Seed pods on Phalaenopsis Orchid

[Deena]

I'm wondering what causes seed pods to appear on phalaenopsis orchid plants.

Normally these orchids bloom but never produce any seed pods. One time I bought a Phal orchid that had this green elongated pod attached to it. After some searching online it turned out that this was a seed pod. This was my one and only encounter of an orchid with a seed pod.

How come Phals bought in stores don't usually produce any seed pods? And is there any way to encourage the plant to grow them?

[katrina]

Any and all orchids produce seed pods only after they have been pollinated..either manually (by humans) or by natural pollinators, such as insects.

Some more sensitive orchids can self-pollinate by wind movement or other movements that accomplish the transfer of the pollinia...but I've never known a phal to self-pollinate. I've had a good number of orchids get pollinated when the plants are outside in the summer (most likely by insects)...I have no interest in messing w/the process so I just remove them. I can't recall ever having it happen during the winter months when the orchids are inside.

Actually, I take that back. I had one of those ultra-sensitive self-pollinators a few years back...Epidendrum nocturnum...and that damn thing would self-pollinate each and every flower so I never had a good bloom. The flowers would barely opened up before they'd pollinate themselves and the flower would promptly begin to collapse.

If you want seed pods...you'll need to facilitate pollination. Before you do though...be sure to do some research on growing orchids from seeds. It's nothing like growing other (terrestrial plants) from seed. It's labor and time intensive...and, depending on how you approach the project...it could be a bit of a pricey path to take just to add a few extra plants.

[Fairorchids]

Aside from the notorious (but fortunately few) self-pollinators, something/someone has to:
a. Remove the anther cover
b. Dislodge the pollinia
c. Transfer the pollinia to the stigma, which is further back on the underside of the column.

However, unless you are prepared to flask on your own, most flasking services have a minimum of 5 flasks, so:

A. Ask youself whether you want 100-150 seedlings of a random cross.
B. If you want to sell plants, you better use high quality parents (preferably AOS awarded plants).

Be aware that in the Cattleya & Phalaenopsis groups, most people buy meristems in order to get known high quality flowers. In a seed population, you risk getting 98% average or below average quality flowers.

[Deena]

Originally Posted by katrina

If you want seed pods...you'll need to facilitate pollination. Before you do though...be sure to do some research on growing orchids from seeds. It's nothing like growing other (terrestrial plants) from seed. It's labor and time intensive...and, depending on how you approach the project...it could be a bit of a pricey path to take just to add a few extra plants.

I'm thinking of just trying to get a few seed pods growing to fill in my own curiosity on how it's done, but I'd rather send them to other forum members who are interested in growing orchids from seeds. I've read about the process and it seems too time consuming for now - but perhaps a project for later!

So what I'm understanding from the replies so far is that there is a lack of natural pollinators for Phal orchids and this is why they aren't producing any seed pods despite flowering several times a year. My orchids are standing in a room that has a wide open window half through the year, so there are insects around, but I'm guessing not the kind that could easily pollinate them?

By the sound of it so far, I'm going to have trying doing this by hand.

Originally Posted by Fairorchids

Aside from the notorious (but fortunately few) self-pollinators, something/someone has to:
a. Remove the anther cover
b. Dislodge the pollinia
c. Transfer the pollinia to the stigma, which is further back on the underside of the column.

However, unless you are prepared to flask on your own, most flasking services have a minimum of 5 flasks, so:

A. Ask youself whether you want 100-150 seedlings of a random cross.
B. If you want to sell plants, you better use high quality parents (preferably AOS awarded plants).

Be aware that in the Cattleya & Phalaenopsis groups, most people buy meristems in order to get known high quality flowers. In a seed population, you risk getting 98% average or below average quality flowers.

Thank you for your informative reply. I'm currently not trying to breed high quality orchid flowers - just interested in exploring the process itself! It has always seemed strange to me that regular Phalaenopsis orchids purchased from a store will bloom for years yet never produce any seeds, since most plants will do so right after blooming.

If anyone has any further tips on how to go about cross-pollinating Phal orchids they are welcome!