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Yeah! Finally!!! Pinguicula caerulea flowering, need pollinating advice.

Hello friends,

I've got two genetically different Pinguicula caerulea plants. Both are flowering with two flowers on each at the moment. They have not opened, but I want to be SURE and cross-pollinate them correctly so I can get seed to share.

There are not many NA pings in cultivation, so I believe this (4 flowers, maybe more) worth of seed, and the resulting plants it will give me, will put some more in circulation.

Too bad my other P. lutea died...I have one flowering ATM but can't do anything with it...at least this is what I think.

So please, any links or suggestions on pollinating this species?

BTW: if anybody wants to trade a P. planifolia, I have one of those but the second died :( I am so mad at myself because it really shouldn't have. :headwall:
 
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Don't worry too much when you suddenly lose any of these S.E. U.S.A. Pinguicula species, most of us do. I maintained colonies of most for several years at a time, only to suddenly lose most or all of them for no obvious reason. I've seen them in the wild, growing in conditions I would never expect to find them, and in conditions that would certainly kill them if I exposed them to those conditions in cultivation.
 
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Cruella Deville?
 
So, what is Pinguicula cruela? It's not a species I recognize.

Do you mean, Pinguicula caerulea?

o o o o o o o o o
Don't worry too much when you suddenly lose any of these S.E. U.S.A. Pinguicula species, most of us do. I maintained colonies of most for several years at a time, only to suddenly lose most or all of them for no obvious reason. I've seen them in the wild, growing in conditions I would never expect to find them, and in conditions that would certainly kill them if I exposed them to those conditions in cultivation.

You are very right. That is what I meant! Thank you for correcting me :)

Also, thanks for the encouragement. The P. lutea I lost could be attributed to circumstances, but the P. planifolia is utterly unreconcilable. I mean it. I was just too lazy to make an effort to buy LFSM and plant the thing...it sort of dried out in temporary storage. LOL, the second P. planifolia recovered from a swarm of slugs! I like that plant very much, and wish I could get ahold of another. My weather is perfect you know ;)

Good Luck SD

Thank you for most of the plants! I'm sorry I was such a poor planifolia caretaker. (BTW, my D. madagascarensis are recovering! x2!!! Root cuttings sure helped to give me a few now.)

For all of you: my strategy (not a very good one I know) is to plant many of the same thing in different locations and soil conditions outside. The justification of this is 1) it lets me know what conditions the plants like relatively soon, 2) it ensures survival of something at least ???

Cruella Deville?

:-))


Thanks!

---------- Post added at 06:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:09 PM ----------

Am I understanding this correctly?

1) tear off all the petals; carefully avoiding tearing reproductive parts off too.
2) use black-tipped toothpick to receive pollen, stick back.

That's as far as I'm thinking right now. I will more into it later when I have more time and when they are flowering.
 
It is also possible to self-pollinate all of the S.E. U.S.A. Pinguicula species, just difficult to have success with some, others are easy. Timing is very crucial to those that are more discriminating.

Seed germinates easily when fresh, but quickly loses viability.

Tear off all corolla lobes/petals, except the top two, keep these for a handle. Then lift the stigma flap (very carefully - it is connected to the ovary by a fragile stalk), and lift some pollen from this area with a darkened toothpick, then release the stigma flap and deposit the pollen on the upper surface of the stigma flap.
 
It is also possible to self-pollinate all of the S.E. U.S.A. Pinguicula species, just difficult to have success with some, others are easy. Timing is very crucial to those that are more discriminating.

Seed germinates easily when fresh, but quickly loses viability.

Tear off all corolla lobes/petals, except the top two, keep these for a handle. Then lift the stigma flap (very carefully - it is connected to the ovary by a fragile stalk), and lift some pollen from this area with a darkened toothpick, then release the stigma flap and deposit the pollen on the upper surface of the stigma flap.

About the corolla:

Would removing that membrane (corolla) that houses the reproductive organs be harmful to the plant? As in, am I supposed to get some of that off to expose the parts too? Would cutting the back off a flower work? The pollen and stygma are back there, right?

I'll use my P. lutea flowers for information right now :)
 
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When you look into the "throat" of the flower, from the front, above the fuzzy part, that looks like colored hairs, is the upper surface of the stigma. The upper surface is the one that is receptive to pollen (when it is ready, pollen will adhere there and grow down through the pistil and into the ovary where the ova can then be fertilized and develop into seeds).

Here is a photo showing this hairy appendage (or beard) and the stigma above and behind it --> the pollen, anthers and stamen are behind/beneath this stigma flap.

P_caerulea_AA2_flower_frontal.jpg

If you tear off the corolla lobe containing the beard, the spur, attached behind the beard will also be torn away. This will also expose everything necessary to easily complete the mission of pollinating or self-pollinating the flower.
 
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  • #10
I believe it's the stigma that Wickedthistle refers to as the, 'landing pad".
 
  • #11
Even though I don't like uploading photos, I'll do it anyway:

P_+Caerulea+Closing.JPG


North+American+Pings.JPG


I must say this flower is the best NA SE P. flower I have seen yet--aside from photos such as Joseph Clemens's.
 
  • #12
I have a caerulea with a white fuzzy thing like in yours and another that had a yellow fuzzy thing in it an guess why? the petals looked the same and where the same shade
 
  • #13
I have a caerulea with a white fuzzy thing like in yours and another that had a yellow fuzzy thing in it an guess why? the petals looked the same and where the same shade

Odd! That's what's cool about genetically different plants. Why I hate 10 clones of the same thing in a collection, besides the fact that seed production isn't that great :-O
 
  • #14
I crossed both plants today. Thank you Joseph for the tip about leaving the top two petals and tearing the rest off...it effectively splits the flower in half, exposing everything.
 
  • #15
Nice! P. caerulea, P. lutea, and the other North american butterworts are supposedly some of the more difficult ones to care for.
 
  • #16
Congrats on the crossin
Can't wait to see the results
 
  • #17
Well, I wound up with 2 full seedpods. I'm waiting for them to develop. My second plant died, but greatfully I crossed them. The stress of flowering seems to be too much for them sometimes.

Does cutting off additional flowers stop them from waisting energy?

It looks like there's going to be alot of seed in each pod.

Don't overwater these!!!
 
  • #18
Nice! P. caerulea, P. lutea, and the other North american butterworts are supposedly some of the more difficult ones to care for.

Lutea is a really difficult plant for me. Mine thrived for a month or two, then it just suddenly withered away. Planifolia did good for awhile but then I accidently dried the soil too much. I've had really good success with Caerulea so far, and Primuiflora seems to thrive whereever I put it.
 
  • #19
Seed!

Well, I've sowed the resulting seed and have placed 4 packets for trade!

P_+Caerulea.JPG
 
  • #20
Very nice looking flower!
 
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