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Seedpod size/development

Seed Pod development

The best way to explain my question is to give an example.

Take a female N. ventricosa flower.

Pollinate the bottom half of the flower with (for example) N. gracilis and the top half with say N. khasiana.

Once the flower is finished and the ovary/seed pods are starting to swell, what would it mean if the pods from the top half of the flower were actually becoming bigger than the bottom half (even though they were later to develop and be pollinated).

My first thought is the possibility that the N. gracilis pollen was not viable and these flowers were not fertilised.

However, could it also be that N. gracilis develops smaller sees than N. khasiana and this is being reflected in the size of the developing seedpods?

Note: don’t take the literal size difference between gracilis and khasiana seed into account if it is a factor. These are just for the example.

Aaron.
 
I think you answered it yourself?
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Aaron,

The developing seeds will be exactly the same as the mother species, size, shape etc. The only viable explanation is that the gracilis pollen was not viable, and only the khasiana pollen in fact pollinated the seed.

Hamish
 
To be a little more scientific, we cannot assume the pollen was bad simply because the seed pods are not developing. It probably is a good guess. There are other reasons the seeds may not develope. The stigma could have been unreceptive, the ova could have been aborted, etc. Not all Nepenthes crosses are 100% successful even with viable pollen and receptive female flowers. You may still get a few seeds if the pods are enlarging some.
 
I think I was taking advantage of inside knowledge I had as to the state of the gracilis pollen that Aaron got...
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@Hamish,
I thought that MAY have been the case but was hoping otherwise. Both sets of seedpods are increasing in size, but it's only been over the last week or so that the more recently pollinated ones (Khasi) have overtaken in size.

@NG,
Thanks for that. Although not looking too good I'll just have to wait and see.

The N. gracilis pollen was sent to m in the mail and it was not in a good state once I received it due to 1 week in transit, in a fully sealed plastic satchel and having been packed with the full flowers (i.e. they were still very moist). By the time I got it there was not much more than a gooey mush. I dried it out and then tried to use some of the powdered remains. Basically that's what Hamish knew that I did not include in the post.

Aaron.
 
Aaron,

You can also get situations of varying degrees of pollination. A seed pod which has a 99% pollination rate will get bigger than one with 50% pollination rate. Also, sometime seeds on one side of the pod will be pollinated, and the pod will develop into a crescent shape.

Hamish
 
Don't ask me, i really only work with cuttings, or at least i will until my Neps flower. ( I cut the Offshoots)
 
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