I have been babying a Philodendron bipinnatifidum for 14 years. (some call them P. Selloum, but that seems to be changing back to bipin...) Finally, for the first time, this year, it has put out a spathe and spadix. I've spent many hours on the web searching for HOW & WHEN TO COLLECT THE SEEDS. Can find nothing. Zip, zilch, zero. A video, done for Burke's Backyard entitled Pollinating Philodendrons on youtube is the closest I've come to getting any information about it whatsoever, and it was far from a how to, she was manually pollinating it, and it was all very weird. I suppose it's a great dark secret to further seed sales? ..but hells bells, I'm just a gardener, wanting to grow my own seeds.
So my question is, I've got this amazing spadix, and it seems to be doing it's thing, I touched it tonight and it's actually warmed up like it's supposed to but I don't know if I too need to pollinate it because I don't know if we have the right moths. No clue what she was rubbing on it. Nor have I any idea of how I'll know when they're ready if they do get ready, or if there is a certain way to do the collecting. With most plants after a season I'm pretty clear on the process just from watching them. But this is a first for me, and I'm worried it might not happen again.
Not interested in any info on any fruit it might produce. Saw lots of that.
After a 14 year wait I'm absolutely desperate to get seeds from this plant. Can anyone help me, in ANY way, even just a link to good info? Anything! Because the one thing that came through loud and clear from many websites I've looked at was that these seeds don't keep, they have a very short expiration date and must be used fairly quickly. Thank you for any info, Sincerely. -SAS
