Mammillarias that doesn't set fruits (carmenae and longiflora)

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mmcavall
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Mammillarias that doesn't set fruits (carmenae and longiflora)

Post by mmcavall »

I have successfully pollinated my Mammillarias and harvested the seeds.
However, two species doesn't have produced fruits until now: M. carmenae and M. longiflora.
Is there any trick with these species?

(I'm aware that clone plants will not produce seeds even when cross pollinated. But this is not the case. The plants were grown from seed, they are not clones).
Thanks for any comments!
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MikeInOz
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Re: Mammillarias that doesn't set fruits (carmenae and longiflora)

Post by MikeInOz »

The carmenae and the longiflora might be self incompatible. They may need pollen from another unrelated plant. I obtained seeds last year from crossing 2 red-spined ''carmenae'' with each other but they were siblings. There were very few seeds in the fruit though. I did the same the with two longifloras this year and I'm pretty sure there are pods forming.
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mmcavall
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Re: Mammillarias that doesn't set fruits (carmenae and longiflora)

Post by mmcavall »

MikeInOz wrote: Tue Jan 12, 2021 4:44 am The carmenae and the longiflora might be self incompatible. They may need pollen from another unrelated plant. I obtained seeds last year from crossing 2 red-spined ''carmenae'' with each other but they were siblings. There were very few seeds in the fruit though. I did the same the with two longifloras this year and I'm pretty sure there are pods forming.
Thanks Mike.
Maybe I didn't made it clear but I have about 5 plants of each species, and cross pollinated them, but had no fruits yet. (I didn't tried to self pollinate them).
My plants were grown from seeds from ADBLPS. I have no idea if they are all seeds from the same individual. Let's suppose that they are, so my plants are half-brothers. When you say "unrelated plant" are you meaning that as half-brothers (for example) they are too closely related , so a more distant "relative" would be necessary?
That's an interesting hypothesis.
keith
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Re: Mammillarias that doesn't set fruits (carmenae and longiflora)

Post by keith »

M. carmenae the fruits hide under the spines and are hard to find. My plants have small fruits and not many of them even when hand pollinated carefully.
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Tom in Tucson
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Re: Mammillarias that doesn't set fruits (carmenae and longiflora)

Post by Tom in Tucson »

mmcavall wrote: Fri Jan 08, 2021 3:48 pm I have successfully pollinated my Mammillarias and harvested the seeds.
However, two species doesn't have produced fruits until now: M. carmenae and M. longiflora.
Is there any trick with these species?

(I'm aware that clone plants will not produce seeds even when cross pollinated. But this is not the case. The plants were grown from seed, they are not clones).
Thanks for any comments!
I think that Mammillaria longiflora has criptocarpic fruit like M. theresae, etc. If you probe where the flowers were about 6-12 months after you pollinated, you should notice a swollen area where the fruit is developing.
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