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Post by billw on Aug 21, 2013 22:57:13 GMT -5
Passed 3000 seeds today! Up to 16 seedlings now; they are pretty slow to get started, but they keep popping up.  |
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Post by billw on Aug 24, 2013 14:04:59 GMT -5
Another new flowerer today - Moonshine, which is available from Peace Seedlings. It has a mid-styled flower and appears to set flowers pretty well, so that makes it the second readily available and good flowering mid-styled variety in the US.
Mid styled varieties available in the US:
* Amarillo - aborts almost all flowers for me
* Hopin - available from almost everyone who sells oca; flowers at a usually high, but intermittent rate over the length of the season
* Moonshine - got a late start, but looks promising
* White (probably OE White) - available only by trade currently; flowers at a low rate, but over a long period
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Post by raymondo on Aug 24, 2013 17:24:05 GMT -5
Bill, you'll soon be the US expert on oca breeding, if you aren't already. I'm already looking forward to the results of your growouts.
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Post by billw on Aug 24, 2013 18:28:11 GMT -5
Bill, you'll soon be the US expert on oca breeding, if you aren't already. I'm already looking forward to the results of your growouts. That would be kind of depressing.  I figure that people who blab about their activities on the Internet must be just the tip of the iceberg. There are probably a bunch of people out there growing and breeding oca in quiet who are well down the path to exciting new varieties. Let's hope so, anyway. I am also really looking forward to next year's growout, although I still have to wait quite a while to harvest this year's crop! That is one of the crazy things about oca - I can't think of another vegetable where you harvest the seed so far in advance of the edible part. |
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Post by billw on Aug 25, 2013 16:14:27 GMT -5
Another new variety flowered today. OE Blush (available from Sacred Succulents) is a long-styled type - the first I've seen. So, for those of us in the US, that is another variety that can be used to make crosses with the many short-styled varieties. Correction. One stem of one plant of this variety is producing long-styled flowers. Two stems are producing mid-styled flowers and another plant is producing only mid-styled flowers. How weird! My plant biology is not that strong, but I would not have expected this. I guess the flower structure itself is a somatic structure, even though it bears germ cells, so therefore subject to persistent somatic divergence from the point where the mutation occurs? Anyway, I've cut that stem and will grow it out as a possible new variety. |
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Post by richardw on Aug 27, 2013 0:57:56 GMT -5
Good news Bill there's a few wee seedlings popping up.
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Post by steev on Aug 27, 2013 3:48:52 GMT -5
Damn! I fear the heating cable in my hot-box has bit the dust. I must deal with that ASAP, being very interested in these seeds.
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Post by billw on Aug 27, 2013 11:32:29 GMT -5
That is exciting news. It will be interesting to compare germination rates. Mine is running about 1/3 so far, although some plants have been up for weeks and have three sets of true leaves and others are just emerging.
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Post by richardw on Aug 27, 2013 15:32:38 GMT -5
I have to admit to not been that precise to us enable to compare the germination rates Bill,i sowed about 6 seeds in each square.
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Post by billw on Aug 27, 2013 15:49:45 GMT -5
Close enough. |
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Post by billw on Aug 29, 2013 17:26:28 GMT -5
Seedlings are coming along... Most have red/pink stems, while a few have green stems.   |
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Post by richardw on Aug 30, 2013 2:16:33 GMT -5
Doing well,ive got at least 8 seedlings up now
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Post by billw on Sept 6, 2013 12:31:15 GMT -5
I passed 5000 seeds today! Yeah, now I am just boasting. What of it? |
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Post by richardw on Sept 6, 2013 14:26:56 GMT -5
I say well done counting that many
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Post by samyaza on Sept 6, 2013 16:04:39 GMT -5
How lucky you are. I've grown 12 unknown different varieties for 2 years and only one flower set, last year. None this year. No seed at all.
I wish you'll find interesting new varieties among all these seedlings.
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