Succulent Pollination and Hybridization Tips: Learn How to Grow Hybrid Succulents

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Images and text: This Girl Is a Bit Sweet

The mating scene in the succulent world is quite messy, but no matter what, as long as we can hybridize beautiful succulents, our love for them only grows!

TIPS: In Crassulaceae, the same plant generally cannot self-pollinate; for example, parents that are related by blood also cannot be crossed. They need two succulents of the same species that are not related by blood, and when they bloom at the same time, they can be pollinated and crossed to produce seeds!

Echeveria 'Gilva' x Echeveria glauca = Echeveria 'Blue Gilva'

01 Select two flower buds, A and B, that have opened at the same time.

Flower bud A: The part of the flower that exudes nectar droplets is the stigma of the pistil, and this part transports pollen to the ovary to complete the pollination process. On the second or third day after the flower bud fully opens, the stigma will burst with fluid; this is the best time for pollination, and pollinating too early or too late will cause pollination to fail.

Flower bud B: The yellow exploded mass on the outer ring of the flower is the pollen on the stamens; you must wait until the pollen bursts open like this before you can use it.

02 Three steps for pollination

Step one: Pull off all the outer sepals, petals, and stamens of both flowers (as shown in the picture) and set them aside for use. Remove everything except the pistil, leaving only the stigma, as shown in the picture. First, this makes pollination easier; second, when collecting seeds, these sepals and petals will become impurities, so removing them in advance helps with seed collection.

Step two: Directly use the pollen from the stamens pulled off flower B to rub against the stigma of flower A. If there is nectar, first wipe off the nectar and then rub the pollen on; it is best to clearly see the stigma covered with pollen.

Step three: For crossed flowers, take a slip of paper, write clearly the information of the parents, and tie it to the pollinated flower; this step must be done well. Because the flowers open one after another, each flower on the same flowering stalk may be crossed with a different variety, and if the parent information is not written clearly, "unknown" varieties will appear. When writing the information, the variety that provides the ovary is the female parent and is written first, and the variety that provides the pollen is the male parent and is written after, in the format "female parent male parent."

After pollination, just wait quietly for the seeds to mature. Many successfully pollinated seed pods will split open, and later, as maturity increases, they will split even wider until the seeds can be seen. Therefore, it is best to place a small box under the seed pods that mature one after another, so as to collect the seeds that fall due to the seed pods splitting open.

Echeveria pulidonis x Echeveria purpusorum = Echeveria 'Orion'

Echeveria pulidonis x Echeveria elegans = Echeveria 'Moon Fairy'

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