Artificial pollination experiment for intraspecific hybrid in Camellia reticulata at pre-flowering stage

In order to improve the hybrid techniques in Camellia reticulata,2 898 flowers from 50 sampling trees in 5 types of typical forests were randomly selected as test materials,and artificial pollination was done by the same heterologous pollens at 1-3 days,7-10 days and 15-20 days before flowering by using the segregated stigmas method with adhesive plaster,the possibility of artificial pollination for C.reticulata at the pink bud stage and the optimal pollination period was researched.The fruit-setting rate was counted at the beginning of June when the fruit-setting was stable.The results indicate that there are very significant differences between fruit setting rates at different pollination periods(P 0.01).The most effective pollination period is 1-3 days before flowering,and the highest fruit-setting of single plant reach 100% and the average level is(58.35±3.64)%.Thus intraspecific hybridization for C.reticulata should be done in 1-3 days before flowering.