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Post by Steve D on Apr 14, 2007 2:50:37 GMT
This is not a photo of one of my own VFTs. Instead, I found this photo of a very interesting VFT color variation-- www.honda-e.com/A01_HomePage/PHOTO_JPEG/Copy%20of%20BBB_0065%20copy.jpg--at the following very interesting website: www.icarnivorousplants.comThat website referred to above has lots of wonderful photos and information.
This year I'm letting some of my mature Venus Flytraps to flower and produce seed, to see what interesting color variations and forms might result. I'll cross-pollinate with a small artists' brush and see what happens, sowing some seed and sending the extra seed to the ICPS seed bank. Ought to be fun.  -Steve |
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Post by Aidan on Apr 14, 2007 9:45:08 GMT
Image changed to a link for copyright reasons.
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Post by Steve D on Apr 14, 2007 14:36:10 GMT
Image changed to a link for copyright reasons. Oops. Sorry I typically don't think of copyright with regard to my own photos, so the copyright issue slipped my mind this first time I posted a photo that was not my own. I'll try to keep the copyright issue in mind from now on. In addition I just noticed the suggested 750x750 pixel limit mentioned in the photos section of the forum, so I'll try to abide by that too. Steve |
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Post by rsivertsen on Apr 14, 2007 21:43:41 GMT
Remember to cross-pollinate Dionea with genetically different clones, as they seem to be self-sterile, at least from my experience, several Drosera also seem to have this problem, very low levels of viable seed from self pollinated flowers. I use a jeweler’s loupe and a stainless steel needle nosed tweezers to remove one of the ripe anthers and apply it to another flower's stigma; also check to see if some anthers ripen before the stigma is fully developed, another mechanism which often prevents selfing. Growing CP from seed is a very rewarding experience, you get to see lots of variations and sometimes even a "sport"!
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Post by Michael Catalani on Apr 14, 2007 23:43:24 GMT
Remember to cross-pollinate Dionea with genetically different clones, as they seem to be self-sterile, at least from my experience, Mine as well. Any attempt to cross two plants from genetically identical material (ie, the same TC batch) produced zero seed. It wasnt a case of very limited seed set. There also wasnt occasional success. The seed set always equalled zero. Whats strange is that I have selfed flowers of Dionaea and received a small seed set, but when crossing two identical TC clones I've always received zero seed. |
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Post by ICPS-bob on Apr 14, 2007 23:50:58 GMT
Remember to cross-pollinate Dionea with genetically different clones, as they seem to be self-sterile, at least from my experience, ... Hmmm. I have heard stories of Dionaea being self-sterile. However, that has not been my experience. For many years, I have routinely self-pollinated the same plant by using different flowers on the same scape -- one flower where the anther is ripe and another flower where the stigma is receptive. If done at the right time, I have not noticed any difference in seed number or viability. Sometimes it is tricky to have male and female flower parts on the same scape to be ready at the same time. I also have numerous clones (divisions) that I have "self-pollinated". Even though the plants are in different pots, they are genetically identical. |
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Post by Aidan on Apr 15, 2007 1:00:54 GMT
The self-sterile claim is made in more than one book on the subject (Schnell for example). I usually outcross plants, but like Bob I have successfully selfed them in the past.
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Post by Not a Number on Apr 15, 2007 15:18:08 GMT
The very first VFT I had back in the 70s for 10+ years would flower. I self-pollinated several times (I had only the one plant at the time) and produced viable seeds. None of the seedlings survived as I wasn't good about watering regularly. Enough to keep the mother plant growing but not enough for the seedlings.  |
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Post by rsivertsen on Apr 16, 2007 0:27:20 GMT
When I had my VFTs in my greenhouse, and even out on my lawn, I noticed that even those self pollinated flowers seemed to produce seed; but when I moved them inside, to my basement, into small containers, under lights, where they were free from any of those small ubiquitous flies, then I happen to notice a precipitous decline in seed set, and viable seed in those that where self pollinated, which leads me to believe that those small flies may have had something to do with cross-pollinating the Dionea flowers with different clones.
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Post by ICPS-bob on Apr 16, 2007 4:54:41 GMT
That may be your experience, rsivertsen, but it has not been mine. In my environment, VFT flowers that I do not purposefully manually pollinate never, and I mean never, have produced viable seed for me. I realize that in many areas there are pollinating insects. Apparently they are not present or effective in my area. I have grown VFTs for over 50 years and I know what I observe. So, you can have your belief, I have my data.
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Post by rsivertsen on Apr 16, 2007 15:53:03 GMT
It's not a matter of my belief versus your data, as I have also been growing VFTs for over 50 years, and seem to have different data from my observations.
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Post by ICPS-bob on Apr 16, 2007 17:37:23 GMT
True. That is why experimentation and observation is important. Different conditions often lead to different results. For example, I have never been able to cross-pollinate my VFTs and get seeds in my outdoor bog, although I have pollinated literally hundreds of flowers over many years. I think the reason is that on this foggy coast, the constant summer fog keeps the flowers wet and they abort. In contrast, in my greenhouse, I never have trouble getting seed.
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Post by BarryRice on Apr 30, 2007 21:44:34 GMT
Hey Folks,
Here at UCDavis, I snip nearly all the flowers off our Dionaea so that we have more vigorous growth of traps. However, for educational purposes I will let one plant produce flowers at a time. I make no attempt to self pollinate these plants (although students and visitors looking at the plants might self them), but in any event it is not at all uncommon for me to find some seeds in the dried fruit a month or so later.
I'm in the Bob-camp: my observations indicate that Dionaea can produce seed if selfed; it might even produce seed without intervention.
However, I will note that observations I have made of fruit in the wild suggests that wild-pollinated plants have a greater seed-set than the ones in our collection.
Barry
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Post by Dave Evans on Apr 30, 2007 21:58:17 GMT
Dear Rich, I don't think it was the flies... Rather, Dionaea flowers have a difficult time producing good pollen in weak light. The stronger the light, they live in full sun, the better the pollen production. Some Drosera are like this too. Good Growing, Dave Evans When I had my VFTs in my greenhouse, and even out on my lawn, I noticed that even those self pollinated flowers seemed to produce seed; but when I moved them inside, to my basement, into small containers, under lights, where they were free from any of those small ubiquitous flies, then I happen to notice a precipitous decline in seed set, and viable seed in those that where self pollinated, which leads me to believe that those small flies may have had something to do with cross-pollinating the Dionea flowers with different clones. |
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Post by rsivertsen on May 2, 2007 15:04:14 GMT
Good point Dave, but I do think that flies are pollinators, but it may be the higher humidity, as Bob pointed out, which contibutes to the rapid decline of Dionaea pollen due to fungus attacks, which doesn't occur in drier, full sun conditions.
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