ah, mersipoo, I believe this was the hipp that was way to dangerous for you to keep! Maybe it'll put out babies and you'll be able to get a pot full of em to bloom for you!
My piccolo just aborted pods too.

Aborted seed pods are fairly common. I've had several pods reach about half the size of a small walnut, then just dry up and die. It happens more often than you might think. I've been told that successes are few and failures many when it comes to crossing hippeastrums, and there are even those varieties that are self-sterile and refuse their own pollen.

My successes seem like a lot, but that's only because I have a lot of bulbs, and I pollinate most of them. The cybisters are giving me the most trouble, and I've had lots of aborted pods on those types. The hybrids seem to accept their own pollen fairly well, and those are the ones that I've gotten the most mature pods of seeds from.

Do not despair, though! Next time your bulb blooms pollination may work, and you'll have lots of fresh seeds for use or trade!

Thanks for the info Jodi! I hand pollinated both of them, thought that would have ensured pollination..bummer man. You are right about the hybrids setting pods, I know my hubby used to get pods from the hybrid amaryllis he would get for Christmas.

Yes Chaz that is the one that is dangerous, hee hee! The strange thing is, there are 2 large bulbs and one teeny tiny one with small leaves. The one bulb didn't bloom this year. I wonder if the teeny one with leaves that are small are the ones that get seeds? Time will tell, I guess.

I hand pollinate all of my hippis, some more than once, but that doesn't ensure that seeds will form, unfortunately... regardless of what is being bred, animal or plant, just because a breeding is made is not a guarantee that offspring will result.

We've bred dogs for well over twenty years, and in that time, we've had many failed breeding attempts. The female demonstrates heat, we breed her with the chosen male, more than once through the heat cycle... and still, every once in a while a female will come up empty. It's Nature's way of keeping a species genetically strong... perhaps there was something wrong with the eggs or the sperm that would have caused a genetic problem... we don't exactly know.

I would think the same is true in the plant world... Nature has a way of ensuring genetic strength and survival of a species, so some breedings will be successful while others won't take at all. That's a very general statement regarding breeding... in the world of plant hybrids, there are differences between Diploid and Triploid and Tetraploid... do a Google search on plant reproduction or Ploidy, and you'll find tons of information that will explain how it all works. Or, just do a search in this forum on Ploidy and/or pollination... you should come up with lots of great information on the how and why of it all!

Here's a photo of my Lovely Garden hippi with Rilona in the foreground, and you can see seed pods in different stages of growth...

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Awesome picture Jodi! Very nice! :)
Yeah I just figured I would try my luck. I pollinated them twice, but no such luck. It's possible that the small plant that looks like a seedling from one of the amaryllis is from the other amaryllis that didn't flower this year. :)

Don't let one failed pollination discourage you! I can't even count the failures I've had this past season, and I'll continue to try... I've had failures in the form of aborted pods, and they've been in all stages of growth, from tiny to quite large... and I've also had flowers simply not take the pollen they were dusted with.

We had a failed dog breeding just recently, as well... although, I know why it failed... Bonzee, a female Olde Bulldogge, went into heat and we couldn't get the chosen male to her in time because he lives rather far away with his family. We were able to make one tie toward the end of her cycle, and we crossed our fingers and hoped for the best... but we were too late, and she was empty. We'll try again next cycle.

Luckily, flowers will take pollen when they're fairly far along in bloom. I've had seed pods form when the pollination was made just as the flower was fading... so the plant world is much more forgiving than the animal world, in certain respects!

I pollinated my Papilio Butterfly just a few days ago... I self pollinated two of the blooms, and used another pollen on the third bloom... it's too soon to tell if any pods are forming, but the flowers are fading fast... I'm hopeful of getting seeds, but if I don't, I'll just try next time around!

I do have quite a few bulbs that are growing babies, little offsets... so I will have more plants from some even if they didn't give me seeds.

This whole process of growing, blooming, pollinating, harvesting seeds, and sprouting those seeds has just been so exciting for me! And I've only just begun to collect hippi bulbs and cross the different varieties... I'm very excited to see the results of my pollinations, but those blooms won't be opening for at least another two years... the anticipation of seeing them will have me on pins and needles for a long time!

Perhaps you'll get seed pods to form the next time you pollinate your flowers... you just never know!

Jodi, in you picture, lower left the two pods look like the remainder of my two original flowers that I pollinated about 4 weeks ago, they went from shiny green to a dull green and they are big, is that normal? My second scape produced 6 flowers, 4 of which I self pollinated and watched the flowers wither, so I waited until the other two were starting to wilt before I self pollinated. The pods look like the top of the ones in your photo. I did noticed you cut the deceased flowers off from the top of the pods with no problems, is this what you are suppose to do after the flowers dry up. Thanks!

Cutting the dried flowers off the seed pod tips is just a personal preference... it's not necessary. I only do it to clean things up a bit.

It sounds like your pods are fine, from your description... as they grow and swell, the skin gets shiny... and as they mature, it dulls a bit... shortly after that, the pods will begin to yellow a little and split open at the seams... when they begin to split open, it's time to harvest them. I cut the pods off the stem just under each pod, and place them somewhere to dry. As they dry, they will split open even more, revealing the seeds inside! Once they are dry, you can either plant them or store them. I recommend storing them in paper envelopes in a dark, dry place... I keep mine in a box that holds other seeds from my garden. I label them as to variety name and harvest date.