outstanding Filipino women who excelled in various fields, many are now grown widely in the Philippines and I won't be surprised if some of these new hybrids have made their way to Thailand.
Earlier, the IPB carried out a very successful ornamental plant breeding programme which developed 20 new hybrid varieties of the Mussaenda, some of which are now grown in Thai gardens. One of these is the Mussaenda philippica Queen Sirikit, or peach mussaenda, named in honour of Her Majesty the Queen.
In developing new hybrids, one must choose parents with outstanding traits. For the IPB's hibiscus breeding programme, the parent plants were local varieties crossed with cultivars and hybrids procured from Hawaii, Australia and Thailand.
In a paper published in March last year, researchers Pablito Magdalita and Reynold Pimentel explained that pollens from a selected male parent were transferred into the stigma of the female parent during sunny days only.
The pollinated stigma was covered with a piece of aluminium foil to keep insects away and the pollinated flower was allowed to develop for a month.
Seeds were sown in an equal mixture of soil and sand, and the seedlings were allowed to grow for a month before they were transferred to individual pots containing an equal mixture of soil, coir dust and decomposed hog manure. After one year, the saplings were planted in breeding blocks until they flowered. Of the 2,800 hybrid progenies planted in the breeding blocks, only seven were selected for having unique combinations of two or three flower colours, and for being bushy, pest resistant, vigorous and prolific bloomers. These were grown for another two to four years until they were big enough to be propagated by marcotting or cutting.
Marcotting was done following the usual procedure, that is, about 1.5-2.0cm was scraped off from pencil-sized stems and the cambium layer (the portion between the bark and the wood) removed and allowed to dry for one day. A rooting powder/paste containing indolebutyric acid (IBA) was then applied to the barkless stem, and moist coir dust was wrapped around it. To secure the coir dust in place, it was wrapped and tied up in a piece of plastic that had string on each end.
After two months, when the roots of the marcotted stems were mature enough to be transplanted, the stems were severed from the mother plant and planted in pots containing an equal mixture of soil, coir dust and decomposed hog manure.
Once they were big enough, the selected hybrids were re-marcotted to increase their number.
An alternative way of asexual propagation was made through cuttings. Pencil-sized stems with three or four nodes, or 15cm in length, were severed from the mother plant and dipped quickly in rooting powder. These were then inserted in a small piece of wet floral foam that was placed in a seedling tray under an intermittent mist. After three weeks, when profuse roots had developed, the cuttings were planted in pots containing an equal mixture of garden soil and sand. They were allowed to grow for two months until they flowered.
Mr Magdalita is a highly respected scientist who has passionately continued the hibiscus breeding programme initiated by his fellow University of the Philippines professor Reynold Pimentel in 1994. The paper they wrote describes how they developed and propagated the hybrids named after seven outstanding Filipina public servants, but I am sure the procedure is the same for all the hybrids they created over the years to honour other accomplished women in Philippine society. It is easy to follow even for laymen like us who want to meet the challenge of producing hybrids of our own, not just hibiscus but other species of plants as well.
Thais are accomplished breeders, as attested to by the multitude of orchids, aglaonema, crown of thorns, plumeria and adenium hybrids found in local nurseries and plant markets. Several Filipino plant connoisseurs came to Thailand last month specifically to see the latest hybrids at the annual plant fair at the Suan Luang Rama IX Park. I am sure many of these plants are now growing in Manila and as far as Mindanao in southern Philippines, just as I am sure it is only a matter of time before the Filipino hibiscus hybrids grace our gardens in Thailand, that is, if they haven't been brought here already.
Hibiscus are some of the easiest plants to grow. They can be planted in the ground, in pots and as hedge. To brighten up your surroundings this year, plant a hibiscus or two, and with this, I wish you a very happy and prosperous new year.
Email nthongtham@gmail.com.
