Pam I'm not a serious hybridizer but I do play around with cross pollinating my brugs. I would use a separate brush for each type of pollen. I don't even bother with brushes and just use my fingers. I snap off an anther (pollen producing structure at the top of the stamen) and brush it against the pistil but a brush would probably work better. I guess you could tie the bloom closed. If I'm worried about contamination from other pollen I take a piece of stocking and secure it over the bloom. A knee high is a perfect size. I get the best results when I hand pollinate in the evening. Maybe because that's the time when the blooms would naturally be pollinated. Good luck.

Thanks Karyn! Knee highs...why didn't I think of that? I will wait until just before dark so the blooms will be open. Thanks for the good luck wishes! Actually when I said hybridizers, I was thinking of you and the others here that hand pollinate. You all are very experienced IMHO.

Pam

Thanks for doing that for her. She will be very surprised and happy.

So if a brugmansia is blooming you can hand polienate the flowers, will this help the plat produce seed? My dble white brugie is coming back very nicely and so is the single yellow one, I have a nother one called grace and she has a BUD! she is small but none the less she is trying to bloom after coming back form the freeze, anyway my 3 brugs bloom but they don't set seeds,WHY?Thanks Marcie

Marcie, you can hand pollinate them if the insects are not pollinating or if you want a specific cross.

I'm listing a couple of links for you to see how to collect and store pollen and why you bother. I wish that I had seen a couple of these before I asked, guess my search terms weren't accurate enough! ;-)

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/brug/msg070918544886.html

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/brug/msg0803453413806.html

Pam

I use jute or these long pine needles we have all over the yard here and tie the blooms shut. Then the blooms fall off and the jute or pine needles can just disingrate on the ground and I don't have to clean them up lol- Yep I am lazy :D

SJN, not lazy just eco friendly!

Pam

You had to be sure you got to the bloom with the pollen BEFORE any insects as well as closing it after you pollinated.Some people forget about the 'before' keeping the bloom closed as well.
Many hybridizers cut into an unopened bloom to pollinate it before it even opens I believe.

Ruth ann makes a good point. Yes do make sure you get to the bloom before it opens and make sure to label them so you don't forget.
I think (just my personal experience) that the best time to pollinate is in the evening and when the bloom is still closed but the top of the bloom (up towards the calyx) kinda puffs up and the bottom is still closed. I sometimes have to cut into double/triple blooms from the side and then tie them shut. Usually with the singles and the looser doubles I can manuver into them. I found this pair of super long tweezers for a dollar at a swapmeet that work really great. You can also use hemastats or long needle nose pliers (dh's fishing pliers are great to steal lol) to get into some of the long blooms like Miss Emily Mckenzie etc.

Thanks for all the responses! It will be the only thing blooming at the moment and is not a self-pollinator, as far as I know. I went and checked and they are good sized buds, but not blooming yet, so I still have time to implement the suggestions.

Pam