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Post by billw on Mar 29, 2018 16:08:02 GMT -5
I made some mauka crosses in 2015 and they are now starting to flower. This is the first one that I am confident actually represents a successful cross, as it was blanco x rojo. Blanco has white flowers and these are pink, so it is definitely a cross. The plants have not performed much differently than the parents, so I don't expect anything amazing from it, but it is cool to see that the cross worked.
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Post by billw on Mar 29, 2018 12:15:11 GMT -5
Assuming that any of them germinate, I have a chance to make some progress with arracacha. Unfortunately, arracacha seed is reported to have very low germination, but I only need one. These are seeds of Peruvian origin, so they should hopefully be a little more climate compatible than the existing varieties that are available in the US. Hopefully I will be posting pictures of seedlings in a couple weeks.
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Post by billw on Mar 29, 2018 12:07:41 GMT -5
That's interesting, orflo! I grew fifteen accessions from the USDA for a few years and they were all bush types and flowered easily in September/October. Harvesting was a little difficult due to the seeds molding in high humidity.
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Post by billw on Mar 28, 2018 1:47:52 GMT -5
Bush, short day photoperiod for flowering, eastern slope Andean climate - humid with highs in 70s to 80s. Plant them in August.
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Post by billw on Mar 27, 2018 23:15:16 GMT -5
I haven't had any problems cutting off the bottom, but I suppose it might make a difference. Usually high humidity and high soil moisture here, so plants don't have to work very hard to get water, which would be the main argument for not damaging the tap root of a second year plant I think.
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Post by billw on Mar 27, 2018 2:56:37 GMT -5
Temperature hasn't changed much here, but summers are dryer. It is increasingly common to get no rain at all during the summer. Humidity is still very high due to proximity to the ocean, but a high tends to park just offshore and prevent any storm systems from coming in.
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Post by billw on Mar 23, 2018 16:26:38 GMT -5
Just chop off the lower part for a taste test and let the root heal in a humid environment for a few days. You can then store it as normal.
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Post by billw on Mar 19, 2018 18:00:07 GMT -5
Much of the writing that I do would be virtually impossible without Sci-Hub.
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Post by billw on Mar 19, 2018 2:14:09 GMT -5
Mayan Gold is diploid, of phureja background.
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Post by billw on Mar 19, 2018 2:10:36 GMT -5
Go to Sci-Hub and enter the DOI number (10.1017/S0021859600031312).
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Post by billw on Mar 17, 2018 20:25:22 GMT -5
Low doses of 2,4-d have been used to get carrot callus to form adventitious shoots. That might work on the root. The hard part would be delivering the correct amount as a surface treatment. Cutting the root into discs might work better.
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Post by billw on Mar 12, 2018 13:11:06 GMT -5
You might add White Wallaby, an Australian variety, and Italian cauliflower varieties to you breeding pool. They tend to behave as annuals with a sufficiently long growing season. I'm going in exactly the opposite direction unfortunately - better overwintering in cold/wet.
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Post by billw on Mar 11, 2018 13:32:28 GMT -5
Lettuce often pollinates before the flowers open, but the stigmas are still receptive for a day or so after opening. I see a lot of cross pollination in self-pollinating species that open their flowers before they become unreceptive. I suspect that temperature, humidity, and of course pollinator populations play a role. Pollen tends to be less mobile at colder temperatures and higher humidities and I have both. I also have very high levels of native pollinators. Flowers might be less likely to self-pollinate under those conditions, allowing the insects more opportunity.
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Post by billw on Mar 11, 2018 12:33:49 GMT -5
Yeah, I get lots of crossing from lettuce. I started with a wide mix of leaf lettuces and I don't really do any selection other than non-bolting, since it is just for our personal use. After seven years, I can still see some recognizable varieties, like Little Gem, which was overrepresented in what I started with, but I also get lots of new and different phenotypes.
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Row 7
Mar 11, 2018 12:28:21 GMT -5
Post by billw on Mar 11, 2018 12:28:21 GMT -5
I'm not suggesting that people should like the same traits that I do. I've learned a lot about how I am out of sync with he majority just by what sells. For example, I tend to favor yellows and oranges, but if I offer a variety that is also available in red, the red varieties will outsell the yellows and oranges by 5 to 1 or more. And I will probably never convince people that smaller potatoes are better, no matter how hard I try.
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