Hi Jim, Thank you for your response. I was obviously confused by this issue, but understand now what you are doing. I still don't comprehend the forces that are at work here. However, that is really immaterial and I am simply going to try it. I am mainly hybridizing gesneriads and I am looking for a way to quicker and more reliably stabilize the plants grown from seeds to consistently represent the qualities I found attractive in the best hybrids in the first place. I have been selfing the best plants back to itself for 3 generations, but still get too much variability in the offsprings, while species selfed back just about always give me the same plants back from seeds. So, thanks again for this new idea. Gene Sussli/San Francisco. --- jshields@indy.net wrote: From: "J.E. Shields" <jshields@indy.net> To: Pacific Bulb Society <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Subject: Re: [pbs] Sprekelia howardii Date: Thu, 29 Jun 2006 12:12:49 -0400 I think I may detect a trace of confusion here. The microwaved pollen is surely dead and completely infertile. However, the dead pollen's surface proteins or polysaccharides are still there, and they are what one hopes will trigger the proper responses in the stigma to allow fertilization by other pollen, not microwaved, that is then applied to the stigma. You mix compatible but dead pollen with live pollen that would otherwise be rejected by the stigma. This way you get no unwanted hybrids mixed in with your seeds. Clear as mud? Jim Shields in central Indiana (USA) At 08:25 AM 6/29/2006 -0700, you wrote: >On Wednesday, June 28, 2006, at 05:54 PM, <sussli@netscape.com> wrote: > > > I was absolutely dumbfounded by your post where you describe that you > > microwave any pollen collected for 20 seconds before storing it in the > > refrigerator for future use......... > >The method was recommended to me. I had nothing to lose, so I tried it. > More later if it works. > >Doug ************************************************* Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 Shields Gardens, Ltd. P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/ Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA Tel. ++1-317-867-3344 or toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.ibiblio.org http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php _____________________________________________________________ Netscape. Just the Net You Need.