Pollination: How to tell if it's a success or failure.
Login
User Name
Password   


Registration is FREE. Click to become a member of OrchidBoard community
(You're NOT logged in)

menu menu

Sponsor
Donate Now
and become
Forum Supporter.

Pollination: How to tell if it's a success or failure.
Many perks!
<...more...>


Sponsor
 

Google


Fauna Top Sites
LOG IN/REGISTER TO CLOSE THIS ADVERTISEMENT
Go Back   Orchid Board - Most Complete Orchid Forum on the web ! > >
Reply
 
Thread Tools Rate Thread Display Modes
  #1  
Old 03-20-2013, 04:44 AM
dopplerthesexybeast dopplerthesexybeast is offline
Jr. Member
 

Join Date: Mar 2013
Zone: 10b
Location: North Hollywood, CA
Posts: 16
Pollination: How to tell if it's a success or failure. Female
Default Pollination: How to tell if it's a success or failure.

I didn't see a recent thread detailing success or failure of orchid pollination, so here are my general rules of thumb for people new to making orchid seeds. I removed the flower lips and anther caps in each photo to show a better view. Let me know if anybody would like to see visuals of the pollination process itself.

Passionate orchid growers are aware of the fact that the best conditions for pollination of an orchid involve cross-pollination; some orchids just will not accept pollen from the same plant as the ovary. What's often confusing for new growers is determining whether the pollination is a success or a failure, as even cross-pollination is finicky at times.

I recently cross-pollinated six flowers with an apparent 33% success rate so far. Once a flower is "aware" of the pollen, the stigmatic opening will close over the exposed pollen; the attached photo of the yellow orchid demonstrates this. It can still fail at this point if fertilization doesn't occur... think of it as a miscarriage of sorts. After a few days, if successful, the ovary directly behind the flower will begin to swell. A failed pollination is often indicated by lack of stigmatic opening closure over the exposed pollen; the white and purple orchid demonstrates this.

I'm crossing my fingers that the pollen in the yellow flower will take. I'll post photos in a few days if it does.
Attached Thumbnails
Pollination: How to tell if it's a success or failure.-20130320_001808-jpg   Pollination: How to tell if it's a success or failure.-20130320_001548-jpg  

Last edited by dopplerthesexybeast; 03-21-2013 at 01:26 AM..
Reply With Quote
Post Thanks / Like - 4 Likes
  #2  
Old 03-20-2013, 05:53 PM
WhiteRabbit WhiteRabbit is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: May 2008
Zone: 9a
Location: Nor Cal
Posts: 26,634
Default

Good luck!
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 03-20-2013, 11:24 PM
King_of_orchid_growing:)'s Avatar
King_of_orchid_growing:) King_of_orchid_growing:) is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Apr 2008
Zone: 9a
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 9,313
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by dopplerthesexybeast View Post
...the sepal cavity (not sure if this is the English word)...
Stigmatic opening.

Nice shots.
__________________
Philip
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 03-21-2013, 01:27 AM
dopplerthesexybeast dopplerthesexybeast is offline
Jr. Member
 

Join Date: Mar 2013
Zone: 10b
Location: North Hollywood, CA
Posts: 16
Pollination: How to tell if it's a success or failure. Female
Default

I swear to God, I forgot how to speak English, lol.

---------- Post added at 11:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:22 PM ----------

I fixed it. And I need to work on my English. Thanks, lol.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 03-23-2013, 08:41 PM
Rowangreen Rowangreen is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: London UK
Posts: 1,058
Pollination: How to tell if it's a success or failure.
Default

Very interesting! I have a phal with a huge seed pod. Didn't know to look for this, but it wasn't long to wait for the swelling anyway.

I also have a Paph I selfed a few months ago. No sign of swelling yet but apparently they can take months to show even that! Anyone know more on Paphs?
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 03-23-2013, 09:17 PM
dopplerthesexybeast dopplerthesexybeast is offline
Jr. Member
 

Join Date: Mar 2013
Zone: 10b
Location: North Hollywood, CA
Posts: 16
Pollination: How to tell if it's a success or failure. Female
Default

Mine haven't started swelling yet. But there is discoloration of the anther area and flower wilting... so it definitely knows the pollen is there. I'll add more photos tonight.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 03-24-2013, 08:14 PM
dopplerthesexybeast dopplerthesexybeast is offline
Jr. Member
 

Join Date: Mar 2013
Zone: 10b
Location: North Hollywood, CA
Posts: 16
Pollination: How to tell if it's a success or failure. Female
Default

Pollinated orchid on the left (flower wilted and closed over the pollen, anther area discolored and swollen). Flower from the same plant on the right. Lighting isn't the best, but you can see a clear difference.

Let's hope it takes!


Last edited by dopplerthesexybeast; 03-24-2013 at 08:41 PM..
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 03-26-2013, 03:59 PM
dopplerthesexybeast dopplerthesexybeast is offline
Jr. Member
 

Join Date: Mar 2013
Zone: 10b
Location: North Hollywood, CA
Posts: 16
Pollination: How to tell if it's a success or failure. Female
Default

Here's a rear view from a few days later. The pollinated flower is on the right, the unpollinated on the left. Notice the color difference and the thickness.

A failed pollination can be signaled by yellowing of several flower parts (namely the column and ovary). However, a bright green ovary is a great sign. If you look closely, you can see that the pollinated ovary is slightly thicker than the unpollinated.

It's only been about a week, but I'm confident that this will be a success. It turned out that half of the six flowers I pollinated showed awareness, but only the two on this plant are showing signs of success (i.e.: the swollen green ovaries). The pollen parents are from two different plants. This particular orchid is also over two feet tall, so I would imagine it's just hardy enough to be able to reproduce sexually.

Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 04-14-2013, 05:04 AM
Island Girl Island Girl is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Jun 2012
Zone: 7b
Member of:AOS
Location: Piedmont, North Carolina + OBX, NC
Age: 40
Posts: 1,155
Pollination: How to tell if it's a success or failure. Female
Default

I, for one, would love to see the pollination process! And I think your English is perfectly fine! (I would've thought that u spoke english as ur first language if it wasn't for the Thai flag)
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 04-23-2013, 08:21 AM
omega_z omega_z is offline
Jr. Member
 

Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 7
Pollination: How to tell if it's a success or failure.
Default

different orchid has a different signs of successfull pollination. but normally the flower will closed itself and start to wilt while the flower stalk starting to swell...
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Tags
flower, orchid, pollen, pollination, success, failure


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Psychopsis success, Haraella failure and a new addition Carpe Diem Beginner Discussion 7 09-05-2012 01:47 AM
hand pollination daniel Propagation 7 12-19-2010 02:14 PM
Success and Failure Leisurely Semi-Hydroponic Culture 11 02-16-2009 04:13 PM

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:37 AM.

© 2007 OrchidBoard.com
Search Engine Optimisation provided by DragonByte SEO v2.0.37 (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
Feedback Buttons provided by Advanced Post Thanks / Like (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.

Clubs vBulletin Plugins by Drive Thru Online, Inc.