Pollen For Breeding Available, Seeds on the Way…

I just listed some cactus pollen in the store. I’m not sure how popular that will be, but it seems like a good idea. Each hand folded origami packet (my own design btw) contains the male pollen bearing anthers of one flower. I trim them into the packet with scissors. The pollen is released as they dessicate. Some varieties will produce more pollen than others, which seems to be true across plants in general. TPM is showing to be an especially shy pollen producer so far. In principal it should require very little pollen, but that assumes the pollen is virile.

Also included is the pollen brush I use, a microfiber makeup applicator. It is basically like a fuzzy little bee body. It allows for precise and through application of pollen to the tendrils of the female part of the flower structure. It can be washed and reused.

How well this will work, I don’t really know. We can consider it experimental for now. Currently, I just have some staple varieties- TPM, Juuls and SS02. Within days I will probably have some stubbs, possible one or two packets of Gordita, but I won’t likely have a lot from my new varieties this year. They will be listed as collected and mailed ASAP. If you are cutting it close on a pollination deadline, drop me a note through the contact link on the site. I cannot mail every day because of where I live, but if someone is a on a tight bloom schedule, I can at least try to take it into account.

I recommend isolating the blooms from pollinating insects. They are not self pollinating however, so if you have just one type blooming at a time, you don’t need to isolate. I use 12 × 16 Organza bags. Cover before open, pollinate and replace the bag for a few days. There is a link in my amazon store https://skillcult.com/amazon-store The link to microfiber brushes on that page is for the ones I use for apples. The ones I use for cactus are larger as pictured.

Seeds are also incoming. I am germination testing the one batch that I have to list right now. As soon as I get that number, I will list them. Ideally, all cactus seed for sale would be germination tested, but I’ve never seen any for sale with germination test numbers. More seeds will be available when they mature, including crosses with King Tubby, Gordita and Stubbs! I’m also going to do the Mark’s Scopulicola #9 x Juul’s Giant cross, which King Tubby and God Seed came out of.

Germination testing is not difficult. These look like they will be 80% plus, probably 90%>. I’m not going for exact numbers, just a rough estimate of what % are viable. If nothing else, this lets people know that failures are more likely due to something besides viability.

Germ Testing. sprinkle dry seeds onto a wet but not excessively soggy paper towel piece, fold over and put in a ziplock at room temp, with the air squished out. Most trichos should germinate at warm room temps. Fluctuations in temps from day to night don’t seem to bother them.

This project, like my apple project is collaborative by nature. If I get something good, you’ll have access to it as soon as possible. That is why my apple breeding project is such a success. That is if you measure success by the spread of genetics and not by control and royalties. My apple genetics are now being used all over the world for apple improvement, because I make anything good available for breeding purposes early through cuttings, seeds and pollen. I hope someday to get some material of both apples and cactus back that I can work into breeding populations for particular traits.

If people order pollen, I’ll keep collecting it. There is a lot of possibility here. One exciting option is to do pollen blends. If pollen is blended, one fruit could contain many different crosses. Blends could be tailored for specific characteristics, like mutantism, chemistry, notchiness and of course my favorite blockiness.

So begins this experiment…