Paph seed pod? What to do?
 

I have had a nice Paph for around four years. I don't know what species it is. It appears to have set a seed pod after blooming this year! :banana: What do I do with it when the seeds are mature?

Here it was in a double bloom last year:

http://i.imgur.com/bluyUw3.jpg

Very pretty!!!

Unless you pollinated the flower yourself I have my doubts that it was pollinated.
How long ago did it flower? Sometimes it happens that the seed pod sits there for a few weeks after the flower has dropped off.

If it is viable, send it to a flasking service. Don't try it by yourself you'll likely just end up with a flask of fungi.

It is a Maudiae type hybrid (petals have too many spots for callosum). It is a nice one, even if the dorsal does not get fully erect.

If it is a pod, it is apparently a selfing. You need to decide whether seedlings of a NOID are worthwhile. You can certainly grow them yourself, but they have no commercial value**.

Flasking at a lab will run you $100-150 for initial sowing, plus 5 replates (min at most labs).
Carrying a pod for 12 months puts some strain on the plant. If it is a smaller plant, it may skip a blooming.

** = My thinking is that going into the expense of producing & raising 125+ seedlings, it should be something with a name AND a purpose. With the latter I mean that there should be some desirable trait or feature from each parent, that you would like to combine in the offspring.

Lastly, if you grow your Paphs in spaghnum moss/bark mix, you could sow in a pot with a plant potted abt 6 months ago. If you water carefully (so seeds do not wash away), you have a 5% chance of getting a few seedlings.

If you want better odds, a commercial flasking service is the only way to go.

I had nothing to do with the fertilization, it is the first time a pod has remained after blooming. I certainly can't afford professional assistance and flasking is a bit more involved than I have time for. Commercial intent hadn't even crossed my mind. The only thing I will have remotely worth selling are Anthurium clarinervium starts from a 40 year-old plant, but I digress.

I do have moss on the top of the bark mix to help with moisture retention in our very low north California humidity (especially this summer!) so if I keep the pod to maturity I may try your suggestion.

After putting the sphagnum on the top I was pleasantly surprised, a few months later, with a new sprout a few inches away from the parent plant, until now all new growth has been alongside the old. It is growing like a weed!

Do you suggest mixing the sphagnum with the bark when I repot, although it will be a while before it is time? I have the whole moss, not milled.

Thanks for all the info!

I figure it's just crossed with self since he didn't say there were a lot of orchids in the area and anyway the insect that is supposed to pollinate that species doesn't live here.

How long ago was the plant in flower when you think it was pollinated?

The flower fell last week. I've never had a pod left like this after the flower has faded.

Would you mind posting a picture of it for us all?

Thank you. :)