Last Nobember I had a Mammillaria karwinskiana ssp nejapensis flower. With smallish flowers (maybe a half inch wide). This year, in June, it has fruited, overnight sprouting red fruit maybe 1 inch long and less than a quarter inch wide. I removed one, just to see what it's contents looked like. Very, VERY small seeds of a reddish color, in a very wet environment.
Side View Before Flowering
In Flower
Now I am curious as to what I need to do with the "fruit" in order to insure viable seeds. Should I just leave the fruit alone, and wait for the seeds inside to mature? Will they dry out soon? Will the seeds in the fruit get bigger?
What to do with the Fruit of Mammillaria karwinskiana ssp nejapensis
- WayneByerly
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- greenknight
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Re: What to do with the Fruit of Mammillaria karwinskiana ssp nejapensis
Leave them on the plant until they're totally overripe and start to shrivel. If they're not pollinated, they'll just shrink away to nothing.
I don't know if this species is self-fertile - many won't set seed without a pollinator, but may still produce fruit.
I don't know if this species is self-fertile - many won't set seed without a pollinator, but may still produce fruit.
Spence
- WayneByerly
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- Joined: Sun Apr 06, 2014 10:35 pm
- Location: In the north end of the Sequachee Valley, 65 miles north of Chattanooga Tennessee USA. Zone 7a
Re: What to do with the Fruit of Mammillaria karwinskiana ssp nejapensis
Thanks for the reply. I'll let the fruit dry out and then open them up and see if any will Sprout. If any will Sprout, you will be welcome to some of them if you want.
Make the moral choice & always do what's right. Be a good example. Be part of the solution & make a contribution to society, or be part of the problem & end your life with nothing but regrets. Live a life you can be proud of! Zone 7a
- greenknight
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- Joined: Tue Apr 30, 2013 4:18 am
- Location: SW Washington State zone 8b
Re: What to do with the Fruit of Mammillaria karwinskiana ssp nejapensis
You don't have to let them dry up - that works well with a lot of cacti, but I hear Mammillaria seeds are more difficult to separate then.
Spence