Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Fertility, 0 by

wrote:
I read somewhere that it takes three swipes with the brush to ensure pollination.The same article stated that the bees contribute just enough DNA to trigger a response ...I think this is why there is more success with "unopened" blooms ...due to beating the insect triggers.I am only guessing. Perhaps a large insect will carry enough pollen on it to do the job, here in my garden I never saw a pod until I used the artist brush ...success! except for the ones in the very hot area.It is possible the bees got there before me but I don't think so because another time I was too late and there were bees all over the flush of blooms ...they all dropped the ovary though in a few days ...while the ones in the hot spot (that I had pollinated) went on to form perfect pods with perfect corks only to be empty.Since learning from that mistake I have no longer experienced empty pods ...lots of happy seeds instead.
About mixing the genes ...I am not clever enough to understand it all yet but I am learning.