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Post by templeton on Mar 11, 2018 17:22:30 GMT -5
Thanks for all the input. Mostly I get my original Royal Oakleaf self seeding. I do let everything else go to seed - they are scattered across my small garden, so while not next to each other, usually only separated by a few metres. And i plant haphazardly - wherever there is a spot to shove a lettuce in, and i don't keep good track. I'm encouraged by your reports of some crossing. But I think like Rowan and Richard, I don't get much (any) crossing. Perhaps its a bit too dry and hot here rather than like Bill's location. Pollen mobility -hmmm. I doubt it is a lack of pollinators - My place is crawling with insect diversity. Re-sowing seeded morton's mixes its a bit difficult to keep track of what was originally there. Damn, probably have to take more notes. T
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Post by templeton on Mar 11, 2018 4:48:26 GMT -5
I like lettuce - mostly looseleafs. I've got a lot of legacy lettuce seed from older Morton's stock. Oakleafs self seed in my garden, along with the occasional red cos. I seem to recall (Deppe?) that lettuces self-pollinate as the stigma emerges from the flower. Has anyone looked into landracing lettuce? I have very limited growout land - 5-6 sq metres is probably all i can afford in the initial stages.
Any suggestions how i might proceed - has anyone thought about this much? I'm looking for bolt resistance, heat resistance, but I am a bit scared hat due to my slack approach by letting everything self seed that I might be inadvertently drifting toward early seeding. T
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Post by templeton on Mar 11, 2018 4:37:37 GMT -5
Wow, I'm glad muskmelons aren't so complicated. T
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Post by templeton on Feb 26, 2018 0:44:05 GMT -5
I hadn't noticed the lack of opening - I will have a look next season, or maybe later this autumn if I get around to planting an autumn seed crop as I intended and don't get overwhelmed with work and study. T
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Post by templeton on Feb 23, 2018 3:08:49 GMT -5
templeton - The Cascadia was straight from a seed packet, so someone hungry bees and wasn't too keen on proper isolation practices. Joni's Taxi sounds interesting. I've never grown or heard of the Yakumo pea before. If I may loop the question back to you, what was the motivation behind your cross? Ah, a slippery slope, Day. That's how I started. I think I had just started reading here, after looking at the cross hemisphere dwarf tomato project, and like you, grew a pile of different peas, and just crossed what came to hand. Carol Deppe's book snuck in there very early. Yakumo is a tall, green, very large podded snow. Single flowers, no disease resistance. Just happened to be flowering at the time. Just had a bit of search, and all the listings I've seen are Australian, with one Chilean reference. I think it's got the wide pod gene, and a couple of long pod genes. I don't think it is hard to get a better yellow snow than golden podded. Mine is better just because i chose a slightly better parent, but there are lots of places still to go to get the best yellow snow. Like Andrew posted above, yellows turn up if you are looking for a red. And some of them would be worth exploring. Carol Deppe's idea of using a 'sweet when fully filled pod' pea with low fiber is one way to go - she suggests Oregon Giant Snowmann I think - I just haven't got round to doing that cross. (Well I have, but I haven't had time to grow it out. Pity we can't do a cross hemisphere pea project. Ah well.) Double flowers, more compact plants, earliness, disease resistance and for you guys in NorthAm, virus resistance would all be worth incorporating. Gregg
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Post by templeton on Feb 22, 2018 20:58:08 GMT -5
Hi Day, I wonder how your Cascadia got so mixed up? I find very little/no outcrossing in my peas. And what are you after with the golden sweet cross? I personally think my 'Joni's Taxi' (=golden sweet X Yakumo) is a better snow than the Golden Sweet we get here. I think Andrew and maybe Dumont have some seed I sent.
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Post by templeton on Feb 22, 2018 17:11:13 GMT -5
Hybrid : the history and science of plant breeding, Kingsbury, Noel, University of Chicago Press 2009 A history book rather than a how-to, but a very informative read.
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Post by templeton on Feb 22, 2018 16:50:51 GMT -5
Do I properly recall that grafting can sometimes help pollen acceptance? Not sure if this would help.
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Post by templeton on Feb 15, 2018 22:17:47 GMT -5
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Post by templeton on Feb 12, 2018 19:11:23 GMT -5
Bit off topic, but I've got a bit of seed from 2 Portuguese perennial kales that I collected this summer that you are welcome to. Were growing next to each other, and a few mixed mustards from a Morton's mix. And a few senposai were nearby, too. The senposai must have crossed with something, since there's a bit of phenotypic variation.
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Post by templeton on Jan 30, 2018 7:18:56 GMT -5
. Self congratulatory tail wag...
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Post by templeton on Jan 29, 2018 21:14:56 GMT -5
In my explorations for my research, came across the Biodiversity Heritage Library - about 60 million pages of free, online out of copyright natural history material, explorers journals, books, journals etc. (aside: (I found the type specimen description of my plant of interest, collected by La Billardiere in Tasmania in the 1700s!)). Amazing material from early botanists, the database is very searchable, and has page images.
It now includes 30000 seed catalogs from the US agriculture library. Thought you might like to know. T
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Post by templeton on Jan 29, 2018 19:07:58 GMT -5
Hi folks, I think shmack is a member on my Aust forum, and has been for a couple of years now. I'll message him.
T
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Post by templeton on Jan 12, 2018 7:32:47 GMT -5
following with interest.
I haven't paid much attention to flower colour apart from the usual purple or white observations for the A gene in coloured pod breeding experiments. I should pay more attention. T
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Post by templeton on Jan 7, 2018 3:48:32 GMT -5
Hi Day. I now use 2 methods - weldmesh 100mm X 100 mm grid in 1.2 m X 2 m panels cheap chinese A$20, last for years, stack flat. Smash in steel starposts (T post in USese?), and either lay landscape for short plants, portrait for tall plants. I use it for beans, cukes, peas, toms. Conical tomato cages generally useless for toms but good for peppers & eggplants. As a sexy and stabilising feature, stand panel on end, use light wire to pull into a bow shape on end - 3 bits of wire, top, middle and bottom. almost self supporting, and very interesting in the garden. shorter stakes needed to hold it up. remove tension wire for flat packing. !00mm X 100mm so you can easily get your hand through it to harvest, and thread plants in and out. My beds are 1 metre wide with 600mm paths, with a panel at the front of each bed, i can rig a curved panel over the top as an archway for beans to grow on - they hang down for easy harvest. I wish I could be bothered to post a pic As a cheap alternative, I purchased a roll of 1.8 metre thin wire grid (150mmX100mm grids) used for holding down fiber insulation batts in roof spaces. Quite thin wire, easy to manipulate, not sure how many years I'll get out of it, needs good posts to hold in up. buybuildingsupplies.com.au/300x150mm-roof-safety-mesh-2mm-wire-p-3705.htmlI need to trellis my toms to reduce leaf mass, increase air for fungal diseases. I have done Florida Weave, with string and posts, but found it sagged as the plants grew, and needed re-tensioning every few weeks.
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