Capsule formation and asymbiotic seed germination in some hybrids of Phalaenopsis, influenced by pollination season and capsule maturity.

We explored the influence of pollination season and maturity of capsule on post-pollination capsule formation and in vitro asymbiotic seed germination, respectively. Three Phalaenopsis orchid hybrids, namely, 'Athens', 'Moscow' and 'Lusaka' flowers were artificially self-pollinated during winter, spring, summer and fall seasons and the impact of the pollination seasons was evident during capsule formation. It was observed that winter was the most suitable season for pollination of all the three Phalanaeopsis hybrids resulting in 80-88 % capsule formation. During summer, the pollination success rate was 24-28 %, but resulted in successful capsule formation. Season of pollination further delimited the germination efficiency of seeds harvested from capsules of variable maturity levels. Invariably, seeds collected from winter-pollinated capsules performed best in germination compared to other seasons, for instance, 'Moscow' seeds took less than 14 days to germinate from capsules developed following winter-pollination. Regarding the influence of capsule maturity on seed germination, we observed that seeds derived from 5-month mature capsules, invariably took least time to germinate than that of the 3-month or 7-month in all three hybrids, e.g., for 'Moscow' it was 13.9 days with a maximum of 90.3 % germination.