Abstract
Natural flowering and seed set in tanier (Xanthosoma spp.) is rare and limits improvement of the crop through hybridization. A study was conducted to induce uniform flowering with gibberelic acid (GA) in several species of Xanthosoma and to manually pollinate flowers to obtain true botanical seeds. Pollen and seed viability was also studied. Uniform flowering of plants was induced by foliar applications of a 500 mg/L solution of GA. Successful pollinations produced fruits that ripened in about 45 days and resulted in the production of 12 FT hybrid combinations and three selfed pollinations. Germination rates of tanier seeds always exceed 85% after a storage of more than 7 months at 8 ± °C and 80% relative humidity. Viability tests showed that pollen stored at 8 ± °C and 80% relative humidity could remain viable for about 8 days; however, the storage period was strongly dependent on pathogen interaction with the pollen grain.