Experiment!

[orchidaddict789]

Don't mean to ask a dumb question, but for how long can pollen be stored so it can still be viable?

[LJA]

Not a dumb question--I've always been told a year, year and a half in the fridge before it starts becoming less and less potent, so I've always gone by that. The pollens of some plants can last for centuries, but I don't think that's the way it is with orchids.

[Manchua]

I have two pollen questions. I remember reading (perhaps here) that if efforts to pollinate an orchid haven't been so good, mashing up the pollinia into a paste and putting THAT into the stigma can sometimes help. Is this true?

Also, if there are two pollen capsules under each anther cap, do you necessarily need to use both or can you use only one?

I pollinated one of my Phals back on 5/28. The flower wilted and the stem started to swell. It swelled pretty quickly in fact, but then after about a month or so, it seemed to stop. I took photographs as it progressed for archive purposes. Now it's a little less than two weeks away from green pod harvesting and it's still only a little thicker than a pencil. I've heard that pods are supposed to swell to the size of a small lemon. I'm nowhere near that size yet. Something tells me that the pollination failed. What do you all think?

The other Phal I pollinated two weeks ago after one failed attempt. It wilted and started to swell too, but then it started to turn yellow and start shriveling. I thought it was on track, but apparently that failed. I have one blossom left to pollinate. I want this one to work.

[LJA]

Manchua, yes, mashing the pollinia into a paste before applying it to stigma works very well, especially with plants that seem to be "stubborn" in terms of getting pollination to take.

Not all the pods you get are going to become the size of small lemons: far from it. As long as swelling has occured, and the plant didn't abandon the capsule, there's still a very good chance that you have viable seed.

[Manchua]

>Manchua, yes, mashing the pollinia into a paste before
>applying it to stigma works very well

Great. I'll give that a try. As I said, I only have one more shot at this and I want it to work.

Do I need to use BOTH pollen capsules or can I separate them and save one for later?

>As long as swelling has occured, and the plant didn't
>abandon the capsule, there's still a very good chance
>that you have viable seed.

Ok. That's good to hear. Tomorrow, I'm going to the monthly meeting of our local orchid society and the speaker is Howard Ginsberg, an experienced Phal grower, so I'll be able to ask him what he thinks of my skinny seed pod. I asked someone at the last meeting and I was told that one end of the seed pod begins to turn yellow just before it splits so that's a good time to pluck it off and mail it to a service.

I'd really like to get two seed pods going because I like one orchid much more than the other. The one I'm having trouble with is my oldest orchid, the very first one I bought back in 2000. It's a real fast grower and I'd like to have a bunch of baby fast growers to play around with. The one with the seed pod now seems to be a sluggish grower. But hey, I got it for free so I can't complain.

[LJA]

You don't need to use both sets of pollinia at all. Doing so, however, will increase the chances that a greater number of cells contact the stigmatic surface.

[Alicia]

Out of curiosity what is the rate range for using a flasking service?

[dahlia_guy]

I am keeoing my pollen in the freezer, is that OK?

Travis

[LJA]

That's a good question. I'm tempted to say "yes," but I just don't know for sure, Travis. Has anyone else stored pollen in the freezer and had it be viable?

[Kyle]

I stored phal pollen in the freezer and the one flower I tried pollenating did not work. Doesn't mean you can't do it, but the one time I tried it it was a no go.

Kyle