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Post by terracotta on May 11, 2012 14:27:57 GMT -5
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Post by raymondo on May 12, 2012 0:38:18 GMT -5
I found that article interesting terracotta. Thanks for posting the link.
Joseph, how does the transplanted Bryonia look? Did it take okay?
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on May 12, 2012 1:01:56 GMT -5
Joseph, how does the transplanted Bryonia look? Did it take okay? I broke the stems off before planting it, and covered the crown with about an inch of soil. I figured that they would die anyway, and there were plenty of new buds waiting to emerge, and we are barely into spring here, so temperatures are too low for things to grow much, and it hasn't rained since I planted it. But I took a peek yesterday by gently uncovering a bit of the crown. The buds have expanded. So I'd say that it's just sitting there waiting for water and warmer weather. I've got a few thousand seeds to play with as well. I'm thinking that I should start the tetraploid conversion experiments soon. The irrigation water is expected to be in next week, a month earlier this year than last. Last year was abundantly wet. This year is much drier. |
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Post by terracotta on May 12, 2012 17:35:44 GMT -5
When will polyploid experiments begin? Method?
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on May 12, 2012 18:18:49 GMT -5
When will polyploid experiments begin? Method? Soon. I mixed up the potting soil today. I have the supplies I need except for a couple of rolls of aluminum foil. It's the worst possible time of year for a sustenance farmer to be buying things, but should get that taken care of this week. It's about 3 weeks before I can plant frost sensitive things, so now will be a good time. My plan is to build an incubation chamber: Lined completely with aluminum foil, and to put florescent lighting in it and a temperature controlled heater set at 85F. And do the conversion in it. The planned seed treatment is: Soak for 6 hours in water. Soak in Oryzalin solution. Plant seeds in pots. Screen for conversion. Several replications will be tried to see which time/concentration works best. I'm currently planning: 50 ppm 10 ppm 02 ppm Water only 18 hours 24 hours 36 hours Then when I'm done I'll graph the data to estimate best conditions for next time. I'm not using blacktail mountain. I found bulk seed of a different variety. |
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Post by terracotta on May 13, 2012 14:41:20 GMT -5
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on May 13, 2012 16:14:46 GMT -5
cultivar name or landrace? I'm doing my first experiments with a commercial inbred cultivar. I don't remember the name. I think it will be easier to select tetraploids with an inbred strain. Once I get the process down, I also have some landrace seed set aside for the conversion. I'm intending to run the B. alba seed through at the same time. It is the Northern Utah strain that went through a founder-effect bottleneck. |
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Post by terracotta on May 18, 2012 18:51:58 GMT -5
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on May 18, 2012 19:29:39 GMT -5
I believe that to be a tired anti-immigrant hack-piece. The article inadvertently calls attention to it's inaccuracies when it claims that B. alba is "a vine that will grow as much as 6 inches a day to a length of 60 to 150 feet." But at 6" a day it would take a 300 day growing season to grow that long. And the growing season in the county that the article was published about is somewhere between 85 to 160 days depending on elevation. B. alba tends to grow best at higher elevations... In my experience the vines are more like 15 to 20 feet long. I have been watching a B. alba colony grow on a thicket of plum trees for more than 40 years. The trees are not suffering any because of it. I guess that in theory there is enough sap in a berry to measure brix. |
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Post by terracotta on May 19, 2012 12:09:57 GMT -5
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on May 19, 2012 14:30:19 GMT -5
Red bryony has those gloriously red berries... Wouldn't that color skin look great in a watermelon at the farmer's market??? I don't have plans at this time to try red bryony. White has naturalized here, so unlimited germplasm is easy to obtain, and I already know that it is winter hardy and grows well with our soil, pests, and climate. However, since the white bryony here went through a genetic bottleneck, it might be prudent at some point in the future to introduce some of the European genetics into the population. |
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on May 20, 2012 8:53:53 GMT -5
I started a diploid to tetraploid conversion experiment this morning at 1 AM. [Timed experiments suck!] I ended up using our local Charleston Gray subvariety which was grown for me by a collaborator. Here is a tease: Preliminary results and more photos expected in a week or two.  |
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Post by terracotta on May 20, 2012 17:08:54 GMT -5
Red bryony has those gloriously red berries... Wouldn't that color skin look great in a watermelon at the farmer's market??? I don't have plans at this time to try red bryony. White has naturalized here, so unlimited germplasm is easy to obtain, and I already know that it is winter hardy and grows well with our soil, pests, and climate. However, since the white bryony here went through a genetic bottleneck, it might be prudent at some point in the future to introduce some of the European genetics into the population. like red fruit? www.rareplants.de/shop/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=0&P_ID=11525&strPageHistory=search&numSearchStartRecord=1 |
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Post by terracotta on May 21, 2012 10:58:10 GMT -5
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on May 21, 2012 11:10:15 GMT -5
Here's another tease: Today at timed intervals I'm planting seeds for the tetraploid watermelon breeding project. (16 seeds into each pot to make comparisons easier later on.)  |
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