Topics

1

Cucurbits / Cucurbita lundelliana bridge

« on: 2021-03-17, 01:11:16 PM »

After some discussion in the interspecies squash thread I decided to try recreating some of the lundelliana hybrids.  Should be fun.  Just received some seed, germination rate is 20%, fairly typical for the species which requires either leaching, acid treatment, or seed coat removal to get better percentages.  It should be possible to achieve a population combining moschata, maxima, argyospermia, and pepo this way.  While it’s possible to make F1s that have some male fertility with ficifolia, according to Whitaker these are ultimately dead ends.

2

Plant Breeding / Goji

« on: 2021-02-25, 12:43:35 PM »

Anybody else growing goji from seed?  I have a 4 year old seedling from JLHudson “large leaf” but the leaves do not approach the 5 inch size of the mother.  For me selection goals would be large leaves, vigor, and non-invasive growth habit.  What’s interesting about the “large leaf” cultivar is its L. barbarum which typically is the berry species while the leaf species is chinense.  I’ve noticed though that the chinense leaves I’ve tasted have a funky solanaceous sort of flavor while the barbarum, at least this seedling, is much more palatable.  Chinense leaves do tend to be larger but I haven’t seen one with 5 inch leaves.  I received a few seed from the “amber” cultivar which is supposed to have very nice berries.

3

Plant Breeding / Seed or ovule culture contracting

« on: 2020-09-05, 12:13:14 PM »

To increase the chance of success in wide crosses it’s necessary often to do ovule or embryo culture.  Reed for example did a bunch of pollinations just to get a few seed of Ipomoea batatas x pandurata.  They may not sprout but can probably be cultured.  What is the best way is amateur breeders can seek out tissue culturists to assist with this?

4

Legumes / Phaseolus lunatus x polystachios

« on: 2020-06-04, 07:06:03 PM »

This is an allopolyploid cross originally done in Florida in the 70s.  Last year a friend sent me four seeds.  The mother was Fordhook lima.  I’m still evaluating it, not sure if it’s hardy in the ground but it’s definitely perennial. .  It’s worth trying to cross it back to either parent, especially if unreduced gametes can be formed.

Polystachios in the left, lunastachyus right

5

Cucurbits / Drying squash

« on: 2020-04-28, 01:49:35 PM »

Is anyone selecting squash for drying ala Goldini.  Carol Deppe says fresh and dry flavor are very distinct so have to be selected for somewhat independently.   I’m thinking of trying with tromboncino for pest resistance, pepo is hit or miss here.  Could also bring some of the Korean summer moschata in the mix.  This would be an interesting  offshoot project for some of those pepo inter species crosses being posted about.

6

Sweet Potatoes / Common flowering cultivars

« on: 2020-04-20, 12:48:26 PM »

Of the “common” sweet potatoes are there any particularly good mothers?  I’m going to try to hand pollinate with pandurata pollen and want to make sure that the space I devote to batatas will flower.

7

Plant Breeding / “Laws/rules” or tendencies in hybridization

« on: 2019-04-24, 04:31:58 PM »

I thought it would be fun to have a thread about observations that have been made by hybridizers.  It’s not meant to be overly scientific, and non-“validated” observations are welcome.  With biology, we don’t really deal in “laws” or “rules”, and there is by nature A LOT of contingency with these phenomena, but I can’t think of a better word right now.  Darwin recorded a lot of these types of observations as he was in frequent contact with breeders of plants and animals.

I’ll start — Haldanes rule:
“When in the F1 offspring of two different animal races one sex is absent, rare, or sterile, that sex is the heterozygous sex (heterogametic sex).”

Of course its something many of us are aware of in making wide crosses, the males are frequently sterile initially.  But this can be potentially worked out in further generations.  Joseph’s interspecific landraces are a great example.