Camote selection NZ

[Richard Watson]

A question Mark, how long does it take you from flower fall off till seed maturity

[reed]

I have never paid good enough attention to answer that question for sure. I don't know why as it seems kind of important, but it does take a while. I'd say maybe a full month.

They do mature best and fastest in warm dry weather. Over the time of my working with them we have had weather go weird in August, three times. Twice over ten years it was weirdly cool, and damp, and they just wouldn't go ahead and dry down, a lot of seeds molded in the capsules. One year, August temperatures stayed normal, but it rained at least a little bit almost every day. That year a lot of seeds sprouted inside the still green capsules. I think in the future there will be good seed years and bad seed years, but seeds stay good in storage for a long time, so a good seed year makes up for the bad ones.

You don't have to let them fully mature on the plants. You can just take a cutting with the maturing capsules and keep it inside in water.





 

[Richard Watson]

I will take cuttings later when summer temps have finished. today will be around 30Cdeg but Sunday coming only 15deg, they will be the days the plastic goes over.

The seed stems are well over a month on the plant now.

[Richard Watson]

One step closer, next stage is to now get the seeds outa the thirteen pods found so far, the pods found are over the four flowering plants which is even better. Another positive is Ive managed seed in what has been the wettest and coolest summer in the 23 years of living here, look forward to a normal dry warm summer again and how that effects the growth.
I'm sure that I am the first man/woman in the South Island to have grown Ipomoea batatas seed. There was some breeding work done back in the 80's by a then government research department in the North Island



A good trim up and seed stems tied with white wool strips, interesting to note 12 on the east side in the below photo, one on the windy west side, you can tell our predominating wind by the grass in the back ground, there was no wind when the photo was taken. 

[Richard Watson]

Found two more seed stems, up to 15 now.

[Richard Watson]

Up to 20 stems found now.

Noticed that the stems were flowers about three months ago, that seems a longer time scale that what you get Mark, Im I right?

[Richard Watson]

Up to four seeds now. The way things are going I should end up with around 30+. All single seed pods

[Richard Watson]

Finished harvesting all the seed pods and ended up with 28 seeds, all from single pods. I now will sow hoping for at least 4 plants.

[reed]

Finished harvesting all the seed pods and ended up with 28 seeds, all from single pods. I now will sow hoping for at least 4 plants.

Great news, is that the most you have had so far? Do you mean you are going to sow them now? My season is just about to start, I have 12 "ornamental" clones kept over winter as house plants and 24 roots that I am getting ready to set in wet sand to make slips. So, 36 total individual plants sprouted from seed in the last three or four years but I'm going to go over my notes and try to slim that number down some.

It is supposed to cool off a bit next week, but we have had a stretch of pretty warm days, up to about 30 or so by your measure and quite a bit over our normal. Somebody finally sheared those poor sheep up the road, they look half the size they were and seem to be much happier.

[Richard Watson]

They are the only seed so far. I think I will wait till Aug when the tunnelhouse starts to warm again when I get try and sow the seed, I wont have enough room inside the house for seedlings and past seasons cuttings. The unheated tunnelhouse is not quite warm enough to keep cuttings alive during winter.

[Richard Watson]

Somebody finally sheared those poor sheep up the road, they look half the size they were and seem to be much happier.

Poor things, they must feel much better. Find out 11th May if I'll be not to far away from your neck of the woods

[Richard Watson]

Ive taken cuttings for wintering over, in the past cuttings slowly die in my unheated tunnelhouse, not that it freezes inside its that the temps are to low for them. So far this winter my cutting grown plants are looking really good, even have flowers on some. I think its because of the crossing of the local kumara strains, seem to be better adapted which also explains getting seed 

[Roland]

Plum Regal F5, maybe 6

i send u a pm about Plum Regal F5, can u give some more info in this toppic?

https://opensourceplantbreeding.org/forum/index.php/topic,125.msg11855.html#quickreply_anchor

[Richard Watson]

Seed sown 21 Aug. Ive also had single cutting make it through the winter inside the unheated single skin tunnelhouse. Coldest frost was -7degC but never froze inside.

[Richard Watson]

Another milestone past, first seeding up.