I have 4 Phalaenopsis's that have growing seed pods or capsules...help!

[cutefish707]

Hello all!

I have pollinated 4 of my Phalaenopsis's and have 4 seed pods or I think they are actually called capsules now growing and have been growing for a few months I think. They are fat at the stem of the flower but are starting to turn a greyish color on the inside where the pollination occurred. Is this normal? Also how long does this process take? I have read up to 9 months but some have said to take seeds early to reduce loss if pod opens?? Also...do seeds need to be sowed??

This is my first time trying to get seeds so I am doing as much research and preparation as I can to give myself the best chance. So any tips, tricks or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

I know the best way is by the mother for the bacteria, so I was going to use the roots without the risk of loosing the seeds through watering. I was also thinking of maybe a aquarium/flasking to start for humidity....and ideas??

Thanks so all for any comments and ideas....you all rock!!!

[Island Girl]

You might wanna try putting this in the "Propagation" forum... It might help u get answers... It's also a good place to do research

And, as far as I know, sowing the seeds on the "mother's" media, you probably won't get very many seedlings, (even with hundreds of thousands of seeds) unfortunately. Because the right type of fungus thats needed to germinate the seeds, are most likely not there... Especially if u have used any type of fungicide, or Physan, etc. b/c that would not only kill off the bad fungi you're trying to kill, but the nessecary "good" fungi needed for germination. But, there have been ppl that do it that way... (they prob had the good fungi tho) So, u would just need to research & find out exactly how they've done it

Or... You can send the seeds off to be flasked for you... Which is alot easier There is also the possibility of u doing the flasking yourself, as long as u can create a sterile environment... There's a lot of info in the "Propagation" forum, there's a sticky on "Red-Neck Flasking" (if I remember the title right! Lol). There is also a user (don't remember his user-name) who is currently posting tutorials, on everything, from pollination, to building a glove-box (to maintain sterile conditions to work in), to flasking, to seed sowing... Etc. it's great! Go check it out! And good luck

EDIT: bazinga is his name (the one doing the tutorials)

Ps: it will be a year or so before u would be able to deflask your seedlings after they r flasked, so in the meantime, I would suggest buying a flask (already ready to be de-flasked) and learning how to keep the young seedlings alive, b/c u don't wanna go to all this trouble, and then have all ur seedlings die on you! (heaven forbid!). Young seedlings need special care... They r not as easy as the adults are, trust me!

[RosieC]

Originally Posted by Island Girl

You might wanna try putting this in the "Propagation" forum... It might help u get answers... It's also a good place to do research

I've moved this for you so no need to post again.

I've never tried propagation myself because as Island Girl has said it's not a simple thing. So I'm afraid I can't give any advice further to what Island Girl has said.