Mentor pollen
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: Mentor pollen
- From: m*@bcgrizzly.com (Monashee Perennials)
- Date: Sat, 8 Mar 1997 14:52:12 -0700 (MST)
I had no response to my query from this morning about the use of mentor
pollen. Perhaps that is a non-standard term so I will give a short
description of the process to see if that will jog some memories.
Some plants apparently have chemical inhibitors which screen out pollen from
certain other plants. One way to get around this is to use a tiny amount of
pollen from a compatible plant mixed in with the pollen which you hope will
produce the cross. It seems that if even one or two grains of compatible
pollen are sensed on the stigma, the chemical barriers are released and then
the alien pollen is free to grow it's tubes down to the ovary.
Another way of getting around these types of barriers is to use a cut style
technique. Here the style is severed quite near the base and the pollen
applied directly to the cut surface. This usually works better if a drop of
diluted honey is first put on the cut surface. Whether this supplies
nutrients to the pollen grains or is superstition, I can't say. I have
successfully made crosses on lilies using this method but owing to the
different anatomy of the style and stigma of an iris it may require some
delicate surgery.
I would assume that these methods would be of no help when the problem was
due to differing numbers of chromosomes but if the cross should
theoretically work but in practice doesn't take, it may be worth a try if
you are really determined.
John Montgomery
monashee@bcgrizzly.com
Vernon, BC on the warmest day of 1997 so far 8.5C.
