Flasking services

[Manchua]

Sorry if there is another thread on this. I crossed one of my Phals back in May and the seed pod is growing nicely on it. It's at about 65 day's worth of growth, about as fat as my little finger. I went to a orchid society meeting yesterday and asked what I was supposed to do with the pod. The first person I asked told me to wait til it splits, shake out all the seed, and mail the seed to the flasking service. I asked him about green pod harvesting and he seemed oblivious of the concept. The second person I asked, the speaker they brought in for the meeting, told me to wait until the pod's end starts turning a bit yellow, and might even split a small amount (but not completely through the husk), and then cut it off and mail the whole thing to the service. He also told me to make a note of what the two parents were. Unfortunately, one parent is Orchidae boxstoreii so I guess keeping track of its pedigree is somewhat moot.

Any tips or pointers?

[orchidaddict789]

I haven't played with seeds yet, but I've been reading up about seed pods and harvesting. My orchid book says it's best to harvest green pod, meaning the pod is about two thirds ripe. Two thirds ripe seeds germinate more readily than seed that has been allowed to fully ripen and dry out. A phal takes 180 days to ripen fully, but if you want a green pod, then harvest when it's 120 days old. When harvested, you can send it off.