Chris,
Yes the flower will almost be open the day before, the petals are straight up and down but have not dropped to their final position. Go in at that time and pull of the pollen bearing anthers with fine tweezers on the pod parent.
Lynn, yes the maternal parent often has a greater effect on the plant characteristics but most genes will be inherited from both parents. And i thought you might be my first customer for the 10" cobweb, especially since the leaves will be BLACK. Do I have you yet? I feel like a drug pusher somehow. Of course you know I have it bad as I cross everything in my yard as I have to know "just how they are inherited" or "I bet I can make this better".
You might want to pot up a few blooming ones so you can study the flower parts and do the crosses at your leisure. Just put them in a sunny window and cross like crazy. In the house you won't have to cover the plants either.
Good luck.
Kevin
