RE: Pollen Strike Rates

Out in Idaho I thought something over 30% was minimally "normal."  Now it is zero, zero, zero down about half a page, then 1 pod, and a bunch more zeros.  I try to make more pollenizations than one per cross, but rarely get to do so.  Once in a while one will take--or at least, start to--of the two, more often both will be the same--takes or do not take.  These past two years I get "takes" that rot off, or have the stalk rot out from under them.
 
Last year I ended up with a grand total of 131 seeds.  I have maybe 12 or 13 total germinations from those now.  Pathetic!  Especially considering the care and hours of work that went into generating those few!  I'm going to have to resort of the can-on-a-stick approach or build a tent of some kind over pod plants, and either do the same for pollen sources, or bring the buds indoors out of the rain.  I wouldn't be the first to do so.  I just am not used to having to do the same.
 
Worse yet, I even found some good, healthy bee pods.  Maybe these won't be balloons like last years' were.  I had a bund of normal looking pods with nary a seed in them.  None of them were deliberate crosses, just seedless fruits.  Says something about frustrated fruit-setting hormones, I think.
 
Neil Mogensen    zone 7   western NC mountains

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