Topic: Anyone know about cross pollination?

[GrowingChillis]

hi

I have posted before about cross pollination, and I just want to get a few of the facts straight regarding the actual pollinating.

I have been told by some people to remove the petals and the male part of plant before it opens and then to transfer pollen onto the female part.
It is very fiddly removing things from flowers and seems to destroy the female part too.

If you leave the male bits on then they produce pollen and self pollinate the flower. However the flower opens and then not until the next day do I start to see pollen growing on the male bits..... the day before the flower looks just the same but without pollen.

Is the female part ready to receive pollen as soon as the flower opens or does it not mature until its male part is producing pollen??

Hope I have explained myself correctly, any ideas would be very welcome

peter

[trojanrabbit]

Oh my word! GCSE biology, 12 years ago at least now - I can't remember much detail....
IF the plant is one in which self fertilisation is not easily possible in physical terms, I seem to recall that the fertility of male and female parts is sometimes deliberately out of sych to prevent it being fertilised by its own pollen.

I most strongly recommend a look at the Wikipedia entry which isn't bad.

[saddad]

Only twelve years ago try thirty...  ::)

[Robert_Brenchley]

I think the danger might be that you'd pollinate one day with the pollen you wanted, then the plant would self-pollinate the next, and you'd end up with a mixture. If you want to be sure, remove the anthers.

[GrowingChillis]

yeh the purple chilli has its stigma far away from the anthers, but the other chilli has its stigma right in the middle of its anthers.
I have tried putting the other chilli pollen onto the purple one, but like you say it may have then self pollinated the next day. i am unsure whether the first pollen that hits the flower fertilises or like you say it can be pollenated more than once
The 2 flowers I applied pollen too have started turning into fruits, so I guess only time will tell.
I tried to cut the anthers off a couple of the purple flowers but they are so small and dainty that it is very hard to remove them ithout affecting the stigma, I think I may need a magnifine glass and some really small scissors.
Any ideas on this?

thanks for all your input

 :)

[Robert_Brenchley]

Use the small dressmaking scissors, and use them for nothing else so they stay sharp. Same as beekeepers do when cutting the queens' wings.