In a nutshell:

Once we receive your order, we will send you a confirmation of your order, and instructions for how to pack and ship your seeds/pods. 
Once we receive your seeds, we will sow several mother flasks. Once the mother flasks are ready, we will replate the seedlings until they are in their final flasks. When the seedlings reach an appropriate size, we will box them up and send them to you.

For more detailed information, please see our flasking process page.

From the time we sow your seeds/pods to the time the flasks are ready to ship can take anywhere from 9 to 18 months (rarely longer). The amount of time it takes depends on the genera of the orchid.

Pod harvest times are highly variable depending on the genera, species, and growing conditions. You can send us green pods, or you can send us dry seeds. There are pros and cons for each. Here is a link to an AOS article which gives average harvest times for green pods for some of the more common species and hybrids. In our experience, we usually have better luck when people send pods just past the recommended age given by the AOS article. Keep in mind that harvesting green pods is more of an art than a science, and note that not all orchid pods will contain viable seeds. For all but a handful of orchid species, it is best to harvest fully mature pods just before they begin to split open. This reduces the likelihood that pods are harvested before the seeds are mature enough to germinate in flasks.

If you are uncomfortable guessing the timing for harvesting green pods, you can wait until the pod is fully mature before harvesting it (this is what we recommend). Usually, pods will begin turning yellow or brown once they reach maturity. 

Alternatively, you can wait until the pod has begun to split open while it is on the plant. Timing is critical, because the seeds will begin to release as soon as the pod splits. If your pod has split, place a coffee filter or paper towel under the pod, and snip it off the plant. This will help catch any seeds that fall out while you are handling it. Wrap the pod in the coffee filter, and place it somewhere to dry for a few days. Then, carefully open the coffee filter and tap the pod to release the seeds, and fold them back up in the coffee filter (discard the empty pod). Be sure that the coffee filter is carefully folded and taped shut so that the dust-like seeds cannot escape. Viable seeds from mature pods will last a little while in dry, ambient conditions, but it is best to order your flasks and ship us your seeds soon after harvesting them, so that they have the best chance of germination. Please note that sometimes, a pod may produce many seeds, but they may not have embryos, and therefore may not be viable.

We take pride in our expertise and effort to satisfy all of our customers. However, due to the challenging nature of germinating and growing orchid seedlings, it is our opinion that no flasking service can guarantee complete success. Sometimes seeds don’t germinate. Occasionally, germinated seeds fail to establish. This can be due to a variety of factors such as pod harvest time, storage conditions between harvest and receipt, an incompatible cross, etc. Sowing seeds is a tedious and delicate process. Therefore, we cannot at this time offer a refund for the sowing fee.

We keep your cross information confidential. We ask for genus/parentage information so that we know how to treat the seeds, and which flasking media to grow them on. Any extra flasks left over after shipping your order will immediately be destroyed. The only exception to this rule is if an order is abandoned.

Growing orchids from seeds takes a lot of labor and materials. We will contact you throughout the flasking process, and before shipping your order. We will not ship an order until we have received payment in full. If we let you know that your flasks are ready, but we don’t hear back from you and/or don’t receive payment, we will reach out to you again. If after two months we have not received payment for your flasks, we reserve the right to sell them in an attempt to recover our losses. Abandoned flasks may have genus/parentage information advertised.