Generally the triploids would be sterile. In the orchid biz there are some suggestions that crosses involving a triploid and a diploid have the best chance of success using the triploid as the pollen parent rather than the pod parent, but I would regard this as "lore" at best and an urban legend at worst. Note that large cattleyas might make a half million seeds in a pod, so a generous sowing in the flask might yield some viable plants even though the viable seeds are a tiny percentage of the total. Note also that orchid seeds don't have any endosperm, so they are germinated in a sugar-containing medium in a sterile flask. This is not unlike "embryo rescue" that can be done in some wide crosses in other kinds of plants, where the cross yields a viable embryo but the mother plant doesn't recognize it well enough to make a complete seed. So you might get a pod, but when you open it there are little flakes where seeds should be, but the flakes in some cases can be germinated if you supply the carbohydrates.
Embryos from (effectively) a selfing of a triploid will normally be aneuploids and any effort to germinate and nurse them along would likely yield crippled plants that have no desirable qualities.
I used to have a sterile workstation here at home, but that was really over the top even for me, so I no longer can do such experiments.
Probably more than you wanted to know.
Bob
On Friday, October 16, 2020, 04:11:16 PM EDT, rrodich--- via pbs <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> wrote:
Diploid and triploid forms could explain my different sized plants. Would the triploids be sterile? While the larger form does want to produce seed, I'm not sure I have ever actually seen seed. The smaller form does produce viable seed. I need to do more investigating next season to be positive. Thanks.Rick Rodichnear Minneapolis, MN
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