the demand for ficus diversity

[Epiphyte]

Aside from the hypergraphia (with concomitant unconventional thought association?) : are you sure grafting tells you anything about hybrid compatibility? I can think of many plants that can be grafted together, but cannot fertilize eachother, or create viable hybrids. I think your project of attempting to cross different species of Ficus is very interesting, and well worth the effort, but checking (and waiting) to see if a graft takes first probably won't tell you anything useful, especially as performing the pollination sounds pretty straightforwards. Why not just try the pollination, and see if viable fruit are set?

if i had the pollen then i'd definitely put it to good use. but even my friends who are serious ficus collectors don't have very many dioecious species. you probably missed it, but i donated that ficus tannoensis in the pot to the la arboretum.

all else being equal, if two species graft unequally well onto carica, then i'll prioritize the growing and fruiting of the more compatible species, given my limited resources. it's still surprising to me that auriculata and carica are cross-compatible but not graft compatible. it's an interesting exception to this rule...

In general, the species which produce hybrid progenies, or at least hybrid seeds, can be grafted successfully onto each other. Vice versa, where the interspecific grafts die off, hybridization is usually impossible. - George Addison and Rosendo Tavares, Hybridization and Grafting in Species of Theobroma Which Occur in Amazonia

since you're in finger lakes, if you happen to be friends with summer raynes, please have her share this thread with her bff chad husby at fairchild botanic gardens. i'm sure he's got quite a bit of dioecious ficus pollen that could be put to good use.

 

[vesper818]

to this thread i have to apologize in advance for all the ads...

That's funny...I'm signed in on my phone, and don't see any ads.

 

[Epiphyte]

That's funny...I'm signed in on my phone, and don't see any ads.

when you're signed in there are far fewer ads compared to when you're signed out. none of the half dozen or so people i sent this thread to are members.