I just wanted to share the results from a cross pollination I’ve done. All of these are unique sibling plants from the same cross pollination I made last year. Cross pollination, or hybridization is a fun hobby if you grow and collect plants that aren’t too hard to get to flower. Some easier plant groups to start with are for example begonias, coleus, gesneriads, geraniums and impatiens. The resulting plants are genetically unique, and hopefully new and beautiful additions for collectors and to the hobby. You can even name any new plants you create as new varieties if they have good enough qualities. The basic steps in order to make a new hybrid plant yourself are: 1. Apply pollen from one plant onto the stigma of another plant. Preferably different varieties or closely related species in the same genus. 2. Let the flower that received the pollen turn into a seed pod and mature fully before harvesting it. 3. Sow these hybrid seeds and grow the seedlings to flowering size for evaluation. 4. Save any plants that you think are interesting enough or have good qualities. You can then repeat the process with these and make another generation of hybrid plants - suddenly you’ve got your own hybridization program. I just wanted to share this with you since hybridising can be another advanced step in your houseplant growing journey. For me it opened up a new dimension and I’m now always curious as to what my new hybrid plants will look like as they grow and their first flower is about to open. Have you ever cross pollinated a plant and did you get an interesting result? 🌱
