Fertilised phal pods?

[Kelo]

Hi people,

I know it's early days yet but I was wondering if you would give me your opinions, please? By the look of these pods (pollinated one week ago) do you think they are fertilised or is it too early to say? I fancied giving breeding a go but I wont exactly be setting up a business in phal breeding lol.

[Wrebbitrocks]

im pretty sure theyre fertilized. im sure everyone else knows more about this but from my experience, the stem swells up like that and the flower wither but stays on and doesn't fall off its stem. its hard to say whether it work sor not though. i waited 6months for my cymbidium fruit to reach maturity only to be an empty sac of air. >:/ boy was i upset

[Kelo]

Thank you. I tried a cymbidium 20 years ago and I left the pod on for abut 9 months but I did get seed although I never did anything with them.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

@Kelo: It was pollinated. The seed pod is forming.

But in regards to Wrebbitrock's issue with the Cym producing empty pods; that happens sometimes.

[Royal]

The formation of a capsule (orchid fruits are capsules, not pods) is purely a hormone response to pollination. The pollen tubes must grow into the pedicel for fertilization to take place. This is why a capsule may turn out to be empty - seed comes from fertilization but the fruit forms in response to pollination.

[Kelo]

Ah! Thank you, Royal. I had a suspicion that that was the case. It'll make me more determined for the future if there are no seed.

[Royal]

No problem, Kelo. Don't let my post discourage you. Unless you are trying really odd crosses, working with very young plants, or the timing is way off, everything should work out. Nature has a knack for finding a way.