Pollination Question

Drew again,

I was wondering if anyone can clear up an issue thats been on my mind...
Is it possible (or recomended) to pollinate a flower with its own pollinia? Or should pollinia of another flower (from the same plant and spike i mean) be used?

I pollinated a nice big dendrobium bloom ( I think I pollinated it anyways) with it's nieghbor flower (the next one on the spike). The pollina donor shriveled an fell off four days ago, while the mother is still attached, but deflating more every day. Also, I removed the anther and pollinia of the mother flower before pressing the new pollinia into the stigma. Is this flower properly fertilized?

I ask because my first cattleya has come into bloom, and i would like to have it make me a seed pod, but i have waited for these inflourescences quite some time, and I dont want them to fall off in vain.

Thanks for all your help,
Drew

Hi Drew, welcome.

umm, I've only read this so don't take it as gospel, but once a flower has been pollinated it is natural for the flower to shrivel. After a few days you should also see the stigma swells, ie the part of the flower where you have put the pollen to polinate the flower. After a few days more the ovary is then suppose to swell. If the latter happens then the flower has accepted the pollen mass. However, this doesn't necessarily guarantee success. The seed capsule may develop and then still have seeds which are infertile (this could be because you have 'selfed' the plant).

It is generally better to use pollen from another plant but if there are none to be had, well then you will have to use what is available.

Hope that helps.

Cheers
tim

If you have an exceptional cultivar of a species, then often it is desirable to "self" it by using the pollinia from the same plant. This tends to produce progeny that are more similar to each other. An "outcross" using two examples of a given species from disparate breeding lines is liable to produce a lot more variation, some really nice plants, but possibly some real dogs.

With hybrids, all bets are off. They have a great deal more genetic variation due to the fact that they're not species, and selfing can produce a lot of variation in both color and form.

Some plants appear to be resistant to "selfing", i.e. some of the sanderianum cultivars. Hybrids that are triploid will typically not breed either.

I should also caution you that seed pods are extremely taxing to the plant, and only large mature plants should be asked to carry that burden.

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Jason

Thanks for all your help guys, I've been keeping a detailed log of the flowers progress, and sadly I expect it to fall soon. but that will just give me an excuse to run out and buy it a partner plant. This is a very large and healthy dendrobium "sonia" so I think I'll just try again.


Drew

I searched online to see what a D. sonia looked like and I found a lot of color variation in the flowers. Then I ran across this article flower coloration, which is fascinating: http://www.mint.gov.my/Rnotespdf/Res...0Note%2003.pdf

I definitely think you should microwave your plant, Drew, and see what color flowers you get on the next bloom!

Julie

So much for the good old days of, "Martha, by gum! This'un here's yella, that'un there's blue, Ah'll jus' cross'em 'n make me some green!"

Sigh....

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Louis J. Aszod

"...an then Martha, by gosh, after I back over 'em in that ol' Ford, I'll irradiate their lil' nucleotides an we'll just have us some might pritty albas!"

J

"Uh, ma'am? Beggin' pardon--wha's a nuke 'ular tide?"

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Louis J. Aszod

Why that's one of dem der chrome somes. Now Tildy (that's what we called ma - she jist hated it when we called her Maud) swore she once cooked the color right out of em! She wanted a pretty lil yeller thing, but left it in that micrwave too long. That erchid was as white as my ol' hound dogs snout!

Well Ah feel for ya--sure do, by gum. Such like that as'll happen when ya micrwave yer dawg--turn em whiter 'n a sheep in bed, ain't that th' truth. Well yew tell ole Tildy Ah 'ppreciate her discoverin' that 'n such 'bout them ortchids. Y'all kin make you sum good money discoverin' such as that, 'n Ah'm much obliged.

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Louis J. Aszod