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Hybridizing

The Miejer Gardens has a large number of pings in flower right now so I am setting about the task of cross pollinating them to create new hybrids of plants. I know how to cut off the petals and pull of the anthers and get pollin from one plant to another, but getting a good yeild of seed and actually collecting it is another question all together.

Pingman mentioned in an earlier thred that they set seed well if you "Fertilize the flower" Um, may I ask what that means? Is it just feeding the plant while it is in bloom?

And of course, part two is, how do I go about collecting the seed? Thanks so very much ;)
 
By fertilize PingMan was refering to the act of pollination. You know, as in sperm fertilizing the egg.

I find the best way to pollinate is to use a toothpick, the coloured ones make it a little easier because you can get a dark colour to see the pale pollen. Swipe the toothpick in the plant you want pollen from and then counterswipe the plant you want to fertilize. If you are planning on doing a reciprical cross I recommend collecting the pollen off both flowers first to reduce the likelyhood of accidental selfing.

To collect seed just wait till the pod is ripe and pop it over a piece of wax paper to catch the seed. You can tell when a pod is ripe by giving it a gentle (and I mean very gentle) squeeze. When you do it will begin to split along its seam. This method has always worked for me though you will have to ask Phill Mann or MadAboutCP how the seed are doing because I sent all that I got this year down to them.
 
Yes, though pollinating a flower does not always fertilize it.
 
Quite true Joseph, quite true.
 
Darcie, I'll go over this with you when you're at the Gardens next time. I typically use a small bamboo sliver. I can show you exactly how to do it...

Steve
 
oh, duh o_O I'm like thinking feeding the plant, lol. Open mouth insert foot. ;)

Thanks Steve, I will look forward to seeing how the pros do it
smile.gif
 
<span style='font-size:11pt;line-height:100%'>I too use toothpicks, though to make the contrast even more helpful I use a black Sharpie (permanent marker) to color about 1cm (1/4 inch) of the tip of the toothpick. They are cheap and disposable to avoid unwanted parent pollen getting involved unexpectedly.</span>
 
The Pinguicula Kama Sutra, HAHAHA!

Hey Darcie, I'd be careful with these lonesome guys offering to show you their fertilization tricks in person, hehehe!

Well, maybe there's nothing to fear. I mean, in order to show you their "pollen transfer techniques" one guy has a not-so-threatening sounding "colorful toothpick" and another has a flimsy "bamboo sliver". I'd say you're safe girl!!

Take Care,
Fernando

(Man, I think I've been on vacation for too long, hehehe!)
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (PinguiculaMan @ July 25 2004,4:48)]<span style='font-size:11pt;line-height:100%'>I too use toothpicks, though to make the contrast even more helpful I use a black Sharpie (permanent marker) to color about 1cm (1/4 inch) of the tip of the toothpick. They are cheap and disposable to avoid unwanted parent pollen getting involved unexpectedly.</span>
Joseph, this idea of coloring the toothpicks (my method also for pollinate Pinguicula) in black is really great.

Can you imagine that for 15 years I was trying to see closer my toothpicks to see if I had some grains of pollen on !

Sometimes things are so evident that you don't think of it.

Thanks a lot
 
  • #10
<span style='font-size:11pt;line-height:100%'>Eric,

You are most welcome.

I find that having the toothpick tip colored black makes it very easy to determine if I have captured any pollen from the donor flower. It also makes it easier to determine if I have successfully transferred any to the receiving flower (pollen will be visibly missing if transfer was successful).</span>
 
  • #11
Has anyone tried storing pollen of Mexican pings? Some of my plants only seem to flower during certain periods of time in the year, making certain crosses difficult.
 
  • #12
I have no idea how long Ping pollen keeps for, but I am always pleased when a winter-flowering species decides to flower at the 'wrong' time of the year. several of my P. laueana clones have occasionally flowered in mid-summer, enabling me to make some nice hybrids, I'm particularly pleased with my P. laueana x P. gypsicola crosses and can't wait for them to flower.

I now use a more drastic method than most, when hybridizing Pings. This method was shown to me by the UK's leading hybridizer, Stan Lampard and prevents the likelihood of a plant being naturally pollinated, and thus ensures the cross is true. I've performed a few crosses in the past, where the offspring do not in anyway resemble the pollen donor! It also exposes the stamens, enabling you to see exactly what you are doing.

Gently holding the top and bottom lobes, pull the bottom three lobes off the flower, they come away in one piece. Here is a P. gypsicola flower that I've done this too.

gypsicolapol1.jpg


Here is a view, showing the exposed interior of the flower.

gypsicolapol2.jpg



Vic
 
  • #13
Hi Vic,

Thanks for the tip. Have you ever seen any of the natural pollinators? I've always wanted to make a hybrid that produces the red flowers like laueana. Come to think of it, I've never seen a ping hybrid with red flowers.
 
  • #14
Yes, I've seen bumble bees (Bombus spp.) visiting my Ping flowers. They have fairly long 'tongues', so I imagine they are perfectly capable of pollination Pings.

I grow quite a few hybrids with P. laueana as a parent and none of them has red flowers, they are all pink or purple. I do have a hybrid between P. laueana and P. sp. 'Zaragoza' (due to be published as a new species, P. nivalis, I believe) which was bred by Stan Lampard, which has a purple flower with a nice red spot on the lower lobe and that's as close as I've seen to a red one.

Vic
 
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