How to Cross Breed Flowers or Vegetables

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By Eli Zwillenberg
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Cross pollinating two different plants to create a desired mix of their traits has been going on since Mendel created the sweet pea. Whether you want to mix the colors of your two favorite roses or try to grow the worlds greatest tomato, there's no reason to leave it up to chance. Read on to learn how to grow the plant you can name after yourself.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Reference book about the plant you are trying to breed
Healthy plants
Garden tents
Cotton swabs

Step 1

Choose a species of plant in your garden that you want to change and pick two plants of that species whose traits you like. The goal is to increase the expression of the traits you like and try to eliminate any undesirable traits. The plants must be the same species–two varieties of cucumber for example–or they will not cross pollinate.
Step 2

Pick up a reference book about the plant you are interested in and find out when its peak pollination time is and how to tell it is producing pollen. Look up diagrams or pictures of the plant's anatomy and find out what its male and female organs look like, as well as if the plant can self pollinate. Self pollinating means it doesn't need another plant in order to produce fruit.
Step 3

If your plant can self pollinate you can remove or cover the pollen receptive organs on the flowers in order to prevent an unwanted pollination. If it can not self pollinate covering the plant with a transparent tent will be sufficient to keep it from being pollinated accidentally.
Step 4

Once your plants are producing pollen you need to transfer the pollen from the stamen of one plant to the carpel of the other. Gently collect the pollen into a paper cup or glass and apply it to the carpel of the other plant with the cotton swabs. You are acting as honey bee.
Step 5

Once you have repeated the process a few times over the flowering season your work should be complete. All there is left to do now is wait watch for what fruits develop, and what plants will grow from the seeds of those fruits!

Comments

jvillegas said

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on 8/14/2008 Eli, my name is Juan Villegas, I'm the assistant editor for Latino News, a hispanic newspaper in Passaic County.

I would like to reproduce your article "Homeless in Paterson...A growing wound" (??), giving, of course, credit to the Patersonian, which, I am assumming, was the first paper to publish it.

Nonetheless, in order for me to publish the article, a picture of the author must accompany it.

Would you then be kind enough to send me a picture of yourself to jvillegas@latinonews.us ? ?

I would really appreciate it.

Juan V.