Nectar flow

[jezd]

Can anyone explain to me how nectar flow (plant wise) is altered by the weather specifically. I am assuming that its not simply happening all the time at a given level but fluctuates dramatically with the weather.

Sunny and warm - very good 'flow'

Cloudy and cool - poor 'flow'

Any by nectar flow are we talking about a phsyical increase in plant nectar production?

Cheers

Jez

 

[hedgerow pete]

wow what a question to ask here try gardeners question time on radio four

but this will help ish a little
a flower when it starts to open will produce nector and pollen, this will be in various quantities depending on its choosen pollinater, still with me?

now from the start of flowering the plant will produce a constant amount of necture and pollen to the end
so that is so far a choosen amount from start to finish dependant on its pollenator

now lets talk weather shall we
high humidity and high rain fall will prolong the time of production and dry will shorten it still there?
as soon as the flower has been polinated it will start to convert into a seed pod not a flower so pollen and nector will change to another flower and so on till every one is pollinated,
does you head hurt yet?

now lets just completly confuse you and lets turn al the rules around

inn a drought condition the plant will killoff flowers it does not want.
so a dry start will delay flower production till a time when it is not dry or the flower says s** it a drops the lot off and no seed pod will form
but also too wet will cause the flower to hold back to allow the water to drain
and to realy confuse you a flower if it is past its point of no return could well continue to the finsh and every over flower will have to wait

simple

 

[gavin]

Yeah, give plants relative warmth, humidity and dampness at the roots and you get more nectar.

Some need high temperatures more than anything (eg clover).

Oilseed rape can do it at lower temperatures but is still best at temperatures which are on the high side for its flowering time.

Dry roots kill the flow for most plants. Sycamore for example, I hear, this spring in some sites was great at streamsides but poor away from moisture.

Lime gives a great flow when you have damp soils, warmth and humid air. Oh, and plenty of flowers, which can change from one year to the next. Heather too, with a damp July setting things up for a good flow in August when the weather is right.

G.

 

[gavin]

Pete - yes, my head does hurt after that, but I don't agree with you!

Most flowers secrete nectar in 'good' conditions and dry up when they are less happy. If it all worked at a standard rate until the flower was finished then in good conditions there would be less of a flow as the flowers would get pollinated quickly.

Yes, flowers will 'wait' until conditions are right, as rain is a killer - for nectar sitting in the flower and it also directly destroys pollen. Some plants do well in the rain, and if the flowers are protected from showers (sycamore, lime) bees will continue to work them in the rain.

G.

 

[jezd]

thanks guys, exlpains why one day differs from the next, never realised plants could respond so quickly to conditions.

Jez

 

[hedgerow pete]

good for you gavin,

now put your way of describing a very complex nature technique forward, and dont forget all the varibles of weather mono culture dna , cross polination etc etc etc jezd has just asked a simple question which i have tried to answer as simple as posible .

dont agree fine then in your case i would have started my response with "yes pete but i also would say" or you could of started with" yes, and "
dont come out with black and white arguements unless you can help with jezd's answer, neither am i a botanist nor a farmer or a proffessional gardener. i have just tried to help rather than argue,

rant over now back to jezd

yes gavin has several very good points but basicly a plant or any plant has a fixed amount of stores which it will use for the production of pollen or necture and it is posible if you could get a set of tables from a botinist to work out the maxium possible crop/necture possible production, the bees on the other hand know differant, i have seen bees fly past what i thought was a massive draw for them to find something else instead, so they can be more attracted to some thing else as they flow we are thinking off is on they are somewhere else, but back to flowers