theoneflasehaddock wrote:

Forget what Rob's saying. If you want seeds, go ahead and try.
Probably notworth flasking, but worth letting it ripen and tossing it
into a pot. Maybe

you'll get a couple seedlings. You know one parent, it could well be a
self-pollination, and you can never have too many Paphs, known or unknown.



I can't possibly disagree more, and I don't disagree often. You can
never have too many paphs. That part is unquestionably true. But,
setting seed on a paph is a stressful exercise. You can kill a plant
that way, if it isn't healthy to begin with, and can set back a plant
that is healthy. If you really love your paph, don't set seed on it,
especially since you say it needs repotting. It isn't worth the risk
(albeit slight) of harming your plant to get a few worthless seedlings.
Unknown, ******* paphs are not worth anything to anybody. Sure, some of
them might turn out great, but they still won't be worth anything to
anybody who grows orchids. If you know what both parents are, and if
you expect the progeny will be good, then I would strongly suggest
making the cross and finding out. Plant breeding is not the sole domain
of 'experts', plenty of complete novices have made some very nice
hybrids, and even Terry Root had to start somewhere. But you have to
know both parents.

Save room in your collection (nobody has infinite space) for well
labeled plants. Keep the good ones, and throw away the bad ones
(regardless of labels). Make a point of evaluating the collection a
few times a year, and discard any plants that are performing poorly or
are just not up to whatever standards you want to apply. You are the
one that has to be happy, apply your own standards and to hell with the
people who tell you otherwise. These habits are essential to having a
good collection of any size (10 or 10 million plants). I'm a big fan
of having too many plants, but you need to select wisely. You may have
noticed that it costs money to grow orchids, no matter what scale you
grow at. Per plant, the fertilizer, pots, potting mix, time,
electricity and heat cost the same regardless of the initial cost of the
plant. Free plants are not always a good deal. You manage your
investments, I presume, so manage your orchid collection as well.
Orchids are an investment, even if you never plan on selling a single one.

None of that should be construed to suggest you shouldn't experiment
with things. God bless you if you want to try throwing some seeds at
the base of the mother plant, or even flasking some of them. Go for it,
it is an educational experience, and it is always fun to learn new
things. But, I think you would have more long term satisfaction if you
started out with a batch of seeds with proper provenance. Ask around,
maybe somebody can send you some. I'd send you some if I had any right
now.


Rob

--
Rob's Rules: http://www.msu.edu/~halgren
1) There is always room for one more orchid
2) There is always room for two more orchids
2a. See rule 1
3) When one has insufficient credit to purchase
more orchids, obtain more credit