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Self pollinate U. quelchii ??

vraev

Carnivorous plant enthusiast
Admin
Hi guys,

I have my first U. quelchii flowers opening soon. Is there any way to self pollinate this species? I would love to get some seed of this species. Has anyone tried it before? How do u do it?

cheers

V
 
Sorry, If I tried selfing U. quelchii, I don't recall. Many of the others in Orchidioides produce fertile seeds from selfing (U. campbelliana, U. nelumbifolia, U. humboldtii, U. alpina - not U. asplundii - for me anyway).

On the actual pollination - here's what you see inside the flower when you open the hinge (this is a U. nelumbifolia - but others are similar):


The 4 things that look like butterfly wings are the anthers with pollen. Just above that is a flap (aka: stigma). Put some pollen on top of the flap & your done. On some flowers, it can be tough to hold the flower open & do the pollination (especially if you're using pollen from elsewhere, have a limited amount & don't want to self pollinate) so in those situations I'll often chop the flower at the hinge & toss the showy parts away.

I think I have three U. quelchii stalks coming up (2 different clones) but from your description, they are 1-3 weeks behind yours.
 
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Hey Ron,

I actually have 3 spikes on mine too. Here are pics. I think they are still a week or two away as well. What do u think? First time for me...so I don't know the exact timeline. If it can work out, I can cut off a couple of the flowers and try collecting pollen.

cheers

V

17310842232_5cfc43dfcc_o.jpg


17286741526_5924c7da1c_h.jpg
 
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Thanks for the instructions and great illustration, Ron. My U. alpina is coming into bloom for me for the first time and it would be nice to have seed from it.

Good luck, vraev!
 
Thanks mark. Looking forward to them opening. If anything I'll be happy to collect pollen to send someone else to cross pollinate.
 
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