Cross Pollination?? Part 1

How to Cross Pollinate Petunias

Introduction

Gardening stores are riddled full of “new breed” novelty plants selling at outrageous prices. What few know, however, is that growing and making these “new breed” plants is a relatively simple process.  By manually breeding (i.e. cross-pollinating) plants, there are no health risks. And by following a few simple steps, the results can be utterly fantastic. For the purpose of this experiment, the petunia plant (see Figure 1) is going to be the main subject. 

WARNING: There must be room for trial and error in this process. Some plants are not compatible with each other. Also, unwanted characteristics may result. View this project as an experiment and the differing results will be a great learning experience. 

 

Definitions

A few uncommon words will be used throughout the instructions. These words and their definitions are as follows:

1. To breed means to produce offspring (by sexual means) (Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/breed)
2. To cross-pollinate means to transfer pollen from one flower to another (Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cross-pollination)
3. Pollen is a fine dust containing genetic pieces needed to make-up a seed  
4. The style is the female part of the flower
5. The anther and filament are the male parts of the flower  

 

Equipment

Before starting, grab the following tools

Tweezers

Pencil

Tinfoil

Tape

Sticky Label 

Materials 

Closed red petunia flower that has not yet bloomed

In order to carry out this experiment, the following materials are a necessity.

1 White Petunia with Blooming Flowers

 &

1 Red Petunia with at least 1 closed flower   

(The colours can obviously vary depending on what you want to experiment on)


Time Required
In total, carrying out this experiment will take anywhere from 10-20 minutes. 

Note:  Though doing the experiment takes a relatively short amount of time, an eye must be kept on the plant for the next few weeks.

Cost 
 There is relatively little cost. The equipment is all common household goods, while the price of petunias is relatively cheap (i.e. under $15).

People Required
This experiment is best done by one person with steady hands and good eyes. The work is rather particular and multiple workers easily lead to mistakes.

 Step Overview
The main steps for completing this experiment are to

1. Prepare your equipment
2. Open the white petunia flower
3. Prepare the closed red petunia
4. Fertilize with pollen
5. Seal with tinfoil
6. Label the finished product

You are now ready to begin the experiment.