Hi John,
Sure, a couple ideas. First you want to cut open the arborea pod parent flower very early, while it is still green and in the calyx, and remove the anthers before they fluff up with pollen. Otherwise you might have a self-fertilization (common with arborea)and wrongly think it was the cross you were attempting. There are a few "flavas" out there that look just like arboreas, and I suspect this might have been what happened.
Second, pay close attention to the timing of your pollen harvest from the sanguinea parent. You want to harvest the pollen when it's just barely reached it's prime, when it is fluffy & fat.
Third, for the actual pollination, you can reopen that arborea just before it would normally mature and pollinate it then, while it is most receptive.
Also try pollinating in the very early hours of the day or in the evening after sundown. Some have even reported their best success pollinating in the dark with a headlamp!
Since arboreas are sooo self-fertile sometimes, you want to do that first step to some control flowers that do not actually receive any pollen at all. None of these controls should develop pods. This wil help you establish that you were able to successfully remove the anthers early enough not to get self-pollination, which is often tough to do.
Tom H.
Marysville, WA Zone 8a
I talked to Illie Gacheu, the brug expert @ Strybing & he said he has had trouble getting sang pollen to take with arboreas. Any thoughts?
