Pollination

hob · Post by **hob** » Thu May 07, 2009 3:30 pm

not something i have ever tried,
as i understand it you use something like a paint brush or cotton bud to get the little yellow grains of pollen from area 1 on one flower and then brush them onto the stigma area 2 on the flower on another plant of the same species, or if trying to hybridise another closely related species. is that correct?

dustin0352 · Post by **dustin0352** » Thu May 07, 2009 3:36 pm

I believe this is correct. Something that I have been dying to try, but just cant seem to get 2 of the same cacti to bloom at the same time. Good luck Hobs!!

Post by **CoronaCactus** » Thu May 07, 2009 3:54 pm

That is correct.
Depending on specie, You usually have to wait for day 2+ to pollinate. As when they first open they aren't receptive to pollen. Once the stamens (area 1) spread apart and look *dusty* with pollen they are ready. The recieving flower needs to have it's stigma fingers open (area 2) indicating it's ready to receive pollen.

If done too early or too late, you get nada or very poor seed counts and/or poor viable seed.

Post by **daiv** » Fri May 08, 2009 3:42 am

CoronaCactus wrote: You usually have to wait for day 2+ to pollinate.

What do you mean by this line? Wait 2 or more days? I don't think that would work too well for most cacti flowers.

Loph · Post by **Loph** » Fri May 08, 2009 5:21 am

some species stigma are receptive from the get go but the pollen is not, like Astrophytum. so if you run your brush through the filaments, you wont see much pollen where as if you wait for 2 days and do the same the brush will be coated in yellow dust. many cacti do that, probabyl to help promote cross pollination. Stigmas also become more receptive at different times depending on species.

i personally use those really tiny paint brushes the ladies use for makeup around their eyes. they are fine and work great without really messing up the stigma too much (q-tips dont hold and release pollen nearly as good, and they are huge).

ideally its nice to store pollen for timely species, then there is not guessing games and playing around

Post by **CoronaCactus** » Fri May 08, 2009 3:00 pm

daiv wrote:
CoronaCactus wrote: You usually have to wait for day 2+ to pollinate.
What do you mean by this line? Wait 2 or more days? I don't think that would work too well for most cacti flowers.

Remember this pic from another thread?

When the flowers first open, not all of them are ready to go, they need some time to produce. I've noticed quite a few species that will continue to open/close thier flowers for up to 3 days. Of course, with species that only open thier flowers for 1 day or an afternoon, your wait time is not going to be very long so you gotta be quick

Post by **daiv** » Fri May 08, 2009 5:24 pm

CoronaCactus wrote: Of course, with species that only open thier flowers for 1 day or an afternoon, your wait time is not going to be very long so you gotta be quick

Yes that is what I was thinking about. The "one-dayers". With so many Echinopsis blooms posted recently I had one-day blooms on the mind.

Moonbeam · Post by **Moonbeam** » Sun May 10, 2009 2:50 am

Thanks guys...I don't seem to have the hang of it yet. But, I've been trying!

Loph · Post by **Loph** » Sun May 10, 2009 5:29 am

some flowers only open at night. some studies on night bloomers like dragon fruit showed that hte style grew throughout the night and the space between anther and stigma got larger. as the space increased, as time passes, it would become active and ready for action

other species don't care and can be fertilized and release pollen at any time. the best bet is to jsut pollinate them every day the flower is open, even 2 or 3 times a day if you got the time

Peterthecactusguy · Post by **Peterthecactusguy** » Sat May 22, 2010 3:23 am

Just an observation, but most of the Opuntia flowers aren't ready on the first day. The Stigmas aren't open yet. They remain tightly closed usually. I haven't tried to pollinate any of them yet, but I have noticed that the stigmas aren't always open at first.

Some plants flowers are only open for one day. Saguaros are that way, but usually by the morning they are ready to receive pollen.

Dmyerswny · Post by **Dmyerswny** » Sat Jul 03, 2010 4:20 am

Another note I don't know if this is to hard of work but if you can get a bee that's dead and preserved well you can put it on a toothpick and use it to move pollen around. There's usually one or two on my window seals.

martenfisher · Post by **martenfisher** » Wed Apr 27, 2011 6:27 am

Is there a way to pollinate an ealy season bloomer with a late season bloomer or will the pollen not keep that long?
I know if you do this with other kinds of plants you get everbearing and everbloomers.

CaesiumFluoride · Post by **CaesiumFluoride** » Sun May 01, 2011 7:14 pm

I've also read somewhere that many species (particular Mammillaria) will not self-pollinate