Tropicals & Tender Perennials: A sneak peek into the incubator.. LOL, 1 by Kell

Kell wrote:
Hi Gordon. If you want to see more wild pods, you can just give a tug at the spent flower and on some cultivars they will just pull out leaving the calyx and the stamen. If it was a successful pollination you will know in about a week or 2 from then. If not, it will fall off. But the calyx is not as ugly, in fact hardly noticeable.

Yes, the peeked at pod would go on to mature usually. Sometimes I put the piece back or if it is just a flap I push it back down and then I use a sealing compound over it to reseal it. Though last summer I didn't even bother to do that and the few I checked did fine. But in this cold damp weather I should probably reseal them.

I was checking for some brownness, some seeds get almost black when ripe and others get varying degrees of brown. Unfortunately, the pod I was checking was getting soft but it was doing that because the peduncle got frost bitten and is no longer functioning. In fact all 4 are soft. I just went out and picked 2. The one that looked white from the outside actually has some color to it from the inside. Though the seeds are very soft so I think they are still too immature. I bet I get some germination if I pot them right up before they dry up.

The second pod had more color to the seeds and they are firmer so I think I will have much more success. They were both pollinated on 8/2. That should be enough time but I find winter pods often stop growing much and developing till the weather warms again.

The pod will let you know when it is ripe. Sometimes they start to split (the usual here), or the peduncle starts to yellow or you get a spot that starts to rot. Don't worry you won't miss it if you check it every week or so after the first 3 or 4 months. Some mature pods (not all) when you feel them the seeds will move around. You have a good leeway in collecting them.

The upper pod is questionable in maturity but the lower pod which is the better cross (YES!) the seeds are much more mature looking.