Pollen ripening

[savor]

Hi to Steve from Idaho, and everyone,
I stopped in to check for seed capsule ripening times, but I'll leave that to another thread. So here's my two cents...
As far as when to take pollen and when to place it on a bloom, the pollinia(male part) is ready before the stigma (female part). Once the bloom is open, wait 24 to 48 hours for the stigma to be more receptive. I have used pollinia from a bloom that is declining or even falling off the plant and saved the pollen for six months or more. It appears that any pollinia may be fertile. Of course the condition of the pod parent, the orchid as a whole as well as the bloom itself, is much more crucial. I like what was said earlier. If the bloom is fragrant, it is obviously 'open for business'. At first fragrance, the bloom is probably at its best time to both contribute pollen or accept it. For orchids that are not fragrant, the ideal time is two days after the bloom opens. I prefer to take pollinia from another orchid or bloom and place it on a bloom without disturbing its own pollinia.
The pollinia is generally orange or yellow often a hard 'kernel' or 'grain'. I do not try to crush or slice the pollinia since it is likely to be launched away like a watermelon seed at a picnic. So get a tiny amount of the tacky fluid from the pod parent's stigma with a toothpick and pick up the pollinia grain directly on the end of the toothpick. Here's a tip: If you are attempting a 'selfing' or retrying a cross that has previously not 'taken', you can increase your chances by wetting the pollinia with your saliva for 5 minutes or more. Yes, spit on it! Don't rinse it. I'll skip the scientific explanation. It works. Carefully place the pollinia in the lower center part of the stigma 'pocket'. Pressing it down gives the pollen tubes a shorter distance to grow down to the ovary. Actually anywhere in the moist sticky area of the stigma will work. One hybridizer reports taking the pollinia out the next day and using it to fertilize a second or third bloom with good pod results.
It is normal for the bloom to close in toward the column. In some species/hybrids the bloom may dry up. In some the bloom itself may thicken and turn green. If there is a "pregnancy", the short stem that connects the bloom to the inflorescence will remain green and begin to swell into a seed capsule. If the cross did not take, that stem may turn pale right away and fall away with the bloom. If it swells up, I tend to get excited and gather up the mason jars! However the seed capsules can recognize when there are no viable seeds. Or for other reasons the capsule will fail.
The capsule will yellow, maybe brown, shrivel in place or eventually fall away. Generally if the capsule grows green past the halfway mark, there will be the pitter patter of orchid feet in the greenhouse, well ... next year!

Lee