hibiscus pollinating

How do you pollinate a hibiscus to produce seeds? Can you pollinate with flowers on the same bush?

I'll get some pics to show how tomorrow (Thursday)

Hibiscus pollinating #101

Say you want to cross these two hibiscus plants,'Painted Lady' on the left and ' Kiss and Tell' on the right.

Painted Lady will be the pollen parent and Kiss and Tell will be the seed parent. The staminal column is the long stem rising from the center of the flower, it has the stigmas (small red dots) at the end of the column, and the pollen is located just below the stigmas.The pollen needs to be ripe(bright yellow and dusty) if it isn't it is a dull light yellow color. Mid morning is the best time to cross the flowers.as soon as the pollen is a bright yellow gold color its time to cross the flowers.

Remove the entire staminal column from the pollen parent (painted Lady) and completely cover the red stigma pads with the ripe pollen.The more completely you cover the pads with pollen the more likely you will get fertile seeds.
Note the staminal column at the top of this pic being used to dust the pollen to the seed parent flower.

After putting the pollen on the stigmas, put a tie on label, such as used in Flea markets, around the stem of the flower, put the date, and the varieties crossed on the label. Leave the flower alone from this point.Let the old wilted bloom fall off on its own.After a few days when the flower falls off a small pod should start to develop.The calyx is the star shaped outer part with the seed pod located inside of the calyx. See pic.

The seed pod will continue to expand over a period of weeks.when the pod has almost filled the calyx (see pic)
you will need to carefully peel back the calyx and remove it to prevent the build up of insects or water inside the calyx next to the actual pod.Rot can occur if this isn't done.The stem will be very brittle so care is crucial to accomplish this step.

The pod will continue to expand until ripe.The length of time can vary with different varieties.some quickly(about 4 weeks) others can take longer.(up to 90 days or more) The seed pod in this pic has had the calyx removed already.

leave the seed pod alone till it starts to split open and turn brown.At this point remove the pod and tag and take the seeds out and let them air dry overnight. I plant the seeds the following day(as soon as possible after removing the seeds) The sooner the better. Label the pots or flats and use bottom heat to germinate.Soiless seed mix and keep moist BUT not WET.Cover the seeds about 1/8th of an inch with the soil mix. After germinating remove the bottom heat and grow like other seedlings.

Thank you so much. It seems easy enough. Hopefully I can get some good crosses. A friend of mine has differant colors than mine and we wanted to mix them and see what we get. This info was perfect. Thanks again: )