Polinating, own or others?

[shadec]

I was just pollinating this amazing yellow and red hybrid cym i have, and i just remembered some people swear by using the flower's own pollinia to make seeds, but others are adamant that you should swap pollen between flowers (on the same plant).
[i think that made sense...]

what do you guys do?
i did a mixture with this cym, to see the differences.
i had always swapped, but i never really gave it a thought before now!

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Self pollination occurs in certain orchid species in the wild with great regularity.

Cross pollination occurs in the majority of orchid species in the wild with great regularity.

Some orchids will not self pollinate unless a "trick" gets them to do so.

Self pollination limits genetic diversity, although some genetic diversity will occur.

Cross pollination enhances genetic diversity (doesn't matter if it is crossed with siblings, or whatever combo of crosses there are).

In the end, if the pollination takes and you get seed, you've got something; selfing, outcross, sibling cross, hybridization, or breeding species.

I'm gonna give you a really cliche Zen saying...

There is no good or bad, there only is.

Ain't a hard puzzle to solve this one is...

Make of this answer as you will.

[shadec]

that wasnt an answer to the question at all! :P
what do you personally do if you're trying for seed?
do you use the flower's own pollinia on itself, or swap the pollinia with the flower next to it?

NB i am not talking about cross-plant pollination, only on the one orchid.

[Andrew]

There is no genetic difference whether pollinating with pollen from the same flower or a different flower on the same plant. Both are considered self pollinating. However, the flowers of many orchid species will start to senesce after the pollinia has been removed, reducing or preventing pollenation. By pollinating different flowers on the same plant, you don't run into problems with the flower dying before pollination occurs.

Personally, whether I pollinate using the same or different flower depends on the species. For those that tend to collapse soon after removing the pollinia, of course I'll use different flowers. For those that either aren't affected or tend to show reduced pollination, I'll weigh up the odds depending on experience as whether I'm likely to get more seed from pollinating all of the flowers or pollinating every second one. Note: If you're going to pollinate all of the flowers on a spike, there is no point using different flowers.

[RoyalOrchids]

If only talking about one plant, as Andrew said, it doesn't matter. The only variables I foresee here is flower age and longevity of reproductive parts. A flower can only recieve pollen for a certain window of time. Once the flower is past this prime, it will wilt and fall off faster than the pollen tubes grow towards the ovary. Fertilization never occurs and the flower just drops. Pollen, on the other hand, has a relatively long shelf life. Even if the flower's days are numbered, pollen remains viable.

Long story short: A selfing is a selfing, whatever flowers are used. But to increase your chances of setting seed, use a newer flower as the seed carrier. Pollen donor age doesn't matter as much as long as it's nice and clean and healthy looking. Try on a new and an old flower and see what works best.