Ipomoea lobata - no pollen

I have hundreds of flowers .. there are anthers present but they never release their pollen! I know they have pollen because I scanned the anthers and you can clearly see the unreleased pollen. I have checked multiple times a day for pollen release and even totally spent flower that fall off show no indication that it was ever released .. anyone know what's going on here?

X - I would imagine a number of things could be the reason.

Pollen has to dry and become fluffy to be released. High humidity could cause no pollen release.

I have noticed that inside (under lights) my vines produce more pollen. It is dryer inside than outside. Often at night there is higher humidity outdoors. If your plant is dehydrated, it may not produce or release it's pollen. So make sure your plants are getting enough water. A lack of nutrients could also cause less pollen production. Most healthy plants produce pollen. Sunlight is another factor.

I had a similar problem when I grew Spanish Flag several years ago. Turned out that it was a lack of sunlight. When I moved the plant to a location that got almost all day sunlight, it produced pollen and seeds. The other location is didn't produce a single seed because it only seemed to get a few hours of sunlight a day.

Try moving your plant to a different location where it is sunnier & dryer. Make sure you bottom water it well.

Ahh .. the sun thing may be the problem .. it only gets about 5 hours of full sun. Thanks!!!

X - My guess is that at least 6 hours is possibly the average it needs. Are you getting a lot of blooms on your vine?

I'm getting hundreds! And the nils right next to them are releasing pollen with no problems. I ended up cutting off a spike and bringing it indoors in a vase with a light directly on it. Hopefully with the lower humidity of the AC it might help.

And with with the way things are going .. I won't be surprised it the pistil aren't accepting either!

Beautiful vines! :-)

Lol .. thanks .. it's a real wrens nest .. lets see, in that mess there is Spanish Flag, BPM X MBR F2, Minibar Rose, Apricot candy, Passiflora Lady Margaret, Passiflora trifasciata and Passiflora allardii. It's a real jaw dropper when all are blooming at once.

Once can always hope for a Passinil or an Ipomflora. ;-)

The Spanish Flag and Apricot Candy go really well together. If I can get more seeds from the Spanish Flag, I'm thinking of doing both on my mailbox next year.