I'm thrilled to announce that I have a seed pod on Midnight Marvel due to microwaving the pollen. I did two flowers and only one took. As some of you know there are a few hardy hibiscus that are not self fertile and MM is one of them. I had great results with microwaving pollen on another plant that is not self fertile, Albuca spiralis so I decided to try it on MM and I'll definitely be trying this on other plants that are not self fertile.
I don't understand how microwaving pollen from plants that are not self fertile works, but it know it works from experience.
Here is the method - you need a microwave that allows you to adjust the wattage.
Collect pollen from the flower you want to pollinate and put it in a small container suitable for a microwave. Adjust the wattage down to 400 watts and microwave the pollen for about 15 seconds.
Add fresh pollen from the plant, mix it with the microwaved pollen and hand pollinate your flower. You'll know in about a week whether or not it took.
I'd really love for others to try this method on other non-self fertile hibiscus like Plum Crazy.
