Pollination of flowers and genetic transfer

Ok, go easy on me here, if I say something that sounds silly or stupid don't abuse me... I really don't have a clue on this stuff when it relates to cacti.

1: Do cacti self pollinate (in particular echinopsis and mammaliria)?



2: If they do NOT self pollinate what are the vectors for pollination?



3: If they do NOT self pollinate and we lack vectors what are methods for pollination, you may yse terms like stamen, anther, stigma etc...



4: Does pollen cross and should I seperate flowers I do not want to cross pollinate with?



5: Do they all produce small (or large in the case of dragon fruit) fruit bodies like pictured in my M.prolifera ?


6: Assuming I do get seed what is the best way to dry them out ready for selling, planting etc?

Sorry for the bombardment of questions but I appear to have a specimen wanting to flower in the next couple of months (maybe - I noticed the beginnings of a bud today).

7: If they do self polinate is there much genetic variation?

Not sure about the species your asking about but i know the Echinocactus grusonii at the brisbane botanic gardens either self polinated or is polinated by something as there is always large quantities of seed on the plant.

This is one of the echinopsis - but not the one that's looking like it has a bud developing.

I am still learning my self, here is some advice that was past on to me...

for self pollinating cacti I use a very fine art pant brush and gently rub it around the pollen area (anthers) and swish it around the centre (Stigma) do this as gently as possible as you don't want to damage your flower, gentle and just swirl the pollen around, making sure that at least some gets on the Stigma.

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/images/graphics/t/flower_parts.gif

I have seen a pollen trading ring some where before, I will have a look and post the link. (cant find it, maybe we could start one here?)


to avoid cross pollination on bigger species separate them and bag them up, it's a bit of cowboy method but it works, not to sure on the little guys.

I am sure the masters will have some good tips!

haha... you provided a diagram of the flower - now who's the teacher

I thought you'd bag up the small ones as well if you didn't want to cross pollinate...

Thanks for the advice on the self pollinating cacti... I will give that a go this season.

What have others here done?

1: yes and no. depends on specie

2: depens on species. moths, bees, ants you name it.

3: i use a small (fine) paint brushes and rub the pollen all over the hairs. then rub it on the stigma.

4: Some does others dont. A lot of Echinopsis do. this is where hybrids come in.

5: all are different. astrophytum, for example, has very "hairy" fruit, ones liek dragon fruit and many cereus have large fruit with a nice taste. otehrs, liek opuntia, may have glochids on the fruit, while others are completely "bald" like many mammilaria. some are very tine (aztekium) others are huge (dragon Fruit)


6: when the pod is fully ripend (starts to dry) it can be picked...some should be left until they are almost dry. i pick them out and give them a rinse and place them on a dish to dry.


7: they will be more or less "clones" much like asexual animals. selfed plants often have far less seeds while when crossed usually have many more.

Thanks Kada, that's some good info... They do appear very similar to other plants then in pollination, let's see how I go this year then