Arisaema hand pollination

[Slug Killer]

Hi

Can anyone give me some advice please on hand pollinating Arisaema? I've searched the www and found very little.

Any help appreciated.

Dave

[shelagh]

Sounds fascinating Dave, I hope you have a slim wrist .

[Slug Killer]

Well I heard some people using soft paint brushes for transferring pollen on Arisaema but I don't think it matters if you have slim wrists as I can't see this affecting the brush 

[johnw]

Hi

Can anyone give me some advice please on hand pollinating Arisaema? I've searched the www and found very little.

Any help appreciated.

Dave

Dave - Here's a trick given to me by Steve Doonan of Grand Ridge Nursery.  It was about 20 years ago while visiting him and when Parks Seeds was selling A. sikkokianum at something like £4 for 6 seeds and it was relatively new.  We were walking round the garden and came across a magnificent clump of sikko leaves. I remarked on the price of seed and that a friend never had seed set on his.  Steve said little but when I was ready to leave he asked me if I wanted some sikko seed.  He took me behind the kiln shed and opened a 5 gallon (22 litre) bucket filled with uncleaned seed  - much to my shock.  He filled a shopping bag -  no charge despite my pleading to pay up  - he's that sort of fellow. Well my hands turned orange that night cleaning the seeds in a Vancouver hotel and stayed orange for quite some time, as did the towels I'm sure.

His trick was to mix the pollen with water in a jar, shake the mixture up and fill the female flower to the brim with the mixture.  I have never tested this but Steve said it was the only way he ever got copious seed from sikkokianum. He always tries to deduce what might happen in nature - clever boy.

Worth a try and good luck

johnw

[Slug Killer]

Hi John - Thanks for the tip. I'll do a comparison test using this method on a couple of plants and see what the difference is. Always worth a try

[Maggi Young]

Dave - Here's a trick given to me by Steve Doonan of Grand Ridge Nursery.  It was about 20 years ago while visiting him and when Parks Seeds was selling A. sikkokianum at something like £4 for 6 seeds and it was relatively new.  We were walking round the garden and came across a magnificent clump of sikko leaves. I remarked on the price of seed and that a friend never had seed set on his.  Steve said little but when I was ready to leave he asked me if I wanted some sikko seed.  He took me behind the kiln shed and opened a 5 gallon (22 litre) bucket filled with uncleaned seed  - much to my shock.  He filled a shopping bag -  no charge despite my pleading to pay up  - he's that sort of fellow. Well my hands turned orange that night cleaning the seeds in a Vancouver hotel and stayed orange for quite some time, as did the towels I'm sure.

His trick was to mix the pollen with water in a jar, shake the mixture up and fill the female flower to the brim with the mixture.  I have never tested this but Steve said it was the only way he ever got copious seed from sikkokianum. He always tries to deduce what might happen in nature - clever boy.

What a great example of success achieved by careful consideration of the plants' natural habits...Steve is indeed a clever fellow ....we should all try to take this much notice of our plants 

[johnw]

Hi John - Thanks for the tip. I'll do a comparison test using this method on a couple of plants and see what the difference is. Always worth a try

Dave  - Do report back with your findings. I'd be very interested.

johnw

[Paul T]

I've heard the same thing on Arisaema-L....... that you pollinate by pouring water through a male flower, then pouring it through a female flower (thereby transfering the pollen from one to the other).  Never tried it myself though, as never actually checked the sex of the flowers. 

[annew]

Very interested in this - this is the kind of thing the forum excells at - the passing on of knowledge.

[johnw]

I've heard the same thing on Arisaema-L....... that you pollinate by pouring water through a male flower, then pouring it through a female flower (thereby transfering the pollen from one to the other).  Never tried it myself though, as never actually checked the sex of the flowers. 

Paul - This rings a very distant bell.  Steve may have even picked the male flower and swirled it around in the jar if water to release the pollen...... Sounds much more efficient.

johnw

[Paul T]

John,

But it does come down to how many flowers you have and whether you're willing to pick them!!    If not, pouring water into them then draining should give the same result, but leaves the flower in situ to enjoy in the garden. 

[Lesley Cox]

Though some of my species set seed, I've never seen anything in an Arisaema that looked remotely like pollen.

[Paul T]

Usually it is on the upper flowers if a bisexual species, or the whole flowerhead if a unisexual species.  Some such as flavum set seed by themselves without a problem, but I very rarely get any other seed.  For those who aren't aware Arisaema change sex according to age and growing conditions.  Apparently a large mature tuber will produce female flowers, but if seed is then set (and therefore a lot of energy used on seed production) it will produce male flowers the next year as it is less expenditure of energy.  That is where growing things from seed regularly does help, as it gives a range of ages of seedlings and therefore increased chances of seedset.  As an example I think all my A. candidissimum are female each year, as each looks like it has produced it's little cob of seeds then they abort.  I don't know if there is any easy way to stimulate one of the other sex in the flower.  They're a fascinating genus, but I have never messed around trying to set seed on them, although I probably should at some point so that I can share seed.

Apologies to those who've had this message filtered out by their spam filters because I have used the word sex in here.

[johnw]

John,

But it does come down to how many flowers you have and whether you're willing to pick them!!    If not, pouring water into them then draining should give the same result, but leaves the flower in situ to enjoy in the garden. 

Excellent idea Paul. And as Leslie says if it is hard to determine when pollen is detectable you could repeat your procedure over a week or more to insure a good take.

The idea of bouquets of Arisaema flowers on the dinner table is intriguing especially when relatives are visiting! Skunk cabbages or Amorphophallus do the job rather more quickly.


johnw

[Slug Killer]

The following links are for photo's on International Aroid Society. They show male spadix, female spadix and a plant with both male and female. Luckily I have one male and five female Arisaema engleri which are hopefully all pollinated now. Pollen falls off and collects at the bottom of the spadix on male plants and I guess that's where the water idea came from. I pollinated (hopefully) three using a small brush to transfer and two using the water method. time to sit back and wait.

http://www.aroid.org/genera/arisaema/herold/Images/arverr6big.jpg

http://www.aroid.org/genera/arisaema/herold/Images/AriengleriCFpurple5.JPG

http://www.aroid.org/genera/arisaema/herold/Images/Arineglectum3.jpg

Dave