Removing petals on pollinated orchid

[Phal-lover]

Hello! I've recently pollinated some of my orchids. Only one was done successfully. (Two withered and fell off, and one I knocked off accidentally) however, the other is chugging along and developing quite nicely. It's petals have withered, but the stamen is wrapped around the pollen and stem and is still alive. The dangling petals have become infected with some sort of mold. My worry is that it will spread, ruin the chances of a seed pod and hurt the plant. Can I remove the petals?

[Bud]

Yes, you may remove the dangling petals since it is done with its job. You may also want to spray the whole plant with anti fungicide.

[isurus79]

I usually cut them off with scissors rather than pulling them and risk snapping the stem. Bud's idea of spraying to kill the fungus is probably a good idea too. If you don't like chemicals, try rubbing alcohol. It works really well on small fungal spots.

[orchidsarefun]

can you please post a photo ? I have never seen or heard of this issue before.......

[Phal-lover]

Alright, thank you! Orchidsarefun, I'll post a picture in a few hours.