a seed pod??
 

My Paph venustum flower fell sometime this week while I was away. The stem wasn't this swollen as far as I can remember.. I don't think anything pollinated the flower cause it's in an enclosed chamber. What do you guys think?

[IMG]http://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/...psbicvwqdn.jpg[/IMG]

---------- Post added at 06:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:46 PM ----------

can one of the moderators move this in the beginner section? thanks!

* moved to "Beginner Discussion" *

To me, it doesn't look like a pod developing, but I don't have much Paph experience. I'm sure other members can be more helpful!

It doesn't look pollinated to me, but I wouldn't rule it out entirely at this stage. I also haven't seen a fertilized venustum ovary, so I'm admittedly going with gut instinct versus actual experience.

Also, even if the plant was in an enclosed system, it would be very difficult to rule out the possibility of any pollinators (accidental or otherwise). That aside, while not exactly typical or even common, some species and some individual clones do occasionally self-pollinate. So, that is also a possibility.

Doubtful. The ovary would probably be greener. They don't dry up and fall of immediately.

I'm not extremely experienced so I can't give you a solid, confident answer but I can say that I have a number of Paphs and have seen exactly this. I also wondered the same question. In at least one of my cases this petiole (???) fell off long before I would expect seed maturation. So in my cases I assumed it to be 'normal'.

Thanks for your input guys! This is my first and only paph so I have no clue. I think I'm going to cut the spike soon or do they re-flower from an old spike?

Go ahead and cut the spike, Paphipopedilums do not rebloom from spent spikes. Even if that's a seed pod forming, which is unlikely, you don't want the plant to spend energy on it.

Make sure to use clean, sharp scissors/knife, or a fresh razor blade to cut it.

The growth that just finished blooming will never bloom again, but instead will produce 1 or more "pups" before slowly dying off.

Yea i actually saw a tiny new growth on the other side. Thanks!!