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Post by gj on Aug 7, 2019 10:40:24 GMT -5
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Post by gj on Aug 14, 2019 8:56:52 GMT -5
This morning, while I had the bowls inside. I guess we all have off days.
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Post by dvg on Aug 14, 2019 14:13:01 GMT -5
Yup, sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes the bear gets you.
dvg
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Post by gj on Sept 9, 2019 8:47:30 GMT -5
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Post by gj on Mar 25, 2020 10:22:18 GMT -5
Thought I might let two of my more mature VFT's flower this spring and see if I could get some seed to play with (my confidence with seeds is relatively low so I'm hoping I can change that haha). Here is one of them getting close yesterday: And opening today: I'm hoping the second one (you can see its flower, not far behind in terms of progress, in the background of the first picture) is going to catch up with some of the later flowers of the first one so I can try crossing and see if anything interesting comes of it. The first one has tended to have bigger traps and wider leaves, while the second one gets a much deeper red on the inside of the trap come summertime when I can give it some proper full sun.
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Post by gj on Mar 25, 2020 10:52:51 GMT -5
Why not one more, a half hour later, with the petals actually separated.
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Post by dvg on Mar 25, 2020 12:24:51 GMT -5
Looking good there Gary!
The flowers will be receptive to receiving pollen when their stigmas take on a fuzzy appearance.
And manually pollinating the flowers, either with a small paintbrush, a toothpick or even rubbing the flower gently with your finger will ensure a much better seed set.
It looks like the second vft flower stalk there will open in time for you to cross-pollinate some of the flowers with pollen from the other plant.
If it is getting tight timewise, you can also collect some pollen on a paintbrush, and apply it later, when the flower's stigmas are receptive to it.
Good luck!
dvg
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Post by gj on Mar 25, 2020 13:31:34 GMT -5
Thanks DVG!
I always forget about saving pollen when I start thinking they are going to work out timing wise (the term we used at the corn breeding facility I used to work for used the term "nick" or "getting plants to nick" in reference to getting the timing right to pollinate, is that term used in the general plant community as well?).
Fingers crossed it seeds well, and I can successfully turn that seed into some happy plants.
If not, I'm still tickled that I got to see some of these flowers in person. I found them much more pleasant to look at than the pictures you often see online make them appear.
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Post by dvg on Mar 26, 2020 12:26:58 GMT -5
VFTs are very easy to grow out from seed. The VFT seeds do not need a cold stratification in order to break dormancy. Their seed coats are prone to fungus, but a spritzing of water will keep that mold at bay. The sprouted plantlets themselves will grow very quickly under good light, with a longer photoperiod and if they are well fed. Here is a link to some VFT seedlings that grew very well for me a few years back. ocps.proboards.com/thread/5285/vft-germination-questionAnd no, i haven't heard the term "nick" used in the CP community before. It sounds like corn might have a very narrow window for pollination to occur in, and that pollinating successes occur "just in the nick of time". dvg
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Post by gj on Mar 26, 2020 17:48:40 GMT -5
Thanks for sharing that link! Lots of information to pick through there.
The fungus was my undoing when I tried some vft seeds in December. It seemed like each seed would get hit just as it started germinating. Two of the ten vft seeds managed to avoid it though, and are just a bit smaller than a dime at the moment, so it wasn't a total loss, and made for a good learning experience.
As for the corn, generally when we crossed, we would wait until there was about an inch worth of anthers shedding pollen, so depending on how big the tassels were, you'd get about 3-4 days of decent pollen. So that spring, when everything was being planted, the breeders would have to time up when each group of plants was planted in the field we used as a nursery so that there was at least a chance the plants that were being treated as the "females" were silking (ie. flowering and so receptive to pollen) within that window of time.
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Post by gj on May 13, 2020 10:21:44 GMT -5
When I brought the vft's out of dormancy this spring, I decided to put all the smaller guys in one bowl. It was all last years flower cuttings, as well as smaller divisions that went into the "nursery bowl," aside from two larger plants that I let endure dormancy in the bowl, out in the garage, rather than in the fridge with the rest of them. First off, it appears it may have been a mistake to put that many little guys in one bowl, as they've started to show they're ready to put on size already, and I haven't even been able to give them any significant stretches of good lighting due to all these grey days we've been having in my neck the woods. At the rate they are going, it's going to be an absolute carpet of traps in there. Another thing I'm noticing is that the two larger plants at the back are growing with much more gusto compared to the plants that were around the same size in the fall that were subjected to fridge dormancy. They are from different sources, so perhaps that is part of the difference, but I'm thinking that the extra bit of light the ones in the garage were able to absorb through the window may be part of the reason they bounced back so much better than the others as well. Finally, an update on those pollination efforts. The flowers have all turned black, but it appears the seed set is less than stellar. I did use a paintbrush to transfer pollen, but I'm wondering if maybe I was a little too eager to make the pollinations, as when I was using the paintbrush, I didn't see much pollen being moved, and perhaps I wasn't allowing the stigma to become fully receptive. As a consequence, I wonder if maybe I was convincing the flowers to shut down before they were really ready to give and receive. As mentioned above, light hasn't been ideal either, so perhaps that played a role. All good things to keep in mind for next time haha!
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benny
New Member
Posts: 15
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Post by benny on May 13, 2020 10:33:41 GMT -5
There's an army of them!!
The stigma is most receptive 2-3 days after opening. The anthers pollen is most abundant/fresh the day the flowers open. This kind of defeats the purpose of self-pollination. Makes me angry!!
Hope you can harvest seeds, though.
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Post by dvg on May 13, 2020 10:45:31 GMT -5
That bowl is going to be packed with traps by summer's end.
It looks great, but you'll definitely need to repot for next year.
GJ, did you notice how the VFT stigmas changed, becoming fuzzier in appearance, 2 to 3 days after opening as Benny mentioned?
That is when they are receptive, and you can see the difference from first opening, to a few days later.
Cool project, keep us updated!
dvg
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Post by gj on May 13, 2020 11:48:23 GMT -5
DVG, and Benny, I was obviously trying to pollinate it too early as I had it in my head that the presence of fuzz meant it was good to go, rather than waiting it for it to get fuzzier haha. Although I'm still wondering if there was a lack of pollen as well. I was expecting to be able to see it, at least when it accumulated on the brush or stigma, but I really didn't see much at all.
There's one flower that seems to be taking longer to completely dry up than the others, and appears to be more swollen in comparison as well, so fingers crossed there's something waiting for me there. If not, it won't be too difficult to correct the mistakes for the next attempt, so thanks for troubleshooting with me!
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benny
New Member
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Post by benny on May 13, 2020 18:41:38 GMT -5
It is receptive soon after opening, just not as well if left another couple days. So maybe you got successfully did one (or the insects did it for you). I would make the same mistake of I hadn't researched it. Easy to get excited.
How deep is the soil in the bowls?
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