do nasturtiums cross pollinate

[jaimie]

Hi all

I planted some 'MILKMAID' very pale yellow nasturtiums this year and I am thinking of saving some seeds. Do they cross pollinate so have to be confined tunder a fleece to fend off insects, or do they not. They are not F1s so should breed true if they don't cross pollinate. If they do cross then I'll just have to buy some fresh seed next year and try again.

Thanks for any input.

[Two_Sheds]

They do.
I try to save only the dark reds, but every year I still get orange

[jaimie]

Thanks for your reply Two Sheds. It's as I feared!

I assume they are insect pollinated so if I put a bag of some kind over the chosen flowers would that work. I expect I would have to pollinate them by hand. Something to bear in mind for next year.

PS Just looked at your allotment video. Brilliant. Very interesting.

[Two_Sheds]

I got a dark red!
It's the only nasturtium that's survived so far. I'm going to continue weeding out the yellow & orange ones as they appear.