Paphiopedilum Seed Pods?

[Nepenthesis]

I pollinated some Paph flowers in June and some of the flowers fell off, leaving the little "pod" thing behind. I left them on until they dried out and I noticed they had started to split open, so I pulled them off and put them in bags. I peeked inside and they seem to be lined with yellowy-white fuzz on the inside in rows.

They didn't really swell up much, stayed kinda thin. Are there seeds inside? If so, how do I sow them?

[MrHappyRotter]

Sounds like there probably are seeds inside, the fuzzy part makes me think so.

You have some choices. The most sure fire way is to find someone who specializes in orchid germination, and pay them to flask the seeds. You might have to do a bit more research to find a service that accepts split pods.

Second option is to germinate/flask them yourself. It's a fun little DIY project. Of course, it's a bit of work to sterilize the seeds, cook up some germination media, and flask them up. You might not get it right the first time.

You can also go old school and just sprinkle the seeds amongst your adult plants, or gently sprinkle them on some live moss. That's the least likely method to be successful, but sometimes the seeds will germinate in small numbers.

[801229001]

you cannot grow orchid seeds the same way that you grow your nepenthes seeds (or any other seeds). orchids seeds are very tiny and have almost no food reserves in them, so instead they rely on fungus (mycorrhiza) to obtain the energy needed for germination.

if the pods split open than there should be viable seeds inside however, most people sow orchid seeds before the pod has split open, to avoid contamination for the flasking proccess.

orchid seeds are usually germinated in a special germination media with many nutrients needed for growth. because the media is so rich in nutrients, fungus and other nasty things can grow inside and take over so the seeds have to be germinated in a very sterile enviroment.

to sow the orchid seeds you have 2 choices, you can flask them yyourself, or you can use a flasking service, who will fllask your seeds for payment.

sometimes people will sprinkle their seeds in the pot of the mother plant in hopes that there might be some fungus still in the roots that will help the orchid seeds germinate, but unless you've got plants that were collected from the wild, (very unlikely, especially if your plants are hybrids.) It is extremely unlikely that any seeds will germinate.

[Nepenthesis]

Is there any market for just selling the pods, like on eBay?

[801229001]

Not really, after the pod has split open most people would not buy it because it makes flasking more difficult and because not many people grow orchids from seed.

[Fairorchids]

From June to October is not enough time for Paphiopedilum pods to develop viable seed. They need about one year.