# Pollinated!



## Daniel Herrera (Sep 26, 2013)

Great news everyone!
Today I decided to pollinate my paph. helenae! Now the waiting has begun. Does anybody know how long would it take for the pod to fully develop? I have to be ready when the time arrives.
Thank you!


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## abax (Sep 26, 2013)

WOOHOO!!!! Hope the process goes well!


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## Stone (Sep 27, 2013)

Daniel Herrera said:


> Great news everyone!
> Today I decided to pollinate my paph. helenae! Now the waiting has begun. Does anybody know how long would it take for the pod to fully develop? I have to be ready when the time arrives.
> Thank you!



They say no longer than 6 months for green seed or wait for it to split for dry seed.


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## fibre (Sep 27, 2013)

Dry seed you will need 12-14 month, at least in Germany. Green seed is 10-12 month. This is my experience.

Good luck!


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## TyroneGenade (Sep 27, 2013)

Aim to sow from a green pod. The outcomes is just so much better... and I don't think helenae would produce masses of seed to begin with.

Go read the thread at http://www.ukorchidforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=1292 to learn how to sow at home.

You can use plastic-snap-closed tubs and H2O2 to sterilize them. You would need a pressure cooker to sterilize the medium. Another option is Tyndallization but then you need glass jars.


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## goldenrose (Sep 27, 2013)

Who's gonna sow the seed? I'd ask them what's their preference?


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## Leo Schordje (Sep 27, 2013)

fibre said:


> Dry seed you will need 12-14 month, at least in Germany. Green seed is 10-12 month. This is my experience.
> 
> Good luck!



This is my experience also, did only one pod, it was 14 months to dry seed. Got only 8 replates out of the process, but that was still enough for my purposes.


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## Daniel Herrera (Sep 28, 2013)

Thank you everybody for the info! I will be the one sowing the seeds, but there is still a lot I have learn. I am now investigating the possible recipies for the agar solution, any recomendations?


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## Trithor (Sep 28, 2013)

Contact the Perners at Hengduan. They have a lot of different mediums specific for paphs and cyps, and also sell in small 1 litre packaging. I would advise two germination mediums (one salt based and the other amino acid based) Simple half MS with coconut works well and seems to be universally available.


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## Daniel Herrera (Sep 28, 2013)

Thank you Trithor! I will take that in consideration.


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## TyroneGenade (Dec 22, 2014)

Hello,

I am resurrecting this thread in the hope that someone has some definitive idea on how long helenae pods take to develop. I have a tiny pod on my plant. The cross is helenae x Hellas "Westonbirt" (which, based on Kew, doesn't seem to have been tried before... or produced such dogs as to make it not worth registering).


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## cnycharles (Dec 23, 2014)

Good luck!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## fibre (Dec 23, 2014)

TyroneGenade said:


> Hello,
> 
> I am resurrecting this thread in the hope that someone has some definitive idea on how long helenae pods take to develop. I have a tiny pod on my plant. The cross is helenae x Hellas "Westonbirt" (which, based on Kew, doesn't seem to have been tried before... or produced such dogs as to make it not worth registering).



Quite an interesting cross. Someone has to do this one time. The resulting hybrid will look similar like Paph. Barb Hella. But I would expect more narrow and forehold petals. 

As told before helenae pods take 12 to 14 month to develop for dry seed, no matter if you pollinated it with an other helenae or a complex Paph.

Good luck!


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## TyroneGenade (Dec 23, 2014)

I'd be happy if I got something approximating Barb Hella. I would like a little more yellow than tans though.

I would aim to sow green pod. Is the estimate of 6 months accurate?


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## fibre (Dec 24, 2014)

TyroneGenade said:


> I'd be happy if I got something approximating Barb Hella. I would like a little more yellow than tans though.
> 
> I would aim to sow green pod. Is the estimate of 6 months accurate?



I have good experience with green pod sowing after 10 month.


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## Leo Schordje (Dec 25, 2014)

For what it is worth - there is no definite time to mature a seed pod. There is a range, but each time it is done it will vary. 

I have the most experience with Phrag besseae. Back in the 1990's I had 8 different clones of besseae and tried to make more besseae with all 8. All plats were in the same growing area (same temp, & light). One plant went to dry seed in 12 weeks, most went to dry seed in about 20 to 30 weeks, one took over 40 weeks. Each year the time required varied, probably due to temperature, light and maturity or vigor of the pod parent going into the process. The clone that matured its pod in only 12 weeks the first time, was consistently the first to mature its pods, though the length of time would vary from year to year. Similar with the others, each clone seemed to have its own rate at which it matured seed pods. 

So in my experience - those tables which list the time required to mature a seed pod are merely approximations. Health of the plant when the pod is set, temperature and light will strongly influence the time required. The best route is to observe, and take notes. You will see changes in the shape and color of the pod as it matures. In the week before splitting, the seams of the capsule will become pronounced, the shape of the capsule will change, and the color will begin to change. 

Hope this helps.


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## fibre (Dec 25, 2014)

Thank you Leo, this is quite an interesting observation you did. Especially the comparison between the different clones of one and the same species is very interesting. I have seen different times for maturity of different pods by one and the same plant too but my guess was that different pollen parents are one reason of different maturity times because I always took different pollen parents.


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