It is a my goal to start breeding and selling Haworthias on a small scale although this will be a fairly long-term enterprise because they are slow-growing and it takes around 2 years after sowing seed before you have saleable plants. Haworthias are not self-fertile, meaning that you need two genetically different plants to be able to make seeds. Fortunately, various species of haworthia can easily be crossed to create hybrid plants that will show characteristics of both the plants although no two hybrid seedlings look alike. Just as in human families, having the same parents means that children will resemble one another but they do not all look exactly alike.
Left to Right: Haworthia bayeri, Haworthia obesa (a hybrid) and Haworthia pygmae var argenteo-maculosa
These three plants are currently flowering and I am busy trying to make various combinations of all three of them. Seeds can only have 2 parents, not three but I am attempting to combine them in all 3 possible ways: bayeri X obesa, bayeri X argenteo-maculosa and obesa X argenteo-maculosa
There are 2 possible ways to cross-pollinate plants; firstly, by using a brush to transfer pollen from one plant to another or secondly, by pulling the flowers apart and applying the male floral parts to the female plants of the other flower. The second method can be more accurate but it is also problematic because the flower parts mature at different rates, meaning that your timing has to be exact and if it is not, the flower has been pulled apart and can't be used again. Last time I tried pollinating Haworthias I used this method, without success, but that is possibly because the plant I used in the cross is notoriously difficult to get seed from.
I am trying the brush method using a cat's whisker. The flowers are very small and a small object is required to collect and transfer pollen. The pollen needs to be collected from the younger flowers and transferred to the older flowers that are lower down on the stem. I will know in about a week whether I have been successful or not as a flower that has been successfully fertilised starts to form a seedpod but one that has not withers and falls off the stem. It is considered best to pollinate the flowers in the afternoon.
Wish me luck!
Beautiful Haworthia!
Cross-pollination is very interesting!
But this is a difficult and long work!
I wish you success!
And I'll wait for the photo of your result !!!
Thank you. I hope I get a result!
I am waiting :-)
Good luck! :D
This is so much fun! I crossed once two Streptocarpuses and got a bunch of seeds. And yea - every single flower that grew is different :) The good thing with them that it took just a few months from sowing to blooming. It was fun, bot not gonna do it again anytime soon. They take quite a bit of space.
Now I sowed a bunch of cacti and waiting to see them sprout :)
Will take also at least 2 years to get them to a good size. Did you sow yours yet?
It's still too cold, I think? I read that cacti germinate if temperatures are between 15-25C. We are still at 2-15 right now. I will try next month. I'm dying to see your cacti, why don't you make a post on how you did it?
Oh yea... I didn't think of your temperatures. Better wait and give them minimum 20C.
I was thinking of it... but then I got to sow.. and sow and I was in trance and forgot about the camera :p There is nothing there yet... just empty pots :)
I will take some photos of the little ones when it's safe to open them from their "incubators" and will write then.
It sounds like you had fun, though. I look forward to the progress pictures
It sounds like you had
Fun, though. I look forward to
The progress pictures
- nikv
I'm a bot. I detect haiku.
Lots of fun and back pain :p
If they all grow (and stay sprouted like crazy)... I dunno where I am gonna put all the pots :o
Of course, I wish you luck, nikv.
The effort you make to obtain new varieties deserves the reward.
I wanted to buy some beautiful succulents that I saw on my trip, but we can not deviate from the small budget we have.
Your plants are very beautiful
Greetings.
Budget problems are frustrating. I wish that things would improve in your country
Thanks for your good wish.
Perhaps this is a difficult business to grow new varieties of flowers. I have an acquaintance who plant different trees. Apples and pears grow on one tree. On the other tree grow a few different varieties of apples. In general, it is interesting to look at its orchard.
I think that your friend achieved that by grafting, not by breeding the plants
I think that your friend
Achieved that by grafting, not
By breeding the plants
- nikv
I'm a bot. I detect haiku.
This is really interesting! I look forward to seeing if you are successful.
I can't wait. If I do manage to make seeds, the next bit of fun will be actually growing them, too
This is fantastic I hope it works and you get a seed pod, great idea propagating and selling
Thank you. Now that I am mostly at home, I want to try and maximise my work-from-home possibilities
Good luck! I cant wait to see how your results come out (in a year or so, lol). I've seen a gardener use a dull pencil to cross pollinate and he's one of the more famous ones here in California :)
Thanks! If this method fails, I'll give the pencil a try :)
Very good, and very useful for this information. I wish you luck
Thank you
Good luck! Sounds not so easy.
I really hope not to get hooked on Haworthias looking at your photos.