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My Dioon edule is coning this year, and to my luck it is a female
Here is my attempt at hand pollination, Thanks to Tom Broome for rushing me the pollen!
Steve. I just did the opposite and planted some Edule seeds lol
Thats really interesting to see. I had no idea how they hand pollinated cycads. I also, had no idea youd be injecting the pollen (isnt the pollen actually sperm, in cycads? ). I guess I may be doing the same thing in a decade or so if in lucky lol.
Thanks for the good post!
"The definition of insanity, is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results" - einstien
Thanks for sharing your process and the link. I have sucessfully polinated C. revoluta but have not had the opportunity to try on other species. Hopefully this will yield you some seedings in a couple of years if not sooner.
When the pollen mixture came down through the bottom, did it come down only on one side, or did it come down from all sides? Sometimes, if you only put the eye dropper on one side, it doesn't get the chance to get mixed throughout the entire cone. If it came down on all sides, you should get a real good seed set. Dioon edule is not picky and will produce almost all good seeds, compared to cycads like ceratozamias, and almost all good seeds on edules germinate as well. With a good set, you will get about 80 seeds.
You did good for your first time, but I would suggest cutting about a half inch to an inch lower on the cone, which will cut through that furry layer you had to deal with, and will outright expose the ovules. That gives you full chance to pour the pollen throughout all sides of the cone. Even though that would leave you with a big hole in the top of the cone, you can replace the top and it will usually weld itself back on. If you don't trust that this will happen, you can always back that up with foaming some "Great Stuff" all over the top, which will insure the top is sealed on good, or at least, it will not allow any water to get into the cone for the next 11 months. Good luck, its always fun to make your own seeds, especially when it is more of a challenge. (like compared to pollinating a zamia cone for example)
Cycadguy - Thanks for the advice! It would have made things easier if I had cut down further, was just being careful and a little reluctant
I did flow flow the pollen all the way around until it was dripping out the bottom, fairly sure of good coverage.
) are wondering about all that wet in the cone.
). I guess I may be doing the same thing in a decade or so if in lucky lol.
