Sorry, but the surest approach does indeed involve test tubes, but there's bound to be a few folks in BC who could help you out. If the seed pod has started to yellow, best to clip it off, and bring it indoors, fold it into a clean piece of paper or put it into a paper envelope where it can finish ripening, dry out and open. The seeds will be like dust, so it's essential to keep them from blowing away or getting too dirty. If it's still bright green, you may be able to find someone who can do a "green pod" culture from it. This is much easier and often better results come from it as it skips the requirement for sterilizing the actual seeds. Either way, you need to find an experienced orchid propagator with the (basic) lab set up to do sterile culture. As I said, there is likely either a hobbyist of an orchid nursery within your area who is set up for seed starting and would be happy to culture your calanthe seeds for you...possibly in exchange for a portion of the resulting plantlets. A well fertilized pod will have far more seeds than could ever be grown on...thousands... so you can be generous. It's good to locate the seed service early, as they will vary in their preference for working with dry seed versus green pods. They can advise you more on just how to collect, store and send the seeds to them. I'm curious: do you know which species you have? erik youth and elders short video <http://vimeo.com/62177578/> http://www.linkedin.com/in/erikvanlennep/ @Green_Heart <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> *“Another world is not only possible, she is already on her way. On quiet days I can hear her breathing.” * - Arundhati Roy On 23 October 2017 at 18:40, Sue Evanetz <sevanetz@telus.net> wrote: > The Catarina seed discussion has been so informative I thought perhaps > someone out there could give me some suggestions on what to do with the > first seed pod I’ve had in 10 years from my Calanthe which grows in a shade > garden on the Sunshine Coast of BC. I hope it doesn’t involve test tubes! > Cheers Sue > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… > _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…