Ipomoea batatas - breeding of Sweet Potato - Camote - New Zealand

[reed]

Gees the flowers dont stay on very long do they, hand pollinated the two flowers twice, so now wait and see if I was successful

I forgot to mention that but no they don't. It depends on the weather too, a hot dry morning and they might only last a couple hours. Cooler or cloudy they might stay till afternoon. And how long they stay varies from plant to plant.  Also when they open, some might be open at daylight and some wait a little bit.

Hey, while ya got them inside away form bees you could maybe identify any self compatible ones. You still have to pollinate them too I think cause of how the flower is arranged.

[Richard Watson]

That's interesting, the first two flowers were open for two days. I'm not going to know the self compatible ones because I'll going around and pollinating all the flowers

[reed]

The same flower stayed open for two days? That's amazing, I bet it's cause they are protected inside. Or have you taken them out already?

Have any that you pollinated dropped the flower leaving the stigma still there? That's the sign I think, that pollination was successful. Seems to me they tend most often to drop off almost immediately after pollination otherwise they just kind of wilt away and fall off leaving nothing but the stem.

[Richard Watson]

Yep, in fact the first flower on Bbcuzzie still on and that must be 5 days now, they are still inside, tempted to keep them there so I can keep working on the flowers, in the mean time ive been taking cuttings,they can be planted outside so I will allow them to be taken advantage of by the bees.

[Richard Watson]

Just noticed in the first of the Kumara flowers that there's heaps of pollen sitting in the bottom of the flower, so that is handy for when the brush is used, shame its the only flower at the moment, how long is the pollen viable if it was still on the brush

[reed]

I ain't got even a guess on how long the pollen is viable, I suspect not long. You could try pollinating that same flower. Be interesting to know if it is self compatible.

Are their there any little capsules developing on the prior flowers?

[Richard Watson]

I ain't got even a guess on how long the pollen is viable, I suspect not long. You could try pollinating that same flower. Be interesting to know if it is self compatible.

I'll give it a go and see if it is self compatible, wouldn't think it as there is no history of seed in the past, though Chris reckons it could be a mutation of Owairaka Red,

Are their there any little capsules developing on the prior flowers?

No not yet, but they haven't dropped off so maybe that's a good sign

[Richard Watson]

[reed]

A spent but not pollinated flower generally just falls off so yep, I'd say that's a very good sign.

When you say Kumara you mean your local cloned ones, not the ones from my seeds?

[Richard Watson]

Yes I will refer to Kumara as the NZ clones. Interesting though the Kumara flower wont make the end of the day, looked lovely at 8.00am, looking weltered at now 3.00pm.

[Richard Watson]

First two flowers I tried to hand pollinate drop off, oh well, keep trying.

[reed]

First two flowers I tried to hand pollinate drop off, oh well, keep trying.

Well shucks, but I'm not worried, ya still got a lot more season to go. I feel pretty confident you'll get seeds this year.

[Richard Watson]

yep should do. Everything is in the garden now, they were outdoing there pots, so thought bugger ya, you may as well go out. Fulled up the rest of the 6metre bed with lots of cuttings. Chris's kumara had a tuber growing.

[Richard Watson]

reed- question- when you grew in tubs/large pots, did you feed them with anything?. Had someone ask me about growing in pots and where letting them send there roots out the bottom into the ground.

[reed]

reed- question- when you grew in tubs/large pots, did you feed them with anything?. Had someone ask me about growing in pots and where letting them send there roots out the bottom into the ground.

No I don't feed them and I don't worry much about what I fill the pots with*, it's just dirt I take from the garden mixed with rough compost or more likely just some weeds I scraped up. Feeder roots do exit the pots into the ground so it's important not to move them once established and if the pots have drain holes around the sides to make sure those are buried.

They do very well  that way and the pots don't have to be large. Makes harvest super easy, just dump them out. Also gets them up off the ground, a little safer from rabbits. And it helps me select for the clump root trait  I like. If the big roots are all in the pot that's what I want and I'll keep a couple to clone the next year. If they formed off the feeder roots under or around the pot where I have to dig a lot looking for them em we just eat them all.

*I may be changing that this year. Up till now I'v mainly been concerned with seeds and figured feeding might be counterproductive to that. Now I have lots to clone and lots of seeds in back up so thinking it might be time to encourage maximum production and see if they also still make abundant seeds.