HYBRIDISING NEW VARIETIES

These hybridising notes were prepared by Jim Purdie

If you would like to learn how to hybridise a new variety, we have included some advice and pictures, on what we do here at our place, to get the seeds, and how to plant them, and what to do as the new plants emerge from the seed pod. 

Why do we Hybridise.

We hybridise to develop new varieties, which is very rewarding, if you get that super bloom that everyone is wanting. It is best to try hybridising in the cooler months, as the summer heat will cause the stigma pads to dry out very quickly, so always here in Australia we find the cooler months of spring and autumn, which is September, October, November, and April to August, the best times which you can hope to have some success. It is best to try and pollinate as soon as the bloom opens, as the stigma pads are receptive at this time. The pollen sacs on the bloom to be used as the male, are not open when the bloom first opens, so you have to wait until the sacs burst open to reveal the pollen.

You decide which bloom is going to be the mother or pod parent, and this is very important, as some blooms are not good pod parents, that is they do not have good seed in the ovary, and the cross fails, and you get a false pregnancy, that is, it looks like the cross has taken, but after a few days or weeks it either drops off or it can go the whole time, and when you open the pod there is nothing inside, and this is something you have learn, or read, what other people have found to be good pod parents. All blooms are bi-sexual, that is they have the stigma pads as the female part and the pollen sacs on the staminal column as the male part, but you have to know which flowers will be pod parents and which ones can only be used as male parents.

You leave the flower that is going to be the pod parent on the bush, and take the flower that is going to supply the pollen off its bush and take it to the female flower. You can use a small artists brush if you like to get the pollen from the donor, but we always take the bloom to the pod parent. Then you dab the pollen on to the stigma pads of the pod parent, making sure you get a good coverage of all the stigma pads. This picture shows Ruth pollinating a flower.

You can see the pollen attached to the stigma pads

A chemical reaction takes place which transfers the chemical down the capillary tube in the staminal column into the ovule and fertilises the seeds. After a few days the petals fall off, if the fertilisation has taken place, and the pod starts to swell. When you do the hybridising, now is the time to tie a tag on to the stalk of the bloom, with the date of the cross, and the parents names, always with the mother first and the father second. and enter your cross into a pad or registry, so that you have a record of what you did, as it is very hard to remember a few weeks down the track what the parents were, and the tag helps to let you know that you have done a cross, so you do not pull the flower off when the bloom dies and has not fallen off. I am always getting into trouble when I pull off a dead flower and then realise that Ruth has been hybridising, always make sure that the tag is easily seen. If it looks like the pod is going to stay on the bush, that is when you should tie something around the pod to stop insects from stinging the pod, and you find grubs have eaten the seeds. Ruth ties a piece of nylon stocking over the pod to protect it, and most importantly to catch the seeds when the pod bursts open, if you do not have it covered the seeds will fall on the ground and be lost. Some people use plastic fly screen and staple it around the pod. The next picture shows the pod covered, with the tag hanging off the stalk.

 Depending on the time of the year the pod will take about 6 weeks to 3 months to ripen. It stays green until it is ready to open and then it starts to go brown and split open, and then this is when you harvest the seeds. The next picture shows the pod still green but almost ready to split open.                                                  

When the pod splits open you will find the seeds can vary from just a few to about 30. The next picture shows some seed that Ruth got one of her seed pods

When we get the seed we enter in the record book how many seed we got from that number cross and what date they were found.

When we are ready to plant the seed, we nick the the top of the seed, when I say the top, if you look at the seeds in the picture you will see they are shaped like a skull, with a round part at the top and a pointed end at the bottom. I take the pointed part in between my thumb nail and my first finger nail and nick the rounded part of the seed, with a razor blade, just enough to reveal the white layer under the black outer coating, and then we plant them in some seed raising mix. I usually use a tube, and plant about 6 seeds in each pot, 5 spread around the pot and 1 in the middle. I make an indentation in the seed mix with an end of pencil, about 1/4 of an inch deep and drop the seed into the hole and then push some of the seed mix over the seed to cover them. Then I mark the pot with the number of the cross, and when I have finished them all, I put them into a styro foam box covered with plastic, to act as a little hot house, and in about a week you start to see the plants begin to break through the surface. The next picture is of some seedlings which have just emerged, from the Rockwool which I am trying to grow our seeds in.

As you can see they only have their 2 leaves, which is what emerges from the seed, and sometimes if you nick the seed too deep, you will see a bit of the leaves missing, but this does not matter, and they will still keep on growing. 

When they have about 4 leaves I plant them into individual tubes with ordinary potting mix. The next picture shows the seedlings planted in their own tubes.

When the plants get big enough we plant them into the ground, or if we are short of room, they will go into a 6 inch pot, and then into a 8 inch pot until they bloom, and if you are lucky you might have a flower which is different and worth while keeping. But always be very hard and reject any plant is not worthwhile or different to blooms which already around.

If you get 30 seeds in a pod, most times each flower is different.

Most seedlings will bloom in about 10 to 14 months, and then this is the time to decide if you want to keep it or throw it in the rubbish bin.

Try and use plants to hybridise with, which are good bloomers, with good overlap, and have good strong texture, and the bushes are a good shape, and not sprawling all over the ground.

If you use 2 singles most times you will get a single, rather than a double, although sometimes you may get a double. If you use a single and a double, your chances are roughly 50-50.

Most doubles, although not all, do not make good pod parents, as the stigma pads are hidden or non- existent, but you can use them as pollen or male parents.