The pollen viability of the aborted buds was considered as zero. To confirm the viability of the male gametophyte, artificial pollinations of the stigmata of flowers on WW plants with pollen of flowers from DS plants (WW × DS) and stigmata of flowers on DS plants with pollen of flowers from WW plants (DS × WW) were carried out. Pollination in each case was from the time of suspension of watering to anthesis of the last bud on tagged trusses after rewatering.