Hi! I wanted to let some seed pod grow in Stella de Oro but it seems I can't. Pods are aborted.
I have some problem going on with chlorosis and/or some other factor but the plants keep on growing new foliage; but Stella aborts its pod. Pods can be aborted if pollinated with a not compatible pollen right? These are bee pollinated. Or could it be related to other problems with mineral deficiencies?
Many thanks!

Yes pods will be aborted if the pollen is not compatible. However, Stella de Oro is self-compatible so it should not abort pods produced from any diploid pollen because of incompatibility. It will abort pods that were produced from tetraploid pollen. It presumably will abort pods if the temperatures are too high or it is too dry, etc.

we are having pretty high temps (for our standard at least, its 35°C - 95°F) and maybe a bit dry, I have to check the soil. Many thanks!

My Stella is always covered in bee pods that grow successfully. I never really give it enough water, nor do I ever fertilize it. It also needs to be divided badly! But, it always has lots of pods.

Cross posted, Sabrina. We've had excessive temps this year too, with 21 days in a row between 100 and 115, and more 100s here and there. I didn't have as many pods this year as last, probably because of the heat, but I have harvested many this year.

I'm afraid it's almost time to divide my Stella, I don't even know where to start from.
The pods set in the past days, so I don't know if it's a temperature related problem. I found very few pods while my neighbours had tons of pods, but I didn't looked if there are fresh new pods. Mine also started to bloom later then hers and was not so full of flowers.
Anyway, the only pods I wanted to let grow aborted!

cross posted again lol! yes hot and dry with no rain and no change in the temperature!

Mine should have been divided when we bought this place two years ago. It came with the house, and the clump is massive. I've just been afraid to attempt it! Plus, there are all those pods that I want to save. Makes it a hard decision as to when to dig it up, but it has to be done this year. Just waiting for the heat to go down some, and if I lose some pods, I'll be okay with that.

I thought clumps were to divide in early spring... or at least it's something I think I remember. But the problem is still the same where, no enough space for many new plants. I can't wait to buy a new home but it won't happen soon

I have three clumps of Stella. They are too big and need to be divided badly. They barely bloom, only a few scapes toward the outside edge of the clumps and they do not rebloom at all anymore.

If a clump is too big and is not blooming well anymore and one does not have enough planting space one can always divide it and only plant one of the portions back into the same location (after amending the soil, fertilizing, etc.) and compost the other portions.

I feel bad at the idea of "throwing away" some DLs! but I guess it will be necessary. How big are yours (more or less) Natalie and Maurice?

How big are yours (more or less)

The clumps are about 60 cm. (2 feet) wide and the largest fans in the clumps are about 5 mm. (less than a quarter of an inch) wide at the surface of the soil.

Mine are about the same size that Maurice has. Mine are still reblooming, but barely. I think I have two rebloom scapes right now. Maybe more that haven't bloomed, but I didn't look that closely. Two years ago there were a massive amount of blooms, and just as many reblooms. It is time for me to take care of the plant and divide it.

I have always divided early in fall/autumn, just as it is starting to cool down some. My feeling is that they get settled in before winter, and I'm not disturbing them in the spring, so that they have a better chance of blooming. I've never lost any doing it this way.

Mine produced allot of pods this year. So far I have harvested 35 viable seeds.

Mine are that big too. I will consider dividing them, it may be the right time to put some good natural manure in the soil. I'm really new at gardening so I freak out about almost everything

Stella is reebloming, the new blooms are on shorter scapes and stays somehow hidden by the leaves. I may take a pic tomorrow in the morning.

Do Stella seeds grow true?

gargoyl52 said:Do Stella seeds grow true?

I don't think so, or at least this is a rule for every plant (as far as I know). You can't be sure it will look the same as the mother plant. I saw a video on youtube, a nice woman had a beautiful DL born from Stella seed, it had yellow petals with red throat. That's why I wanted to keep some seeds. Stella is a nice plant, it blooms and reblooms and has a portament I like much, it would be interesting havin a similar plant.

Whether you can safely divide in fall versus spring depends on your climate. It's risky here in USDA Zone 4 but not necessarily so in milder winter areas.

Re nutrients, a high soil pH affects the availability of most micronutrients. Daylilies seem somewhat prone to manganese deficiency (similar symptoms to iron chlorosis) and manganese deficiency in other plants can negatively affect fertility. For example grain yield of corn (maize) is depressed while growth is less so, fewer pollen grains are produced and pollen germination rates are low. Also in corn, zinc deficiency (another micronutrient) decreases pollen viability. In cereal grains, deficiency of another micronutrient, copper, causes inhibition of anther formation, smaller number of pollen grains produced per anther, and non-viability of pollen (partly due to lack of carbohydrate supply to developing pollen). Another, boron, is essential for pollen tube growth - low boron inhibits flowering and development of seed, and may result in seeds with low boron content. Low boron content seeds have low germination rate and a high percentage of resulting seedlings may be abnormal. This info is from the book "Mineral Nutrition of Higher Plants", Horst Marschner, Second Edition, 2002, Academic Press. So to answer the question, a nutrient deficiency caused by high pH can cause low fertility but whether that's the problem in this case I don't know. Stella produces lots of "bee pods" here.

It may be worth considering that amending with manure won't necessarily lower the soil pH.

Yeah, only seeds from true species grow true. I tried crossing my ruby spider with my Stella but no luck on viable seeds so far.

I divided my plants successfully in zone 5a as well, so I think timing is critical in the colder zones. I can do it a little later here, but not a lot later.

@gargoyl52, you aren't going to get seeds from crossing Ruby Spider with Stella. Ruby Spider is a tet, and Stella is a dip.