Recent posts

#51

OSSI / Re: NEW PROCESS FOR OSSI-PLEDG...

Last post by William Schlegel - 2026-07-26, 03:00:15 PM

Neat! I kind of remember something from the newsletter but this sounds interesting.

#52

Tomatoes / Re: Montana Tomato Project

Last post by William Schlegel - 2026-07-24, 07:37:45 PM

Interesting tomato combination!

#53

Tomatoes / Re: Montana Tomato Project

Last post by Jade Arrowleaf - 2026-07-24, 01:47:04 PM

...fruit from seed in 90 days with adverse conditions.  Antho shoulders, larger fruit(still fas) and appeared SI with every flower exserted.  ...progress toward a fast and productive line for the farmer's market adapted to my situation.

Harvested first fruit of the season from one of these f2 plants.  110 days from seed, quite different conditions.  Seems less antho and most fruits smaller this generation but close to every flower exserted so far.  This one still so mutated that it enveloped the petals/sepals which left these stripe marks on the blossom-end.

#54

OSSI / NEW PROCESS FOR OSSI-PLEDGING ...

Last post by Carol Deppe - 2026-07-23, 01:34:20 PM

Friends, there is a new fast on-line process for Pledging varieties. And you can Pledge multiple varieties with one form.

Go to https://osseeds.org/ossi-variety-pledge-form/ .
Fill out the form. Send it. You will receive an immediate confirmation that your variety has been Pledged. Your variety will usually be up on the website Variety/Seed page within a week or two. And we announce your variety in OSSI Update, which is sent to the entire OSSI mailing list.

We have mostly already transitioned to the new process. However, we have not sorted out how to add new breeders names to the master list, so if you are Pledging your first variety you can look it up by variety name, crop, species, or pledging date but not by breeder's name. Bear with us. We'll fix it. We also haven't yet taught the Variety/Seed page program to automatically update the total numbers in each category. There are now more than 600 Pledged varieties.

The criteria for Pledging are all listed in the Affirmations paragraph in the on-line Pledging Agreement form.

I suggest you write your variety description and breeding history for each variety to be pledged before you start filing out the form, as that is what takes time.

You already know all about the new Pledging process if you are on the OSSI mailing list. If you aren't why not? Go to the OSSI website and sign up.

Carol Deppe, Chair,
OSSI Board of Directors

#55

Tomatoes / Re: Better combinaison for get...

Last post by Roland - 2026-07-22, 01:16:47 PM

This publication is of poor quality. It fails to mention the names of the parental lines or specify which parents were used for each cross. Consequently, there is no way to verify if entirely different varieties and crosses were actually being compared.

#56

Tomatoes / Re: Better combinaison for get...

Last post by Tim DH - 2026-07-22, 12:43:42 AM

I agree Roland,
That's a very curious presumption to make. Does it mean that individual three way X hybrids were 'most uniform' with themselves (unlikely, I'd expect that to be the single X hybrids) OR that all the three way X hybrid as a group were 'most uniform' (unlikely, I'd expect that to be the double X hybrids group.

From my perspective, the most interesting thing I can glean from the data is that the most productive single X Hybrid (true F1s) out yielded the most productive parent by 191%. The most productive three way X hybrid out yielded the most productive parent by 134% and the most productive double X hybrid out yielded the most productive parent by 118%

Just to confirm that. ... The least productive F1 out yielded the least productive parent by 199%

So my take away point would be. ...

If you are interested in (almost) doubling the productivity of your favourite Open Pollinated varieties start making F1s! !! !!!

#57

Tomatoes / Re: Better combinaison for get...

Last post by Roland - 2026-07-21, 10:49:08 AM

As expected, three-way cross hybrids were most uniform followed by double cross hybrids.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/290428271_Performance_of_single_double_and_three-way_cross_hybrids_in_tomato_Lycopersicon_esculentum_Mill

Why as expected?

#58

Tomatoes / Re: Better combinaison for get...

Last post by Adrian - 2026-07-20, 03:23:10 PM

Thankyou Alex, Steph S and Tim DH
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/290428271_Performance_of_single_double_and_three-way_cross_hybrids_in_tomato_Lycopersicon_esculentum_Mill

I have found this report. Infortunately crossed two F1 seem not very efficient.

#59

Grains / Re: Breeing Barley with Slende...

Last post by Carol Deppe - 2026-07-20, 02:46:17 PM

Welcome to the forum, Matt.

Whether an interspecific or other wide cross succeeds or not can depend a lot on the particular strains, varieties, populations, and even particular individual plants involved. It can also depend on which plant is used as the female parent. So one thing you might do is spread your efforts by trying crosses involving as many different strains and individual plants as possible from the two varieties. And always try each cross in both directions.

Wide crosses are more likely to succeed if the parents are each genetically heterogeneous instead of homogeneous.

Sometimes self-incompatibility mechanisms break down if the plant has had none of its flowers fertilized. My guess is this might also be true of the incompatibility mechanisms between species. That is, I would guess that all incompatibility mechanisms are the plant's Plan A. But there is also a Plan B where the plant says, "#$%! If I can't get the pollen I love, I'll love the pollen I can get!" Most plants have a small but significant tendency toward chromosome doublings. Meaning many accidental interspecific crosses can lead to new species in one generstion, where fertile branches with doubled chromosomes are sectors on the accidental hybrids. So one approach might be to do the hand pollinations on sexually deprived plants with possibly lower standards.

Another approach might be to use a bridge species. That is, find a species that both your two desired parent species will cross to. Ideally without your having to do embryo rescue.

#60

Sweet Potatoes / Re: Breeding Sweet Potatoes (t...

Last post by reed - 2026-07-20, 02:33:09 PM

Just uploaded another little update about my sweet potatoes.