Seedpods from Cymbidium aloifolium - keeper?

[Lizgeo]

I haven't posted a while (too busy). Now I have a question:

I went to an orchid sale this past weekend and brought back 8 orchids, one of them is Cymbidium aloifolium. It has total 5 large seedpods hanging from 2 old spikes. All pods are still green/yellow, so I assume they are not mature yet. Since I don't have any experience dealing with seeds, I am thinking about cutting them off, but feel really bad throw them away.

Any advice? Should I cut off all of them, or maybe keep only 1? Anyone wants seeds if I do keep them? The plant looks healthy, but could use a repot when I get time.

[ang709]

I've read that seed pods put a lot of stress on an orchid (even a healthy one), so, yes, I would say it would be best to remove all except one. Are you thinking of growing some from seed yourself? If so, I hope you will post pictures of the process.

My husband likes growing things from seeds. I wonder if I could get him to move on to something more complicated like orchid seeds...

[Lizgeo]

Angie,
No, I am planning on growing from seeds as I don't have any experience with it. If you or your husband would like to try seeds, I can send you the seeds if I do have them.

[delphiguy]

i've got a spathoglottis that formed a seedpod. when the pod opened i sprinkled the seeds
on the pot of the parent plant, a few weeks later i've got lots of baby spathoglottis
growing. I did the same thing with my luisia and it worked. So you may want to give it a
try.

[ang709]

i've got a spathoglottis that formed a seedpod. when the pod opened i sprinkled the seeds
on the pot of the parent plant, a few weeks later i've got lots of baby spathoglottis
growing. I did the same thing with my luisia and it worked. So you may want to give it a
try.

That sounds a whole lot easier than flasking! Maybe try it both ways to be safe.

My husband says he would like to try if you do have seeds. He doesn't like to see plants/seeds thrown away either. Only if it doesn't stress out the mother plant, though.

[delphiguy]

i have a dendrobium setigerum with 6 pods and a ascocentrum miniatum. I am going to
try the same thing if this works for them too. Still a newbie at orchids, and i am still having
a hard time wrapping my brain around flasking. Maybe i'll try it soon when i've got enough
experience.

[Lizgeo]

My husband says he would like to try if you do have seeds. He doesn't like to see plants/seeds thrown away either. Only if it doesn't stress out the mother plant, though.

The plant looks healthy enough, so I am thinking about keeping at least 1 seedpod. Houston is still very hot (above 95), I will wait another month to repot it. If it doesn't do well in a month, I will cut off all of them.

[delphiguy]

liz
i wouldn't repot the plant until you harvest the seeds. it is already stressed by nurturing
the pods, it doesn't need need to further be stressed by repotting. And of course, if you decide to sow the seeds in the same pot, the benificial fungus needed for germination may
already be there. So yeah i would skip repotting for the time being. Of course this is just
me.

[Lizgeo]

I lost 4 seedpods. Houston has been raining (scattered) for several days, I found brown and rotted seedpods on the ground. There is still 1 left on the plant. I hope this one can make it.

[ang709]

The mother plant is probably happier now having just one 'baby' to support.