Anubia Flowering?

[ddavila06]

i was in total shock when i realiced this was not another leaf i purchased this one about 6 months ago and placed it on the side of my driftwood and gave it a tablet of plant food, everything else stays normal in my 120. im so happy because this is, as i discovered and refused to admit for a bit here on the site, a very low light set up, you tell me

question, question, will this flower open? will it release seeds? kool kool kool!

[krisw]

Congrats Damian! The flower pods will often open under water, and should look like this:



I don't think you'll get any seeds though without pollination above water.

[ddavila06]

awesome, i googled anubias photos to have an idea and i liked that

[RTRJR]

Kris - I like your shot, thanks! I never think to ask if anyone else's flowers pearl, but never think of when I am around the members It is one of the few things in my tank which actually show pearling (unless I turn my internals off). It think it is largely because they do not release the bubbles easily.

[kerokero]

If they are above water will they self pollinate, or do you need to assist? If you do... how do you do it? I think it would be an interesting challenge to grow from seed, and my submerged anubias are in shallow enough water that they can (and have) flowered above water.

[dSerk]

Nice one, Damian! I hope my Red Tiger Lotus does that eventually!

Why would the flower open underwater (if it can't be pollinated underwater)? Doesn't it "want" to break the surface before it opens? Do the seeds germinate submerged?

Kerokero: you could probably pollinate it with a q-tip if you could find someone else with the same plant.

[Judi]

Very cool, Damian! Don't you just love surprises like that?

[ddavila06]

Very cool, Damian! Don't you just love surprises like that?

i do, but a flower! i was shoked,

[kerokero]

I want to make sure I'd be getting the pollen and pollinating the correct part of the "flower"... I don't know the anatomy of aroid reproduction well and would want to put it in the right place. In theory you could probably self fertilize if you know enough about their reproduction, and the pollen is ready first. I just don't want it to be a case like my jewel orchids, which after cutting open the flowers repeatidly I *still* don't know where anything is!

[DelawareJim]

Corey;

Anubias is an aroid which makes it generally one of the more difficult plants to successfully propagate sexually.

First, aroids are not self-fertile which means you will need at least 2 separate plants.

Second, the female florets, located down in the bottom of the kettle inside the spathe, mature first followed by the male florets producing pollen at the top 1-3 days later.

So timing is everything. You will need the first plant to flower a day or two to harvest pollen and then hand pollinate the second plant when the female flower is receptive. Female florets are generally not receptive very long.

Most breeders or advanced hobbyists that want to sexually reproduce aroids usually have blocks of many plants and will cross-pollenate desired plants as they flower on their own, or will control flowering by using Gibberellic acid. Using GA can be a little tricky as another member of GWAPA knows.

Thankfully, Anubias easily mutates and spontaneous mutations happen quite frequently.

Cheers.
Jim