Jenn, a phalaenopsis cross is a good idea as you might see the first flowers in as little as 2 or 3 years after sowing. Do not try this with cattleyas or certain dendrobiums as you might have to wait well over a decade!!!
But seriously, unless you have a lot of time and money to spare, I would advise you to use the flasking service rather than investing in an autoclave, flasking media, etc... These aren't astronomically expensive, I know, but the problem with sowing orchid seeds is not so much preparing the sterile medium (you can even do this with a good old-fashioned pressure cooker), but actually keeping the medium sterile during and after sowing. To achieve this you will have to build a sterile sowing cabinet (getting one of these to work is not that easy and they still result in a lot of flasks getting contaminated) or buy a laminar flow cabinet (the most reliable way of keeping your medium sterile while sowing into it). One of these will cost you some serious dough and take up half of your house (average size is 3 feet deep, 5 feet wide, 6 feet tall ... and they're ugly, so not something you want to put in your livingroom, LOL). There are, however, some examples online of how to cheaply build a rudimentary sterile sowing cabinet for home use if you're really set on doing it yourself.
The best way to sow your seeds is to harvest the seed pod before it has dried and opened. The seeds of most orchids are fully mature long before the seed pod starts to dry out and they actually germinate better in-vitro before they have gone completely dry. Once the pod starts to turn yellow you can cut it off and easily sterilise the whole thing by dipping it in a dilute bleach solution for a few minutes. As the pod is thick enough it will protect the microscopic seed from the bleach. The problem with using a split seed pod is that you'll need to sterilise the seeds themselves as they will get covered in fungal spores from the moment they come into contact with air. Each individual orchid seed (and there will be a few hundred to several thousand in an average seed pod) is tiny, microscopic in size and because they lack a husk they will get damaged by any sterilising solution if you leave them in it for too long. If you don't leave them in the solution long enough they will still carry contaminants that will spoil your sowing medium when you add the seeds to it. By using an unopened seed pod you avoid these problems as the seeds inside the pod are naturally sterile. Once you've cleaned the pod you can split it under sterile conditions (hence the need for a sterile sowing or laminar flow cabinet) and spread the seeds onto the sterile medium without contaminating it. The sowing medium will only remain sterile for as long as you keep the flasks you autoclaved it in closed. Once you open a sterile flask to introduce the seeds, you'll introduce contaminants (even if you sterilised the seeds) unless you open the flask in a sterile sowing or laminar flow cabinet.
Some people have become really good at sowing orchid seeds at home, but the reality is that it is a steep learning curve and you have to be prepared to suffer some losses before you get the hang of it. On that note, I would also advise you to start setting many more seed pods to increase your chances of successfully sowing and germinating a flask when you start out on your sowing adventure.
Good luck ... BTW, have you thought of what name you'll give your babies? :o)
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Originally Posted by serama
