Hi,
C.moschata can be currantly white, ocher color, green and can rarely take orange after the degradation of the green.
The blue color is possible for you?
For this project i can tried to crossed one of my F2 of -(((violino rugosa x Waltham)F2) x (violina x tetsukabuto))F2
-Some of my F2 between violina x waltham
-Blue kury
Some of my maximoss between blue kury and tetsukabuto
I feel like the biggest issue to introgression of blue/grey skin from maxima into moschata is the difficulty in maintaining the trait all the way into a plant that seems otherwise mostly/completely moschata, rather than looking like a hybrid. Not saying it can't be done, but that seems like the most difficult part of the premise, especially if the 'blue' is a recessive trait to something like tan/buff/green. The pollen-infertility of these hybrids seems like it makes things VERY difficult to back-cross and maintain the color without introducing more maxima genes.
Recessive traits make selection super easy. Because once you select for a trait, it remains stable until cross pollination happens. Dominant traits make selection difficult, because they might not show up next year.
Can i use a maxima parent as female or the cross sens is more efficient if the female is moschata?
The maxima plants are located at shadow.
What must be the weather and conditions for improve my lucks of interspecific cross?
This sounds like a really cool project! The strong waxy bloom that many moschatas develop on their fruits may add a nice touch, too. In fact, moschata cultivars with dark green immature fruits look quite bluish to me once the wax is there and the green hasn't gone yet (e. g. 'Black Futsu', 'Kogigu' etc.).
Does anyone know what makes 'Blue Kuri' and similar maximas look this bluish grey? I think wax and air play a role there, too.
I think it's more common to use maxima as the female parent and it might increase your success rate a bit, but in my experience both directions work rather well with many different cultivars. I think it boils down to the question of which species you want the cytoplasmic DNA in your project to be (which should be inherited solely by the mother). Or which plants look healthier and more likely to give a good amount of well-developed seeds ...
I think among academics it's generally considered easier to do the C. max X C. moschato wide crosses using the max as female parent. However, whenever someone has practical experience that says otherwise, I go with the practical over academic every time.
As to what conditions are best to get wide crosses to work--
Here in maritime Oregon, we get a surprising number of spontaneous wide crosses that people work very hard to get elsewhere. I speculate that this is because the mechanisms that prevent crosses between species often depend upon rates. So the alien species pollen takes longer to germinate than pollen from the right species. And the pollen tubes are slower to grow down the styles. Or the signals from the ova saying "Here, pollen tubes, this way to immortality!" aren't understood by the alien pollen tube, and it wanders around instead of growing straight to the ova...but sometimes finds the ova ultimately. But in most cases the stigma and style dry up and die before the alien pollen has time enough to germinate and grow down the style and find the ova. But in Oregon in spring the conditions are often mild and a bit moist but not wet, and the stigmas and styles live way longer than elsewhere. Corn pollen may pollinate corn up to about three days after it is shed, for example, while in the corn belt the pollen usually dies the same day it is shed.
So I'd say look for weather conditions that are moist but not wet and mild temperatures. And take into account that all crosses go better on the first one or two flowers on each vine, where no other bud has already been pollinated and the growing fruit is suppressing competitors. You will probably be able to tell about when the stigmas and styles are dead just by looking at them after a bit of looking.
Unfortunately the blue varietys was a fail this year.
On 3 plant:
1 was has the roots asphyxiates by the rains of season started.
A second growed two weeks later tryes to make male flowers but it don't have a sufficient vigor for giving fruits.
The third sowed in jully is very vigorous and runner but it giving one ramification at each internode without male and females flowers.
This project will probably reportee for later.
Ok for this year i think to used blue kury x tetsukabuto F1 as female plant for put a pollen of plants 3/4 moschata: (violino rugosa x Waltham) x (violino rugosa x tetsukabuto) F3.
I hope that it will be a sucess!
I have polinisated a blue x green maxima fruit with pollen of (violina x waltham) x (violina x tetsukabuto)F3 and the fruit seem get fat.
I donnt know if a bees has polluted the croce but i will tried sow again the seeds.
Picture1: Fruit of (violina x waltham) x (violina x tetsukabuto)F3
(https://opensourceplantbreeding.org/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;attach=6876;image)
Picture 2:fruit fecondated with (violina x waltham) x (violina x tetsukabuto)F3 who has accepted to get fat.
Picture 3: fruit soon mature on this plant.
I hope really that my crossbreeding will take.The project blue moschata will may started.
I have noted that the croce with distant pollen are more efficient when the female flower is pollinisated ont mid day before opened.A distant pollen has more long time to germinated.
Someone has tried this method?
Unfortunately the most part of the seeds seem flats.
Alone 2 seeds seem partially full.
If some seeds can germinated i will retrocrossed with (violino rugosa x waltham) x (violino rugosa x tetsukabuto)f2.
The alone viable seed was sowed with tree seeds of (violina x waltham) x (violina x tetsukabuto)F2
I hope rhat they will germinated.
Blue kury was probably crossed with one of my F3 between (violina x waltham) x (violina x Tetsukabuto) the last year.
Its a great day for started the blue moschata project!
(https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/uploads/landracegardening/original/3X/4/9/49bddeb20cfdd9e87ac2e200bdffb517a5b8ce6d.jpeg)
(https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/uploads/landracegardening/original/3X/7/4/74f8e28a7960a737b0f7e21aa9778cb54d9c7d41.jpeg)
(https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/uploads/landracegardening/original/3X/7/d/7d9bb900836b4376b0b68045b08922a9c6fb34bd.jpeg)
Keep us posted, i look forward to see how this pans out.