FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

You'll find good info, usually faster, if you search Heliamphora pollination in your search engine.
heliamphora-pollination-t55828.html
https://www.floraecollaborative.com/blo ... liamphora/

Heliamphora can self pollinate but like all self pollination, it tends to produce weaker seeds. The pollen ripens after the stigma is no longer receptive so you need to save the pollen from one flower to pollinate the next one. You can read my fairly successful journey pollinating my heliamphora here heliamphora-pollination-t55828.html. The centrifuge vial and electric toothbrush really works well for me. Now I need to work on my heliamphora germination skills.

ChefDean wrote: ↑Thu Jul 11, 2024 12:13 pm..., usually faster,...

I stand corrected. Pandude is on it.

Electric toothbrush definitely works well. Be aware that the pollen will be extra extra fine. More like dust. When harvesting the pollen I suggest using a dark colored piece of paper underneath the flower as you get the flower to release its pollen. The pollen is almost white so if you try to do it on a white sheet of paper, you probably aren’t gonna see it. Like Panman, I’ve done OK with getting seeds, but getting a little buggers to germinate it has been another story entirely.

DragonsEye wrote:Be aware that the pollen will be extra extra fine.

That's why I pull the anthers off and put them in a centrifuge vial. With the vial closed, I can vibrate the tube and release the pollen. I can then collect it from the sides of the tube with a paint brush and apply it.

Yes, take the pollen from the first flower and pollinate the second flower, etc.

andynorth wrote: ↑Thu Jul 11, 2024 7:35 pm I only have one plant so can I save the pollen until the one I have flowers again?

Just for clarification… if you’re indicating that your plant still has unopened flowers, then yes, as Panman stated, you can simply keep that pollen until the very next flower in sequence opens and pollinate that new flower with it. However, if you’re indicating that your plant is completely done flowering, and you’re indicating the next flowering cycle, you can try keeping the pollen, but it may not be viable by then. I don’t know for how long the pollen will remain viable. Now I do know that with orchids I have heard of people storing pollen in the refrigerator or even the freezer for a few months until the next plant they wanted to pollinate has actually flowered, but I don’t know if this will work for heli pollen.

A few days. Watch the color of the anther. It will turn from a creamy yellow to a darker yellow/orange. At that point you can harvest the anthers and let them dry out. It will be easier to release the pollen then.

I just realized that I am responding to these questions like I am a definitive expert on the topic. For full disclosure, I have done this twice but was successful both times. This year I clipped my heli flower because it seemed to set the plant back last year.

Not that I know of.

Looks like a flower emerging from its sheath while the rest of the spike continues to elongate. At least with my heli, the flowers tend to be quite far apart.