Phal pollina viability

[sweetjblue]

So I was watering and checking on plants that have spikes and happened to knock off one of the buds on a gignantea cross I have. The bud was about the size of a dime and I'd estimate that it would bloom in about a month. I'm wondering if the pollina will be viable at this stage? I had planned on using it once it bloomed but if it is viable now I'd hate to waste it.
Anybody with any experience with a situation like this I'd love to hear from you!

Judi

[orchidsarefun]

I am going out on a limb, especially on this board and am going to say that the main reason a flower takes so long to open is that the pollinia are ripening. So an unopened flower does not have "ripe" pollen.
A good analogy is a flower in the garden - pollinators are around the flower when it first opens and I think that plants, including orchids, take advantage of that......and I am not sure which happened first in that relationship, a bit like the chicken and the egg story
My general experience with cross-pollination is that older pollinia, say more than a week or 2, are non-viable. I have also noticed that the sticky stamen/receptacle seems to ripen at a different time to the pollinia on the same flower and I think that is an attempt at genetic diversity. So there is a sequence of events in the life of a flower...
Sorry - I have never attempted your specific issue.

I am sure you will get someone replying with more theoretical/specific knowledge....

[glengary54]

The short and sweet answer is no, pollinia is not viable from and unopened flower except in the case of a cliestogamous flower (flowers self-pollinate before they open)as is sometimes the case in Encyclia tampensis

[sweetjblue]

Thanks for the input orchids & Glen. I thought that it might not be viable. Better to ask than waste a bloom!

Judi