Cherimoya hand pollination: is it almost time?
newgen
12 years ago
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rodneys
12 years agoAndrew Scott
12 years agoRelated Discussions
hand pollinating corn
Comments (20)I live in s. Georgia and have been growing backyard corn for a number of years. Silver Queen has been of choice for as long as I can remember now. I have read (here as well)that corn should be rowed with 3ft spaces between the rows for optimum performance. I, like a lot of people are cramped for space, and me trying to get more out of less has slowly evolved into the following type plot. My plot serves two purposes; food and fun of course, and also serves as a privacy type fence. The plot is about 25' in length and 3' wide. I have 3 rows of corn; one on each of the extreme edges and one right down the middle. I spaced the seeds by site 10" apart for each of the three rows and the crop is well over 6ft tall and now is starting to show tassels. I find the use of mineral oil interesting. I have always planted right at last frost and sometimes had to place a plastic barrier during a few close calls. I have noticed that this is the most effective way of pest control but I still dust lightly towards the end... I think I will try the oil this year. Thank you all for the information. My question is this; am I losing out in anyway by not spacing my rows 3ft apart? I do shake my corn to facilitate pollination and my yeild has always been outstanding and full. 2% at most of a yield may be culled because of insects or insufficient pollinating......which I dont consider that to be even worth mentioning- any private grower would be happy with even less percentiles. My next question to anyone out there is; my neighbor says I do not have to shake my corn or rubb the tassels on the silks because I grow "Siver Queen." He adds that this is a hybrid variety and hybrids dont have to be pollinated. I didnt believe this; however, he said in such a knowledgeable fashion that I became confused. Is this true.........have I been going thru a lot of trouble for nothing? (lol)...See MoreHand Pollination Questins
Comments (16)I always get those little green webworms in my buds. I hate it cuz they poo in there as well and it is all icky and gross! They make tiny pinholes and get in when they are little so you can't tell till too late lol. Look for pin sized holes in the buds. The brown ones are prob just some common moth there are some sphinx types moths that are brown cats but they have wierd eye things on them. Raising the humidity around- (not on) the plant after pollinating seems to help a little too. So do cooler nights. I had success pollinating CG with Rubirosa last year so I know those two are compatible....See MoreHow To: Cherimoya Pollination
Comments (17)My observations have been with sugar apples. The flower shape and habits are virtually the same. Tran... if the female is successfully pollinated, it will not become a male...at least not that I have witnessed. Jim...here is a link to an annona discussion. http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tropicalfruits/msg0507445120505.html?12 I posted a link to a publication that discussed pollination. Many publications state there is a best time to collect pollen and a best time to pollinate the female. I've found that if the pollen is viable, anytime you can find a female in the proper stage, that is the best time to make your attempt. I tried pollinating the female flowers in various stages of development. I believe the best time is when the flowers are somewhat open...petals are split apart. I remove all petals prior to pollinating. The only indication of success is that the flower does not dry up and fall off soon after pollinating...within a few days. A successful attempt keeps the stem intact and you will notice a tiny version of the fruit forming. Don't be discouraged if even these successful attempts end up dropping. The tree will only keep what it can support. My best advice is to make sure you collect lots of pollen. Tap the little container several times and you will be able to notice all of the pollen grains sticking to the sides. Make sure it can transfer to your little paint brush. Practice practice practice. You'll get the hang of it soon enough. Pay attention to what works and what does not. Good luck!...See MoreHelp with Cherimoya Pollination
Comments (17)I'm not sure you are still interested, but just in case, here is my experience with Cherimoya Polination: I love cherimoyas, but due to their expensive cost, I don't think I ate more than 4-5 in my life, so a few years ago I planted a seed and it germinated and now I have a 3.5 ft tall tree. It germinated many years ago, I think about 6-7 years ago, but I didn't take it too seriously, and it's still in a 2 gallon pot, instead in the ground. Last year it was the first time that it flowered. I was so excited and searched a lot on the internet and read many forums about how to pollinate those flowers. I followed instructions just like you did, and no luck. All flowers dried out within days after the petals fell. This year, it made again 5 flowers, but I did not even bother to try pollinating them again. I noticed that 1 flower did not even open fully, but remained in the female stage for a several days. Eventually, the petals fell but the stem with the tiny ball left from the flower, did not dry out, nor it grew further, just remained like that small till 2 weeks ago when I left on vacation. Before leaving on vacation, I put miracle grow to all my plants in the backyard, including the cherimoya tree which I still have in the pot. Yesterday I returned from my vacation, and noticed the leaves of the cherimoya tree were huge, about 8 inches long and 5 inches wide, which was not the case before. I said to myself, it must be due to the miracle grow fertilizer, and while admiring the leaves, I discovered that the fruit grew and it was now 1 inch in diameter. I have no idea how it pollinated, since I only have 1 cherimoya tree, I did not bother to manual pollinate it, and the 5 flowers opened many days apart. Moreover this particular flower did not even open fully to ever become a male, but remained at the female stage. It is a mystery to me... Maria...See Moretagtail
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