Post by walt on Aug 23, 2017 13:09:46 GMT -5
This year my corn breeding didn't go well.
For years I have colored electrical tape to mark crosses. Worked fine. I make sure to wrap it clear around the ear or stalk so it is sticking to itself. It doesn't stick to the plant itself. But this year it didn't stick to itself either.
No problem! Most corn crosses don't need labeling. Just look at the ear and pick out the most recessive trait and that tells who the mother is. Then look for the dominant traits, seed color, endosperm type, etc., and that lets you identify the father. I taught my daughter to do this when she was 5.
So, this year I crossed Gaspe Flint, O'odham 60 Day Flour, Golden Bantam, Country Gentleman, Pencil Cob, and su-se, and an sh-2. When my labeling system failed, I didn't worry. I would be able to identify most crosses. Not.
Country Gentleman was a wash. Pollen wouldn't affect the distinctive double seed trait. Only none of the harvested ears had the double seed trait. Had every pollination made on it failed? I guess so. And all its other traits are recessive, white, sweet. Even the double seed trait is recessive and won't show until the F2. So I won't know for a year if I had any takes.
Gaspe Flint is all dominant, so know which seeds are from it's pollen. I don't know what it was crossed with as seed parent until the F2 seeds are harvested.
Pencil Cob was very frustrating. I bought new seed this year. I had never grown Pencil Cob before. I remember the seed as being all yellow dent with long narrow seeds.
So Pencil Cob bloomed late, and only O'odham 60 Day Flour was still blooming. Fine. I could tell the takes on O'odham by the yellow seeds. Not.
When I was harvesting the the Pencil Cob ears, I was shocked to find it was segregating for white and yellow, and for long vs.round seeds. And when I tried to sort the seeds into a white pile and a yellow pile of seeds, I found that the "white' on one ear was darker that the "yellow" on another ear.
Well, most of these I can sort out when the F1 plants have the F2 seeds ripe. The exception is if any are crosses of Country Gentleman exist, I won't know until the F2 plants ripen their F3 seeds. I'll have to make the Country Gentleman cross again to be sure I have it.
Very embarrassing.
For years I have colored electrical tape to mark crosses. Worked fine. I make sure to wrap it clear around the ear or stalk so it is sticking to itself. It doesn't stick to the plant itself. But this year it didn't stick to itself either.
No problem! Most corn crosses don't need labeling. Just look at the ear and pick out the most recessive trait and that tells who the mother is. Then look for the dominant traits, seed color, endosperm type, etc., and that lets you identify the father. I taught my daughter to do this when she was 5.
So, this year I crossed Gaspe Flint, O'odham 60 Day Flour, Golden Bantam, Country Gentleman, Pencil Cob, and su-se, and an sh-2. When my labeling system failed, I didn't worry. I would be able to identify most crosses. Not.
Country Gentleman was a wash. Pollen wouldn't affect the distinctive double seed trait. Only none of the harvested ears had the double seed trait. Had every pollination made on it failed? I guess so. And all its other traits are recessive, white, sweet. Even the double seed trait is recessive and won't show until the F2. So I won't know for a year if I had any takes.
Gaspe Flint is all dominant, so know which seeds are from it's pollen. I don't know what it was crossed with as seed parent until the F2 seeds are harvested.
Pencil Cob was very frustrating. I bought new seed this year. I had never grown Pencil Cob before. I remember the seed as being all yellow dent with long narrow seeds.
So Pencil Cob bloomed late, and only O'odham 60 Day Flour was still blooming. Fine. I could tell the takes on O'odham by the yellow seeds. Not.
When I was harvesting the the Pencil Cob ears, I was shocked to find it was segregating for white and yellow, and for long vs.round seeds. And when I tried to sort the seeds into a white pile and a yellow pile of seeds, I found that the "white' on one ear was darker that the "yellow" on another ear.
Well, most of these I can sort out when the F1 plants have the F2 seeds ripe. The exception is if any are crosses of Country Gentleman exist, I won't know until the F2 plants ripen their F3 seeds. I'll have to make the Country Gentleman cross again to be sure I have it.
Very embarrassing.