Misty Trumpet and pollinating question..

Here is Misty Trumpet. It is pretty, but it has already put out three blooms and they went by in a couple of days. Didn't last long at all. So I'm not all that excited about it.

Now the pollinating question.

On another thread you told me how to do the pollination. Now my question is how do I know if it 'took'??

I have pollinated a bunch of them and the flowers are now fading. Will the base start to swell up if it is pollinated? I had a stalk of Strypurr Lou's Double Record that I didn't pollinate and the stalk went limp and I pulled it off. The ones I HAVE pollinated are not looking limp.

Also, by doing this am I hurting the bulbs? If they make seeds will the bulb die? I don't want that. I would rather have a big healthy bulb to grow again than a seed that will take years to develop.

ah ha, nother question, LOL

How long does it take the seed to mature?

Thanks in advance for the help!
Susan
=^..^=

I don't know that bulb, but I used to leave mine in the ground until they formed babies then after a year separate them in plant up the babies, also tried splitting the bulb and getting the bulb segments to grow - it works but took about ten years to flower. I would think that the seeds would also take years to grow into bulbs. Hope this has been of some help to you.

The pollinted pods that took will become green and begin to swell. SOme may not make it. Don't worry. It happens.
You're not hurting the bulbs. Making seed is part of their life cycle. Just like people.
Seed maturation takes anywhere between 4 - 8 weeks. Just wait until the fattened pod turns yellow and pops open.
Have fun. :-)

Thanks gordo!! Is there more than one seed in the pod?

Susan
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9kittymom, I've never grown lilies from seed, but I am growing Amaryllis.
They tell me Amaryllis takes 4/5 years to bloom. I would assume lilies are about 3 years. I did start lots of lily babies from scales. I'm assuming this will take several year also. What I like about the scaling is that they will be just like the mother bulb and so have a name. But you are probably growing for a 'new' lily. I do that with Daylily seeds. Love to see what the crosses look like.
sharon

Misty Trumpet is an Amaryllis. I haven't done lilies yet. I do have some seeds that I got in a swap but haven't planted them yet.

I have also planted daylily seeds. None have bloomed yet though, so I don't know what I have come up with. LOL

Susan
=^..^=

Hi Susan...

Yes, there are oodles of seeds in a mature pod. They do take anywhere from 3 - 5 years to get to the blossom phase, but if you stick them in a comfortable place and just go about your gardening endeavors, time passes and the blooms come.
Patience pays off. :-)

Susan,

A dear German friend of mine suggested that I try crossing H. Johnsonii with the more trumpet shaped hippeastrum, like Misty. Last year, I made some crosses with Amputo X Johnsonii, and they appear to have taken. Well, at least the seedlings are growing anyway.

This year, I purchased a couple of extra Amputo and one Misty. Misty, I had to plant when I received it, so it will most likely bloom before my Johnsonii in the gardens do. I will have to save it's pollen to try on Johnsonii. I have held off planting the new Amputo's in hope that they will bloom when Johnsonii does, but I see that one is trying to form a bloom, so in the pot it will go.

I suspect that Johnsonii is diploid. Most of the larger hybrids are tetraploid. Just as with daylilies, you will obtain more seeds if you cross diploid with diploid and tet with tet. According to my German friend, it is possible to cross diploid with Tetraploid and get some seeds. However, it is possible and likely that the seedlings will be sterile.

I'm still learning lots about hippeastrum, so I cannot answer as to whether Misty will self pollinate or will cross with the larger hybrids. If the timing is right, I will try to cross Misty with one of the ones that I believe to be diploid as well as self (the first bloom) and try its pollen on a larger tet hybrid.

If you want to learn more about ploidy (diploid, triploid, tetraploid, etc.), the best thing to do is find someone who hybridizes daylilies or do a search on the subject. There is more information about ploidy with daylilies than with hippeastrum. That is because daylilies are more cold hardy.

Please do let us know what happens with these crosses, and I will try to do the same!