Post by raymondo on May 1, 2010 23:45:49 GMT -5
I've written about this elsewhere but I'll summarise here.
I let a Green Glaze collard and a red cabbage growing next to each other go to seed. Actually, the red cabbage needed encouragement to seed and thanks to advice from Telsing it finally did. I collected seed from both and sowed them. I have glossy leaved F1s from both, along with other things, and have about 30 plants growing. I'll let them all go to seed and cross as they please. This should provide some good F2 material to work with.
I discovered information about an old Australian cauliflower cultivar, Early Green Glazed, that was used in the US to develop a range of cultivars that were less prone to insect attack (caterpillars in particular) and although the early work looked encouraging, it was never completed. I think the advent of poisons made the idea of naturally resistant plants less attractive. Sadly, that cauliflower has disappeared from Australia and exists now only in USDA germplasm as PI 234599. One of these days I'll retrieve it just to re-establish here.
Although I am looking for colourful collards, I will also be looking at selecting for better resistance to insect attack.
Here are some pics comparing the glossy leaf with the matt leaf.
In each photo:
Top left - a standard red matt leaf from a red cabbage
Top right - a standard green matt leaf from a broccoli
Bottom left - Red cabbage x Green Glaze F1
Bottom right - Green Glaze
I expect the purple colour to deepen as winter approaches and the frosts begin in earnest. We've had a few mild ones already. I can't be sure yet but it looks as if the F1 leaves are curling inwards, as does a cabbage in its early life. I don't know whether hearting is dominant or recessive, or more complicated than that. Just have to wait and see.
I'm very tempted to put some sort of row cover over the F1 plants to save them from the ravages of insects. I think I'd rather ensure plenty of F2 seed and start the selection process then.
I let a Green Glaze collard and a red cabbage growing next to each other go to seed. Actually, the red cabbage needed encouragement to seed and thanks to advice from Telsing it finally did. I collected seed from both and sowed them. I have glossy leaved F1s from both, along with other things, and have about 30 plants growing. I'll let them all go to seed and cross as they please. This should provide some good F2 material to work with.
I discovered information about an old Australian cauliflower cultivar, Early Green Glazed, that was used in the US to develop a range of cultivars that were less prone to insect attack (caterpillars in particular) and although the early work looked encouraging, it was never completed. I think the advent of poisons made the idea of naturally resistant plants less attractive. Sadly, that cauliflower has disappeared from Australia and exists now only in USDA germplasm as PI 234599. One of these days I'll retrieve it just to re-establish here.
Although I am looking for colourful collards, I will also be looking at selecting for better resistance to insect attack.
Here are some pics comparing the glossy leaf with the matt leaf.
In each photo:
Top left - a standard red matt leaf from a red cabbage
Top right - a standard green matt leaf from a broccoli
Bottom left - Red cabbage x Green Glaze F1
Bottom right - Green Glaze
I expect the purple colour to deepen as winter approaches and the frosts begin in earnest. We've had a few mild ones already. I can't be sure yet but it looks as if the F1 leaves are curling inwards, as does a cabbage in its early life. I don't know whether hearting is dominant or recessive, or more complicated than that. Just have to wait and see.
I'm very tempted to put some sort of row cover over the F1 plants to save them from the ravages of insects. I think I'd rather ensure plenty of F2 seed and start the selection process then.
