Pollen removal on seed plant

[newflasker]

The second edition comes out this year so you may not find it; however, the first edition is available at interlibrary. My friends and I borrow it last year for months. Ask your local library to loan it for you. If you want to save big bucks for the first edition you can contact Professor Arditti (he will refer you to his brother who still has many copies of the first edition). If you have question you can ask him at orchidspng.com and he's very friendly.

[Uechi]

Thanks newflasker.

[dgenovese1]

Originally Posted by Uechi

My library and most non college libraries don't carry the book. I tried interlibrary loan to no avail and colleges won't let you at the book unless you are faculty or a student. At the present I am planning on using a flasking service. Tissue culture and flasking are expensive to start if you want good results. I just want some clear definitive information on pollination and an answer to my question. Regards.

Uechi,
I am definitely going to see Martin Motes on the 17th, and will ask him about your question. I'll post here, but it won't be until after the 17th.

[dgenovese1]

Uechi,

Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you on this, but I actually didn't get a chance to talk with Dr. Motes about this until today.

As for removing pollinia from a seed parent before introducing pollinia from the male parent, Dr. Motes stated that it is very important to do so because there is a great/likely chance of cross pollination taking place as the seed pod develops. As the column of the seed parent thickens after pollination, the reproductive parts of the blossom are pulled/pushed inward together at the end of the pod, and if the extra pollinia were there, they would just get pulled/pushed in along with the introduced pollinia. I wish I had a photo to show you what I mean, but hopefully you’ve seen pods before and can grasp what I am saying.

I hope that you’ve found this to be helpful.

[Undergrounder]

I wouldn't think it would matter much either way, but i take it out and store it first, just so i can keep the pollen and maybe use it later on another plant. Nature probably has defenses against using the same flower's pollen, so i don't know if its that necessary.

But on J. Arditti's book, its actually not very useful on seed sowing... it has plenty of great information on media, and techniques, and clonal -micropropagation- but not much use for sowing seeds.

[maitaman]

The orchid is different from other monocots in that it has a column rather than separate stamens and pistil. The process is the same for any of them. I never removed the lip from parents except cyps and miniatures where there wasn't any way to reach the stigmatic surface unless you do. I had the process described w/pictures on the old website, but it was canceled because of payment problems (Thank you, VISA. Do NOT try to use VISA for credit or scheduled payment if your address is in Panama'). It is in the book in detail. The hobbyist is very seldom interested in meristematic processes at home. That takes, despite ads to the contrary, some expensive equipment and skill - and what does a hobbyist want with two or three hundred identical plants?
Basically, the pollen is under the cap at the end of the column with the stigmatic surface (a little pool of jelly) beneath it. Simply remove the pollen with a toothpick and place it in the jelly of the seed parent. Be sure to put a tag on the stem with dates and cross, including the exact clone the pollen was taken from. If it has no varietal name, put a number or your own name on the plant and use that on the tag.

[Andrew]

The only real benefit removal of the labellum serves is to stop contact between the column and any potential pollinators landing on the flower after you've pollinated it. It doesn't do much harm but neither is it necessary for successful pollination and there's no reason to do it to the pollen parent except of course if you can't access the pollinia without removing parts of the flower.

As for removal of pollinia on the seed parent, it's useful if the flower has a habit of self pollinating itself. However, for some species removing the pollen cap can cause the flower to prematurely senesce, often before pollination has occurred. Personally, I never remove the labellum or the pollenia from from the seed parent but others may like to take more care.

[Undergrounder]

i talked to an experienced Phalaenopsis breeder today and he actually reccommended leaving the pollen if you're doing a -selfing-, he said that leaving the pollen in actually increases the chance of that selfing working. So by deduction, i guess that means the pollen does have a chance of self-pollenating if you leave it on normally, and would be worthwhile taking out if you're doing an outcross.