Oleanders are a tireless flowering plant: in good conditions - i.e. warm and sunny weather - the shrub blooms with numerous delicate flowers between May and October. Like every flower-forming plant, the oleander naturally strives to form seed pods and thus multiply. The hobby breeder can use this property both for propagation and for breeding their own varieties.
Oleander pods contain countless seeds
Pollinate oleander flowers
But before the oleander can produce fruit, the flowers must first be fertilized. The flowers of the plant are hermaphrodite, i. H. both female and male. Theoretically, self-pollination is possible, but it is more likely when two different oleanders exchange genetic information - this is also necessary, for example, to obtain new varieties. Normally, fertilization takes place via animals or insects, but the hobby breeder can also do this task by hand. All you need is a brush, which you can use to transfer pollen from one flower to another as soon as the flower buds open.
Create good conditions for the pods to ripen
The formation of the pods will not be crowned with success every summer, because the oleander needs a lot of sun and warmth for this. In rather cool and rainy summers, the flowering can therefore fail. In addition, the seed pods usually take quite a long time to mature - German summers are often too short for this process. However, you can artificially extend the warm season by moving the oleander to a warm and bright winter garden - do not forget to install additional plant lamps. The pods are ready to harvest as soon as they turn brown and burst open on the long side.
Collect and sow seeds
The brownish seeds contained therein have - similar to the seeds of the dandelion - small umbrellas, because oleander seeds are distributed with the help of the wind in the environment. However, you remove the seeds from the pods and proceed as follows:
- Soak the seeds in lukewarm water overnight.
- Then sow them in a shallow seed tray with fresh, nutrient-poor seed substrate.
- A substrate based on coconut fibers is ideal for this purpose.
- Moisten seeds and substrate
- and keep both moist for the next few weeks.
- Cover the bowl with cling film to increase humidity.
- Place the seed tray in a bright and warm place.
If all goes well, the seeds will germinate within a few weeks.
tips
Keep in mind that developing the pods takes a lot of energy from the plant, which in turn is at the expense of flowering.