The Effect of Flower Age, Time of Day and Variety on Pollen Germination of Onion, Allium cepa L.1

Abstract Onion pollen of 2 different parents, B12115C and B2215C, was collected at 9:00 am and 2:30 pm from flowers at approximately 1, 3, and 6 days after anthesis. This was germinated in hanging drops of a sucrose-gelatin medium. The percentage of pollen germination from B12115C was significantly higher than the percentage from B2215C. There was no significant difference in germination between pollen collected and germinated in the morning versus pollen collected and germinated in the afternoon. The results also show a linear relationship between pollen age and pollen germination. The ability to germinate declined rapidly after the first day and approached zero by the sixth day after anthesis. Hand pollination and style studies indicate that onion pollen tubes are capable of growing the entire length of the style, a distance of approximately 4 mm, in 24 hr.