George, The short answer is "yes", various environmental factors are important for the successful pollination of flowers. A bromeliad hybridizer told me that humidity can be a critical factor in stigma receptivity (lower humidity being a bad thing). Some amaryllids like Eucrosia and Stenomesson I have selfed and everything looked good (pollen, stigmas) but no seeds were formed. In subsequent years, with the same individuals (clones), I repeated the selfing and got lots of good seed. It is difficult to say what changed but it may have been local humidity. Aside from the importance or actual necessity of crossing different clones to get the best fertility and seed set, I would say it is best to pollinate earlier in the life of a flower rather than later. Pelargoniums for example can be successfully pollinated before the stigma lobes are open. Nocturnal flowers are ideally pollinated in the evening but I don't think this is an absolute requirement. I suspect each grower will learn more from experimentation than combing the literature on this subject, which probably covers few geophytes. Dylan *"Reason is itself a matter of faith. It is an act of faith to assert that our thoughts have any relation to reality at all."* ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton Is the time of day a critical factor in hand pollinating geophytes? Are > there other significant factors, related to the pollen or the stigma or the > atmospheric environment, that are critical, or optimal, for hand > pollination? Thank you in advance for any replies. > > George Goldsmith > Diamond Bar, CA > USDA Zone 10a, Sunset Zone 19 > > > ------------------------------ > > Subject: Digest Footer > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… > > > ------------------------------ > > End of pbs Digest, Vol 18, Issue 9 > ********************************** > _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…