Project Tarnok: Verdict (Part 2)

This year, I tried to pollinate Sarracenia leucophylla ‘Tarnok’. Be sure to read about it in the prior post…   Remember, it’s a plant that many people say is sterile and will not produce any seed.   Soooooo what happaned?! Let’s tear into the pod and find out!

DRUMROLLLLLLLL PLEEEASASSEEEEEEE…

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VERDICT 2011: NO SEEDS THIS YEAR!!!
NO FLIPPIN’ SEEDS!!!  GOSH!!!

Oh Crapola!  This setback will mos’ def NOT stop me from trying year after year. I have read of others that have had successful crosses with S. leucophylla ‘Tarnok’, so I will continue to try.  And try. And try again.

And you know what else? It’s the story of my plants this year.  I did roughly 100+ crosses this year  – and MANY have failed me.  There were maybe only 30 or less flowers that set seed.  Last year I had quite a bit (120 or so) successful crosses… and this year was my WORST. EVER.

So what happened? There could of been several things that contributed to such a large amount of seed pods failing.  The thing I *suspect* is stress.  Early in January we had some warm weather for a couple of weeks that woke many of the plants up. Many began to flower…  and by my standards, this was a very short dormancy period.  Then in February we had all that freak hail action going on. Remember this freak hail storm?

So, that’s one of the big things that I think could of contributed to the failing of MANY pods.  As I go through inspecting all the plants and many failed pods, the mantra is this:  “There’s always next year…”