Starting seed pods by hand

Pollinating a frangipani/plumeria flower by hand.

For those wanting to induce seed pods the following is a simple way to do it.

To start with you need to use something that will go down the throat of the flower without damaging it or its internal parts, I prefer fishing line as it is thin and still has enough strength to push into it without bending plus doesn’t cause damage. I use 3 different strengths, 15 lb, 20 lb & 25 lb,  plus I have 2 slightly different lengths in each and I attach them to a tooth pick as per the pics(glued and wrapped with cotton  then clear nail polish to waterproof it) so it’s easier to grip & spin.

The two following pics show what I use to do this(fishing line set ups) plus a pic of the internal parts of a frangipani. The line need to go between the anthers and preferably not touching the stigma.

All you need to do is insert the fishing line down the throat of the flower and twist it in your fingers a few times so that it spins and hits the anthers releasing the pollen onto the stigma. If your timing is right you will see a pod developing within a couple of weeks. I repeat this process every 2 weeks to make sure I can identify the best time, recording the dates as well as the results if a pod sets. Once the pod starts to grow it will increase in size fairly quickly then slow down once it has reached a reasonable size, usually within a few months so that it is strong enough to over winter then it will grow  more till around 9 months after the day it was started when the  ripe pod splits open to reveal its progeny. I remove the pod from the tree as soon as it starts to split(or you can put a stocking/mesh bag over it to catch the seeds) and I let it open fully in a dry warm place then remove all the seeds and throw out any that are not viable(flat, brittle), I plant the rest or give them away as fresh seeds germinate a lot better. The amount of seed depends on the individual plant and the size of the pod, I have had as few as 5 viable ones and as many as 50 plus from each pod. While in most cases you will get a double pod occasionally you can get a single pod as well, recently I even saw a triple pod. Getting that first seed pod is a pretty good feeling, especially when you know that you had a hand in it.

While I use fishing line you can use anything that will fit down the throat of the flower although it needs to be soft enough not to cause damage or the sap flow will stop the process, for this reason I do not recommend wire. metal or rigid objects.