Sarracenia ‘Adrian Slack’ flower
Pollination Tools
It is that time of year again when blooms are exploding all over The Asylum and I can’t help but dream about all the possible pollination combinations. I actually did my first cross earlier last week. I selfed S. ‘Adrian Slack’. Now I don’t know if I will get any seed as I can’t seem to use S. ‘Adrian Slack’ as a pod parent. I know of a couple other growers who have the same issue. It could be a number of factors but this still won’t stop me from trying to use it as a pod parent whenever I have the opportunity. At least I’ve used the pollen in years past with great success. I actually already had a few blooms in play before the S. ‘Adrian Slack’ bloom opened up. The first ones to open up this year were the S. alata plants, then the S. oreophila plants soon after. I could of went to town starting with those but I really am trying to be more disciplined with what I cross now. (At least until I either retire – or work with this plant thing full time. Ohhh dayumn. You better watch out then!) Plus… this year I kinda need to catch up with this trimming and repotting of the other plants anyway. Now, this doesn’t mean that I won’t do any crosses this year; it just means that I won’t do as many. Maybe. Yeah… I tell myself this every year but let’s see if I actually stick with it this time around.
Sarracenia ‘Adrian Slack’ pollen
The shot above is how I collect/store the pollen. I simply use disposable shot glasses and then cover with another shot glass. Next I store it in the fridge. Any similar type of container will work just fine. I usually use up the pollen within a month or so. I’ve gone up to about two months using fridge-stored pollen with success and have never needed to really go beyond that. I have heard freezer stored pollen can last longer, but I’ve never tried it.
How about that pollen tho, isn’t it sexy? Doesn’t it turn you on?! I mean, what would you throw this pollen on? Storing pollen gives me great flexibility and allows me to plan for potential pollinations. Good times! (By the way, for more pollen posts check out these past entries: here is one from 2013, and another nerdy entry from 2010. 20-freakin-10! )
Aww yeah… Ready for some plant lovin’. Bom-chicka-wow-wow.
Sarracenia alata
The seeds (from 2013!!) have been sown! Yes, you read that right. These have been sitting in cold stratification for a year. A couple of weeks ago, my wife and the kiddos helped pot up all 202+ crosses. It was an extremely busy year for me last year and by the time I was ready to put them down, the year was half way over. I didn’t want to use supplemental lighting as with this many seeds, as that electric bill would just be nuts. Now that I finally have a little more space, I was able to finally put these down.
And guess what? Many pots have seeds that have are sprouting! Exciting! The one in the photo is S. purpurea heterophylla x leucophylla “Red” – these came from Jerry Addington and should produce a brilliant crop of anthocyanin free recessive plants to work with in the future.
The Asylum. Check out the Sarracenia alata flowers already opening up! And check out that other half of the greenhouse that needs trimming! Heh!
A few more Sarracenia alata buds about to pop!
One of my crosses from a maybe 3 or so years ago. This is S. ‘Alucard’ x ‘Adrian Slack’ glowing with the sun hitting it from behind. Notice one of last year’s autumn pitchers compared to this year’s larger spring pitcher. What a jump! You can see tell-tale signs of what the plant would be like from last year’s pitcher. However, with this year’s pitcher, you can see much more character shine through! The unknown of what comes out of the cross and how that plant matures is part of the excitement that comes with growing from seed. Anyway, I’ll post another photo later on so you can get a better view of this year’s most recent pitcher from this cross.
Sarracenia ‘Reptilian Rose’ x (flava var. rubricorpora x leucophylla) – Clone 14. New pitcher coloring up against last year’s wreckage. Cross by Dr. Travis H. Wyman.
Sarracenia ‘Reptilian Rose’ x (flava var. rubricorpora x leucophylla) – Clone 9
Another one of my crosses – Sarracenia leucophylla “Purple Lips” x flava var. rubricorpora x ‘Adrian Slack’ – new pitcher opening up! 
Sarracenia oreophila, awake and ready to devour insects!
Sarracenia oreophila
Sarracenia alata – Anthocyanin Free!
Young pitchers stretch towards the sky. Sarracenia flava var. rubricorpora x flava ‘Suspicion’ – an anthocyanin free recessive cross. This cross was done by Aidan Selwyn. I hope to use these AF recessive S. flava plants in future (anthocyanin free) crosses.
Ok, ok, ok… I’m totally geeking out here. This is a flower bud of an anthocyanin free form of S. flava – Colquitt Co., GA. YEAH. You know what this means… 🙂
