Re: HYB: inside the pod (was on photos list

Interesting, Patrick - pollen here is hardly ever (never?) fluffy on a
freshly or partially opened flower.  I attempt most crosses early in the
day with pollen collected the previous afternoon or from flowers that
opened the day before.  Our nighttime humidity is usually 100%, which
may explain the difference. ?

Sharon, I like the idea of making crosses for sacrifice to sort out what
is going on in the developing (or, as you are discussing), the
non-developing pod.  I do have two cultivars that reliably produce
highly fertile pollen, but no equally reliable pod parents yet.  But
there are some healthy growers here that I haven't tried to use for pods
that might work....

By the time of season I am usually seeing non-freeze damaged blooms,
capable of setting pods & producing pollen, days are often hot, windy
and dry here as well.  I have been wondering if some shade, mulch, or
extra water/Miracle Gro as the pod is developing might yield a higher
percentage of seeds that would germinate, but hadn't considered stress
immediately after making the cross.

<You can get the best
                   most fluffiest pollen on a freshly opened or
partially opened flower early in the
                   morning when it is still cool, and it still will not
produce a pod.

                   Patrick Orr
                   Phoenix, AZ  ZOne 9>

<Post-mortems reveals that most of my problems occurred in the very
early stage,
                   before the folded flower had dropped off of the
ovary.  Our hot, dry winds tend to dessicate the
                   flower and turn it into a wind-catching flag. Simply
cutting the flower off as soon as it was dry
                   increased my success rate enormously. Sharon
McAllister>

--
Linda Mann east Tennessee USA zone 7/8
East Tennessee Iris Society <http://www.korrnet.org/etis>
American Iris Society web site <http://www.irises.org>
talk archives: <http://www.hort.net/lists/iris-talk/>
photos archives: <http://www.hort.net/lists/iris-photos/>
online R&I <http://www.irisregister.com>

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE IRIS
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index