Just some thoughts from someone who has sown many a Phalaenopsis pod.
1. I'd wait until 6 months to harvest if you can. Keep an eye on your pod and when it starts to get lighter green or have yellow tips like Brooke says, pull it then. I've also heard you can tell it is getting close when it starts to get soft. I've had pods turn at 4 months under bright light and have lots of seed and at 7 months and have very little. My pods are rarely consistent.
2. I don't know if it is true but I've been told that if you tease the fluff with the seed out without scraping the pod, you won't transfer virus if the pod parent is virused. I don't scrape the pod. In the end, even if you only have the same amount of seed as a grain of rice, you still have a thousand or more seed which is more than you probably want. So no need to scrape the pod.
3. I sterilize my pods in 20% bleach for 5 minutes. Haven't had any contamination yet. Might save you some time.
4. I agree with Brooke on the amount of light. I actually germinate mine on a shelf near my lights, but not under them. Once they have germinated, I move them to where I have 2 bulb T8 figures. They are placed on the shelf which might be right under or several inches from the source and they do fine.
5. Lastly I've had seed germinate as much as a month after I sowed them so don't give up yet. You still might get something.
In the end, except for giving your pod a bit longer, I think you did everything fine and my ideas are just opinion. I think what you did will work great in the future if you like this process and want to stick with it.
Good Luck!
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