Hello dragon fruit enthusiasts! This is Jay, with Hybridizing Dragon Fruit, where we teach YOU how to make your very own dragon fruit varieties! Today’s tip of the day is about: how to cross pollinate a flower that is already self pollinating! But, how do you do it without contamination? Well let me explain…

So you have a dragon that is self pollinating and would like to create a hybrid from it by cross pollinating. But how? As soon as the flower opens up you risk contamination from the mother plant, right? Well there is a very easy way to do this, but it’s going to hurt you, more than the plant…

On the day a flower is to open, it will swell up and you see a hint of petals peeking through. It’s at this point that the flower is actually mature and receptive. However, the pollen sacs on the ends of the anthers are still closed tight. This is the time for action!

(For the purposes of this video, I used a flower I had collected pollen from. As it’s the beginning of the season I need all I can get. However, the demonstration holds true)

Okay now, take a deep breath and be brave. It’s time to break out the scissors, and start butchering this beautiful flower. Start by cutting away the outer petals, making sure not to damage the stamen.

Try to find it with your fingers as you cut away the petals and uncover the anthers. Bend them away from the stamen and cut them all away, until you are left with the base of the flower with just the stamen poking out.

Tease the stigma open gently with the end of your brush, as you don’t want to get the oil from your fingers on there. Apply your foreign pollen generously, then place a solo cup over the end to protect the newly pollinated stigma. Wrap a plastic shopping bag over top of the cup and secure it at the base snugly, with garden tape or velcro so nothing can get in or out. You can remove the bag and cup the next day.

It’s pretty unnerving the first time you do it. But it gets easier with each successful pollination. Remember, practice makes perfect, and the more you do it the better you will get!

If you would like to learn more about creating your own dragonfruit hybrids, please give us a thumbs up, a subscribe, and be sure to join our Facebook group @Facebook/groups/HybridizingDragonFruit.

Grow something AMAZING!