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seed pod forming on my t-giving cactus!
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Posted by blutarski 6b (My Page) on Sun, Nov 22, 09 at 13:16
| Just as an experiment, I collected some pollen from one of my red-flowering cactus and smooshed it on the stamens (pistils?) of a salmon-flowering cactus and forgot about it.
Now, as I was plucking off dead blooms, I noticed that the flower i pollinated is growing a seed pod!
My questions:
1. When should I harvest the seeds?
2. HOW do I harvest the seeds?
3. Should I try to plant them right away, or do they need to sit for awhile, or ??? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: seed pod forming on my t-giving cactus!
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| OMG that is so exciting!! I'm sorry I am no help...but just wanted to comment on your post. Can you post a picture? I would love to see it. I didn't even realize you can do this with CC's...very cool! Congrats!! BTW, when you say you "smooshed" it...did you take off the red flower and rub it all over the salmon color pistils or did you collect the Pollen and smooshed it with your fingers? I might want to try this and want to do it right. Thanks!! |
RE: seed pod forming on my t-giving cactus!
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1 Seed pods ripen slowly on Schlumbergera, it takes about one year. When ready they can easily be detached from the plant.
2 Clean the seeds as well as you can (remove the rest of the fruit from them). I often do that under water. Let them dry on a paper.
3 They should be sown immediately, but if it is inconvenient (lack of light etc.), you could try storing them dry and cold and wait until spring. |
RE: seed pod forming on my t-giving cactus!
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| Just for your edification, the filiament and anther (the pollen bearing structure) together make up the stamen. ;) IME, Tjicken is quite correct about the slow ripening of the fruit. On the plus side, the fruit on mine had quite a nice pink color for much of its time. Can't remember what happened to it in the end though. Pug, all you have to do is pluck off some of the stamen and dust the stigma (sticky end of the pistil) with the pollen. |
RE: seed pod forming on my t-giving cactus!
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| thanks for the advice! that leads me to some more questions tho: 1. How will I know when the seed pod is fully ripened?
2. What do the seeds look like, so I won't wash them down the sink? pug, I touched the stamen from the red flower, then touched the pollen to the stigma (the little fuschia tips of the inner flower)from the front, so they spread open a bit as I applied pressure, if that makes sense. I was careful not to mangle the flower. pictures for me are a bit of a hassle, but I'll try to put some up after my vacation. I have about a year, so no hurry, right? :) |
RE: seed pod forming on my t-giving cactus!
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I will turn green it did not turn tan and was difficult for me to pull apart. You will be able to see the tiny dark seeds inside of the five chanbers.
I can't do pictures either. Don't really have the time. If you have a name I will know what you are talking about. If I grow that species, I will tell you how I grow them, you will need to make adjustments for how you grow plants. I don't care if you don't spell the name correctly I may be able to figure it out, and I don't care how you pronounce them, or spell their name. This all very petty stuff. We are writing on a forum, and I can hear your words, the more and better that you describe what you have the better job I can do for you, so not to worry. None of us are perfect, so some of us just has more experience than others. The furit on my Christmas cactus has 5 channels on the fruit, it has been on this plant since last season. Now I will open it so you can see what I find. The green outer skin is tough to pull apart, it has five channels of 25 tiny dark round seeds. I will let these dry for an hour and plant them in fresh potting mix and set them in the shade, they soil will be kept moist. The will go into a brand new clean pot, and will put the soil into the micro wave on high for 5 min. before I set the seeds into this new soil. I use a brush to pollinate, or a cat's whisker depending on the species. My fingers are used for my Schick hybrids, as long as their isn't a Bee in their first. Norma |
RE: seed pod forming on my t-giving cactus!
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| Thanks for clarifying the techniques, Paul and Blutarski!! |
RE: seed pod forming on my t-giving cactus!
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| > 1. How will I know when the seed pod is fully ripened? When it is pink and comes off easily. > 2. What do the seeds look like They are small, less than 1 mm, and very dark or even black (I don't remember exactly how dark they are). It is very easy to distinguish between them and the fruit flesh. I cut the pods with a knife, then put them in a bowl with water, squeeze out the seeds and start removing remaining flesh from them. |
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