|
|
Post by canadamike on Apr 28, 2012 2:09:18 GMT -5
$-5 years ago, it is somewhere in the old threads, I put my hands on 50 or so seeds of tetraploid ''SUGAR BABY'' seeds that were created by Alan... ( do not remember), the guy who wrote the book on northern sweet potato growing, He had used colchicine to create them.We all thought we had a treasury in our hands,
Well my friend, just taste them as «i did, or cross them to diploids to get triploids, then taste these...
MY very very simple equation is:
IF IT TASTES NOTHING WHY THE HECK BOTHER?
In a way, by doing that gene manipulation, we are following the same pathways than lots of the PhD's from all agricultural universities in the world are: MAN CAN BEAT NATURE.
IT IS THE SAME CRAZY SPIRIT THAT HAS THEM GO FOR GMO'S.
''Let's explore, lets see how we can transform nature to make it better....''
I'll give a huge hug to anybody growing a very very good triploid watermelon. or tetraploid for that matter...
If anybody wants to pursue that route, in any case, and since I do not pretend to hold the truth, I sure would use Oranglo...it grows well in many places, even here in the north, and the taste and sweetness are heavenly....
On my part, being contrarian, I would work on white fleshed ones, way overlooked because of the blandness of the color but Oh! So sweet, even in the north.
|
|
|
|
Post by bluelacedredhead on Apr 28, 2012 7:40:02 GMT -5
Mike,
His name would be Ken Allan.
Sorry to hear that the watermelon was tasteless. Aside from studying sweet potatoes in a northern climate with him, I've only grown Spanish Skyscraper peas. They seem to be a hit with all of the people I've shared them with.
Guess there's always something that doesn't turn out quite the way we had hoped.
|
|
|
|
Post by Hristo on Apr 28, 2012 13:20:28 GMT -5
Past 5 years I have managed to taste only 1 or 2 fruits of Tetra Baby and they actually were quite good tasting. Nothing out of this world, but definitely not bad. My problem with this variety is that it is hard to grow. Last year I grafted it on to gourd and both plants produced a fruit, but I forget them and at the time I picked them they were way overripe, so even did not taste them only got the seeds. My original goal was to cross TB with Cream of Saskatchewan and a few orange fleshed varieties. I have not succeeded yet (last year did not try at all, just wanted to get fresh TB seeds).
|
|
|
|
Post by terracotta on Apr 29, 2012 15:28:30 GMT -5
why is it hard to grow?
how is it different from 'sugar baby' ?
what does it look like?
|
|
|
|
Post by Hristo on Apr 29, 2012 16:52:43 GMT -5
Mostly due to my soil + it's seeds are harder to germinate due to hard coat and I do not bother to scarify them; also it very rarely (at least for me) produce more than 10-20 seeds per fruit.
Looks similar to Sugar Baby.
|
|
|
|
Post by legume on Apr 29, 2012 17:43:08 GMT -5
I am not advocating breking the law...
But you could always find the individual tetraploid seeds (accidental self pollinations of the female hybrid parent) in bags of comercial hybrid triploid watermelon seed.
It is normally a very small % of the hybrid seed lot so large quantities of hybrid seed would be needed.
Tetraploid seed are fatter than triploid seed, and can to some extent be seperated by eye (spreading them out on a flat table might help). Grow out your selected seeds and see if you were sucessfull.
|
|
|
|
Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Apr 29, 2012 17:53:58 GMT -5
you could always find the individual tetraploid seeds (accidental self pollinations of the female hybrid parent) in bags of comercial hybrid triploid watermelon seed. It is normally a very small % of the hybrid seed lot so large quantities of hybrid seed would be needed. Tetraploid seed are fatter than triploid seed, and can to some extent be seperated by eye (spreading them out on a flat table might help). Grow out your selected seeds and see if you were sucessfull. Can you estimate what very small % means? In other words, how many seeds do I need to sort through to find a couple tetraploids? One seed per cup? Etc.... |
|
|
|
Post by legume on Apr 29, 2012 19:33:12 GMT -5
I dont know what % is normal, I would guess that it varries widely between lots of seed.
I have never done this, but know of others who have.
If i were serious about trying this, i would buy a few thousand seeds of a couple of my favorite varieties. There are no guarantees, but I know that some usually slip through.
|
|
|
|
Post by jonnyyuma on Apr 29, 2012 21:02:08 GMT -5
In my experience most commercial lots are 95% and higher in hybridity. Your yield is severely impacted by hybridity percentage in watermelon. If you can find AC 5244, Tri-X 313 or 212, Millionare seed the percentage could be higher as they are bee pollinated and the tetrapods is off PVP due to age.
The seed is thicker because it is a tetrapods endosperm filling up the seed and not a triploid endosperm. Also the hills looks different and the seed coat will be thicker in most cases.
In the older seedless the inbred will be grey round on color and shape respectively. You can tell if it is the inbred pretty early, even before pollination. Also you can plant out a bunch of seed without any diploid pollen source and whatever sets fruit is the tetraploid, as the triploid has no viable pollen. If the tetraploid is pollinated by diploid you get the triploid back, so make sure ther is no pollen source by caging or isolation.
Thanks
Jonny
|
|
|
|
Post by terracotta on Apr 30, 2012 14:32:32 GMT -5
Are the leaves any bigger for tetraploids? growth rate is probably slower due to replication time.
|
|
|
|
Post by terracotta on Apr 30, 2012 14:51:18 GMT -5
why not double triploid into hexaploid like in wheat?
|
|
|
|
Post by terracotta on May 10, 2012 12:42:48 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by terracotta on May 18, 2012 17:22:47 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by terracotta on Jun 6, 2012 15:34:56 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by caledonian on Jun 9, 2012 14:46:59 GMT -5
Not all plants can tolerate alterations in chromosome number. And those that can, vary in their response depending on the degree to which they're increased.
It's thought that for every plant, there's a level of chromosomal increase at which the plant begins to become weaker instead of stronger. Some strawberry species have seven or more copies of the original chromosomal package and thrive. Some plants start to fail with even a doubling.
|
|
