D. lanata - 2 Scapes From The Same Flower?

[jimscott]

I have a D. lanata that is flowering. A second scape also developed. Both scapes are concurrently flowering and I've actually been home to see the flowers opened up. So I did my valliant best to get then pollinated. Was this a waste of time?

 

[Not a Number]

Petiolaris complex Drosera are rarely self-fertile so you'd most likely need another plant. Even so these have been propagated so much by Tissue Culture that you may have multiple clones of the same plant and they may not cross fertilize either.

However, there is no harm in trying as it is very easy just to rub two flowers together.

 

[RL7836]

Was this a waste of time?

Probably. (but you already knew that ...)

However, there is no harm in trying as it is very easy just to rub two flowers together.

A long-time petio grower recommended this method to me (rubbing flowers together). I tried it multiple times & got little to no seed (from 2 seedgrown plants - so they were definitely different clones). From that point on, I take some tweezers, rip off a stamen & dab the anther onto the other flower's stigma (approach also works well when crossing VFTs). Typically, you can see the pollen sticking on the stigma. Using this simple approach produced seedpods with 'lots' of seed. If I'm around when the flowers are open, I want my approach to produce the maximum seed possible!

 

[Tamlin Dawnstar]

Ron is spot on with this, rubbing flowers together is not very effective. Also Ivan Snyder's article on Drosera pollination found in the "Article" forum has some helpful hints on hand pollination. Cheers!

 

[Not a Number]

Well, I guess it's a matter of technique because Ivan Snyder told me not to bother with plucking the anthers to hybridize them. He did suggest plucking off the petals to give one more working time however.

 

[jimscott]

I tried smooshing D. paradoxa flowers together a few years ago and got nothing. I just attributed that to being inexperienced. How do the scapes "know" that the gametes are from the same plant?

I keep waiting for the others in the Complex to flower and... nothing!

Ron - Yeah, I suspected as much. I certainly have tweezers to use.

Warren - The pods are marked from weeks ago. Hopefully,...