Since humanity began to cultivate its own plants, it has always been selecting those that give better quality and greater quantity of fruits or those that had greater resistance to pests and/or diseases. Currently, thanks to the particular »boom» of ornamental plants, great importance is also attached to the selection of the most beautiful specimens .
To do this, specimens are being hybridized to obtain even more striking species. But how do they do it?
Before getting into the matter, let’s see what the word “hybrid” means. Well, you have surely heard or read this word in various places. It is a being that comes from the cross between two species belonging to the same or different genus (which is identified by the first word of the plant’s scientific name). For example, we could cross Prunus dulcis (almond) with Prunus cerasifera (cherry) to obtain a Prunus with characteristics of both almond and cherry. For a particular level, these crosses are the easiest to make, but if we had the right material we could cross two different plants, yes, belonging to the same family.
This time I am going to advise you on the first, that is, on how to make your own hybrids easily and without complications.
To do this you need to know the scientific name of the two plants you want to cross. If the genus is the same, all you have to do is wait for both to flower. Once the flowers are wide open, with a small paintbrush or a cotton swab from the ears, pass it through one flower, and immediately after the other. To increase the chances of success, you can put the two plants in an unventilated room, and perform this action.
In the case of palm trees or trees of a considerable size, what is usually done is, after having pollinated the flowers, to cover the bunch of flowers with a transparent bag until we see that the fruits are ripening.
That easy! 😉
