If you do, and have an interest in doing a pollen swap, could you shoot me a dmail?
anyone have any Chiritas in bud or bloom?
I have one Chirita in bloom but don't think you would want it as it came from you... You sent to a friend of mine then she sent to me a while later... here is a picture... If you need it Ki let me know I don't know how to do a pollen thing but sure you could tell me...
Hugs,
Susan
awwww thanks. So nice to see a .. umm... don't know what you call plant material that left the nest, lol... anyway, nice to see it happy!
I wouldn't want to ruin your flower - taking pollen often does that. So let me rephrase - if anyone has extra flowers to spare, please let me know ^_^
I don't mind taking a flower from it as it has many....
Susan
in that case, sending you dmail...
Hi Key:
I have two bud's forming on Chirita 'Kazu'. I don't mind cutting the stems ... I'm going to be repotting this one shortly anyway. I have no idea how to collect pollen but if you want I can cut the entire stems off and send them. Or, do I need to wait until the flowers open? Let me know. If you want them just give me some tips on how to go about packaging and shipping. I will let you know if I see buds forming on any of the others anytime soon!
Lin
I am wicked excited! Guess what I got in the mail today? Thanks Susan!
Lin, I would love some Kazu pollen. It's probably better if the flowers open, because pollen is usually "ripe" a couple of days after the flower opens. With some plants, the pollen will be ripe while it's still a bud, but I don't know about Kazu.
As luck would have it, I took a photo of pollen last night, so I can show what parts I need :) This is a sinningia, from which I cut away most of the petals. The pollen is on that cluster to the left. These can be snipped off, folded in paper, and dropped in the mail.
Ok, I will let you know as soon as the blooms open. Looks like it might be another few days to a week but I will definitely keep my eyes on it and when they are open I will snip the stem and mail the entire thing to you ... or do you want me to snip the petals off first? I hate to bother with it too much and take a chance of the pollen going everywhere.
Will keep you posted! Here's what the buds look like right now.
Thanks Lin.
This is the first time I'm trying pollen-by-mail so I don't really know. To store pollen, it should be dry so the petals and stem would be additional moisture getting in the way. However, I think that for mailing it won't matter, because it's such a short time in transit.
The envelope from Susan has dried petals and pollen in it :) I'm very excited. LOL.
I have no idea if the intended mother will like the match, but I'm going to give it a try. If all goes well, I'll have plenty of flowers to try it on.
I admire anyone who has the patience to do this! I know it must be fun to see if it takes, but I am one of little patience for it. I hope all goes well and you end up with lots of little Chirita ????/kazu babies!
Oh Ki I am so happy I did it correct... Yeah....... I hope it works for you and if any of my other Chiritas bloom I will send you the pollen if you still need it.... I am so excited I did it correct... Hey if you need more of the same type let me know as this one blooms all the time... You sent to Dimmer when she was new and she sent to me when I was new...LOL what goes around comes around....LOL
Hugs
Susan
Having just had my first experience in looking for pollen 10 or 12 days ago in order to cross pollinate some streps I was very happy to see the excellent close up picture of the right flower "parts" Keyring!
Now I'm more confident in what I did! I had magnifying glasses on so I could see everything well and I was seeing pollen flying around as I did it the second time so that was a good sign too!
If your interested in some little Chirita Tamania (I know that's not spelled right) pollen I have some blooms that would be the perfect age to pop in the mail today!
~Brenda
Key:
Two flowers opened on C. Kazu today ... I took a magnifying glass and don't see any sign of pollen but will watch closely and snip for mailing as soon as it's noticeable!
Hi Lin, thanks for checking! It's possible that it is a pollen-less hybrid. Apparently some of them are sterile.
Hi Key,
I'm still watching.
Another bloom opened on C. Kazu today. I got the magnifying glass again but still don't see anything and had my husband look also ... so far, nothing. I will keep you posted! I think I have buds starting on another Chirita - might be Aiko, will have to check the label next time I'm in the room!
Will update again tomorrow!