sorry about dragging up an old post but this topic has been on my mind lately so I checked google.
This might sound quite strange but even though I've been growing orchids for quite a few years I never really paid that much attention to the fact that if you remove the pollen cap off a flower it will automatically wilt within 48 hours. So yeah something new I never really paid attention till before and this has happened to me too, I just always assumed it was the flowers time to fade after removing the pollen.
Following this logic the advice on other sites seems to be never to remove the pollen cap to ensure the flower has the best chances to get pollinated successfully.
I think I am less worried about an accidental pollination so should I just leave the pollen on? I'm thinking it can even be removed to be used a week later, it should still be viable. but removing it means the flower has to complete the pollination process before it wilts.
I'm new to this and I trust Kim's advice to be sound and I have weighed up the pro's and cons and think in future I will leave the pollen cap on. Worst case scenario it does pollinate itself. Something I can live with but it is interesting that there are different viewpoints on how to do it it seems.
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