Pollinate only a few flowers to get the best seeds

[Fairorchids]

When you are saying 'best seed', do you mean:

A. Getting a seed pod with viable seed?
B. Getting the highest quality plant?

First of all, I never pollinate a first time bloomer. In the past, I have killed young plants by setting a seed pod on them.

On Cattleyas I typically set only a single pod of each cross. On Vandas & Cymbidium, I usually try two (if both take, then I remove one of them).

If a plant is large enough, I might try multiple crosses. This past season, I had one Cattleya carry pods of three different crosses.

Finally, with the number of seeds produced by orchids (ranging from 2-300, up to two or three million in some Cattleyas), there is no need to produce more than a single pod.

However, the outcome of sexual (seed) reproduction is a total lottery, so you will need to grow a large number of plants to maturity to look for the high quality plant you are hoping for.