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C. berteroniana flowering


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Hello,

My Catopsis has produced a flower spike. The flowers have not opened yet.

Advise on pollination techniques and care for the plant during/following flowering would be appreciated !!

I've read that the stigmas of some bromeliad species are receptive to pollination for very short period of time (hours). Is this true for C. berteroniana?

I've read some prior posts and done some research online but there's not much information with regard to flowering/pollination.

Thanks for your time,

Ken

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Ken,

Here in Florida Catopsis berteroniana is self pollinating. If you want to be certain of pollination carefully use a fine paintbrush to insert into the flowers. They open in mid morning (9:00-11:00 am) here in Central Florida, on sunny days. In C. berteroniana the sepals are longer than the petals, so don't expect much when they are open. It would be easy to damage the flower parts if you are too rough with them. It may be a good trial for you to hand pollinate some flowers, and let some go, just to see how they respond to your conditions.

The three parted capsules will turn light brown and split into individual parts on their own when the seed is ripe. Each part can then be placed in a dry, warm (90F) place for the seed to dehise. I have cut the brown plumose appendage from each seed to over come fungus problems on seedlings. Burning them is much faster, but they are very flamable, so use care if you choose to do that.

Cliff Dodd II of Daytona Beach Fl. lets his plants go on their own and gets viable seed and germination without any intervention in his lowland Nepenthes greenhouse.

I hope this helps, and would like to hear of your experience.

Take care,

Steven Stewart

Edited by Steve Stewart
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Steven,

THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I'll do exactly as you suggest. This is my first flowering Catopsis and since it shows no signs of producing a pup, I want to increase the liklihood of seed production.

Best,

Ken

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