Hand-pollinating, step by step
Two flowers, two different plants, one night. About a minute a flower. Then timing, labeling, and two weeks of waiting to see if it took.
30-second version first, the whole guide below5 min read
The short version
- You need two genetically different plants in flower on the same night (the previous guide covers why).
- Collect pollen at dusk, flower fully open, or at first light next morning.
- Apply it early in the morning, growers advise, when fewer insects are about and the stigma is opening.
- Growers recommend an adjustable tag on the flower naming the pollen parent, tightened as the flower shrivels so it cannot slip.
- The flower shrivels (often blackening, though pachanoi tends not to) while the green base behind it swells, growers say.
Your setup
Pick yours to see what changes in this guide.
Where it grows
In the ground
Nothing in this guide changes in the ground.
In a pot
Nothing in this guide changes in a pot.
Where it lives
Outdoors
A flower open all night is open to every insect.
Let it dry and come back, growers advise.
Indoors
Indoors, or in a sealed greenhouse where no insects can get in, growers say the bag may not be needed.
The season
Winter
Nothing in this guide changes in winter.
Not winter
Nothing in this guide changes outside winter.
Lines are from this guide, or from the cultivar library where one says so. For where they come from, see the end of the guide.
Introduction
You need two genetically different plants in flower on the same night (the previous guide covers why). Frozen pollen from a past flowering also works, growers report.
One grower reports still getting almost no fruit, with plenty of bees on site, until they step in. Insects visit, nothing sets.
The two parts you need to find
- The anthers: what growers call the fuzzy pollen-bearing ring inside the flower. Source of the yellow dust.
- The stigma — the receptive center on a stalk, growers say, splayed like a small octopus. goes here, nowhere else. It rises and opens wider as the morning warms, growers say, which is one reason not to start too early.
Looking down the throat
anthers around · stigma in the middle
From the side
stigma held clear above
Timing is most of the skill
- Collect pollen at dusk, flower fully open, or at first light next morning.
- Apply it early in the morning, growers advise, when fewer insects are about and the stigma is opening.
- Fresh pollen is best used the same day. Dried and frozen, growers report, it keeps for months; see Keeping pollen below.
- A wet flower is lost for the day. Rain or heavy dew ruins pollen, growers say. Let it dry and come back, growers advise.
Taking pollen
Step 1: Move the stigma aside
Push it gently aside with a finger so you do not dust it before choosing the father, growers advise.
Step 2: Brush the anthers
Growers advise clean dry fingers or a small soft brush. Work gently, growers say; let pollen fall onto the petals below.
Step 3: Tip it somewhere useful
Growers recommend folding a petal to run it into a paper envelope, cup, or a funnel over a tube. A creased index card works as well as anything bought, growers find.
Step 4: If nothing releases, come back later
Some flowers hold pollen until it dries, growers report.
Step 5: Clean up between plants, not between flowers
Pollen from any flower on one plant is that plant's own, so there is nothing to contaminate. Between different plants, growers advise washing and drying hands and tools.
One — the stigma out of the way
held aside · no accidental dusting
Two — brush the anthers
let it fall onto the segments
Three — tip it somewhere useful
a folded crease · a sealed tube
Putting it on
Roll a plain white cotton swab in the pollen and paint the stigma, growers say. White, so the yellow shows. A fine artist's brush also works, growers say; for a flower out of reach, tape the swab to a bamboo cane.
Or tip the pollen onto a small plate and sweep the stigma through it, which growers say is easier on a flower you can bend down to you. If nothing comes loose at all, press whole anthers on the stigma — less reliable, growers say, but it works.
One — take the pollen
brush across the anthers
Two — paint the stigma
onto the green lobes
Three — label it
which clone, which way round
If you want to know the father, bag it
A flower open all night is open to every insect. Hand-pollinate anyway (you are probably the main contributor), but growers say the right label is : mother known, father a matter of opinion.
The fix, growers say, is a fine mesh bag, the kind sold to keep birds off fruit, tied over the bud before it opens. Take it off only to pollinate, then put it straight back on until the flower wilts, growers say. Indoors, or in a sealed greenhouse where no insects can get in, growers say the bag may not be needed. A cotton mesh drawstring vegetable bag, growers find, holds position better than plastic and does not go slack after a wash.
Bagged before it opens
father known
Left open
father unknown
Label it now. You will not remember.
Growers recommend an adjustable tag on the flower naming the , tightened as the flower shrivels so it cannot slip. Tags come away with the dead flower, and a tag on the ground names nothing, growers warn.
On the night
loose · on the tube
Two weeks on
tightened · below the dry flower
Number every plant and keep a written notebook, growers advise.
Keeping pollen
Growers say to collect from whatever opens first, even with nothing else near budding. Freezer pollen is, growers say, the difference between the crosses you wanted and the ones that lined up.
- A few days: sealed bag, small silica gel sachet, pollen not touching the gel, growers say.
- Months: dry hard against a desiccant, then freeze in a contact lens case or lab microtube, growers say.
- Expect months, hope for a year. Older pollen still works but, growers report, wants a heavier application.
Decide before the season: fresh-only means fewer crosses but most set fruit; adding frozen, growers report, means far more crosses, far fewer fruits, fewer seeds each.
Two weeks later, you know
It took
The flower shrivels (often blackening, though pachanoi tends not to) while the green base behind it swells, growers say. That swelling is the fruit; any real size and seed is very likely, growers say.
It did not
The whole flower drops, base included, growers say.
It took
The flower shrivels (often blackening, though pachanoi tends not to) while the green base behind it swells, growers say. That swelling is the fruit; any real size and seed is very likely, growers say.
It did not
The whole flower drops, base included, growers say.
Common mistakes, try it, quick check and sources
Quick check
Question 1: Where does the pollen actually go?
Question 2: Do you need to wash your hands between two flowers on the same plant?
Question 3: Two weeks on, the flower has shriveled and the green part behind it is swelling. What does that mean?
