Cattleya breeding

[chemist]

Chris, did you gather all supply to do flasking or you will be using labs services?!

[Chris in Hamilton]

The society I belong to has a lab Svetlana. We're very lucky

[PaphMadMan]

The society I belong to has a lab Svetlana. We're very lucky

Yet another reason to move to Canada...

[Chris in Hamilton]

Yet another reason to move to Canada...

Do I detect a note of insubordination? Actually, I found out about a week ago that we may be the only one in Canada that does have a lab.

[Azizan]

Yet another reason to move to Canada...

I recently read that Canada is the 7th happiest country in the world (in case you need more reasons).

[Chris in Hamilton]

Getting fatter now. I'm hoping that if I post a pic every month someone will give me a go ahead when it looks ready.

[raybark]

That's got a way to go, in my experience. Once you see either end of the capsule begin to yellow, that's the time to harvest for "green pod" sowing.

[chemist]

Getting fatter now. I'm hoping that if I post a pic every month someone will give me a go ahead when it looks ready.

Check here
Harvesting Times of Orchid Seed Capsules for the Green Pod Culture Process

[Chris in Hamilton]

Thank you Svetlana! I have that info. I like bugging people and the pro's in my orchid club told me last month that it's still a few months away.

[Dorsetman]

You wait until it splits , and then you are a week too late... (joke... or perhaps not, if that happens to you.) Of course "everyone" does green pod sowing, scraping out the seeds before the pod splits, but the secret is when to harvest . You know that of course. And perhaps no-one can tell you.
Years ago I was trying to make Paph rothschildiana hybrids and I was being told that the pods ripen in 4-5 months. That was in the tropics ; in UK it was twice that long. And I am told by friends at Kew that it is now thought that the actual fertilisation occurs quite late in the life of the pod. Apparently it is all about cascades of proteins, ( the pollen) first triggering growth of the pod shell, then a different protein causing pollen tube growth, and so on. The seed parent does all the work, the pollen merely acting as a trigger. All wonderful stuff but the only contribution that makes to successful seed sowing is to warn you to leave it as late as possible.