Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Oct 8, 2014 13:18:00 GMT -5
Before the 2013 growing season I received a cultivar of corn from South America that captured my imagination: The endosperm was brightly orange colored. I was told it's because it has high concentrations of carotenes. I have been daydreaming and working on incorporating that trait into my other lines of corn... Since I no longer have a laboratory to use, I figure that darker colors equals higher nutrition.
Last year I attempted to cross it with LISP Ashworth sweet corn. The flowering times mostly didn't overlap, but I got a few kernels. The top cob in this photo is a normal light yellow popcorn. The orange cob is like the mother of the cross, the bottom cob is like the father of the cross, and that little small cob contains the F1 seed [LISP Ashworth X High Carotene].
I planted the seeds, and harvested these F2 cobs. The light yellow cob on the far right resembles the color of the mother.
Some of the sweet kernels are strongly influenced by the orange trait. Woo Hoo! That's a good start. My plan is to eventually add this line to my other sweet corns.
I am working on doing the same thing with popcorn and Astronomy Domine sweet corn. Hoping to post details about those projects later on.
Last year I attempted to cross it with LISP Ashworth sweet corn. The flowering times mostly didn't overlap, but I got a few kernels. The top cob in this photo is a normal light yellow popcorn. The orange cob is like the mother of the cross, the bottom cob is like the father of the cross, and that little small cob contains the F1 seed [LISP Ashworth X High Carotene].
I planted the seeds, and harvested these F2 cobs. The light yellow cob on the far right resembles the color of the mother.
Some of the sweet kernels are strongly influenced by the orange trait. Woo Hoo! That's a good start. My plan is to eventually add this line to my other sweet corns.
I am working on doing the same thing with popcorn and Astronomy Domine sweet corn. Hoping to post details about those projects later on.
