More for kicks than anything else, I did a reciprocal cross of a species Encyclia and a hybrid mini catt (an Slc.). This was roughly 2 or 3 weeks ago.
In both cases, for the first week or so after pollination both flowers show some small swelling of the ovary as well as some color change of that region. In both cases, the flowers showed some color change as well though it was much more pronounced with the catt and the enc's petals & sepals did not "wither up" as did the catt's. (However, never having checked into this, I have no idea if that is normal behavior for Encyclia flowers.)
Yesterday, I noticed the Encyclia flower looking like it had gone downhill and upon gently touching the flower, it fell off. The ovary on the catt has continued to swell a tad more and remains a rather dark green.
My question:
Is there a point at which one can be fairly certain that pollination has been successful and the fertilized flower will NOT abort?
Also, assuming that I find someone interested in flasking this cross for me, any idea about how many months the pod will likely take before being ready to harvest? (I realize green pod harvesting will be the way to go.)