Faucaria Pollination?

Headache · Post by **Headache** » Tue Mar 30, 2010 6:49 am

So two of my Faucaria's flowers have started to bloom this afternoon.

How soon should I attempt to pollinate them? And also, how do I tell if they have been pollinated? Do the buds/seed capsules (not sure on terminology)look different if they have been pollinated or not? All I've seen are the dried up ones and have nothing to make a comparison with.

Here's a pic:

Thanks for any help.

iann · Post by **iann** » Mon Apr 19, 2010 11:42 pm

These should be easy to pollinate. Or would have been if I'd replied when they were still in flower

Tickle a flower with something, almost anything. A brush, your fingers, even a solid object like a pen. You should be able to see it go yellow as pollen is picked up. If you don't get any pollen, try to tickle around deeper in the flower because mesembs often dump all their pollen quite quickly. Then rub the pollen onto the stigma in the middle. It should transfer easily because the stigma is sticky.

A pollinate flower will tend to die more quickly than usual. The ovary at the base of the petals will swell a little quite quickly, but it can take months for the capsule to ripen. It is ripe when it opens to moisture, but the seed may not germinate fully and easily for some months after that.

Personally I wouldn't pollinate these two. There are enough hybrid Faucarias about and none of them are really worthwhile.

Headache · Post by **Headache** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 11:22 am

Thanks for the quick reply Ian

What you said to do is pretty much what I did, so no harm done

. I think they're pollinated, it's a bit hard to tell with one of them because the old petals are covering it all. Is it safe to remove them?
Also should I remove the old dried up capsules from previous flowers, or leave them alone?

They may of not been the best ones to pollinate because they would make a hybrid, but it was mainly just an experiment because I've haven't tried it before and those were the ones flowering at the time.