Post by oxbowfarm on Dec 20, 2017 10:10:19 GMT -5
The conversation with Day has got me thinking about some possible areas of playing around more with pepo winter squash.
When we grew out raymondo's F2 population of Lady Godiva X Thelma Sanders, I was surpised that most of the progeny (possibly all) were hard rinded squash. I had been under the impression that both parents were normal soft rinded squash, and hard rind is supposed to be dominant in pepo. A look at some online pictures of Lady Godiva shows possible slight wartiness, similar to some that I saw in the F2 segregates, so it may be that Lady Godiva is a hard rind cultivar. I don't think a lot of research has gone into understanding hard rind in all the cucurbita species so possibly there are modifiers that might hide Hr under certain conditions. This article teases a lot of stuff in the citations, but I couldn't find enough to read them on SCI-HUB.
Here's a half rind of Ned Kelly with the flesh removed.
It seems like hard rind might be a storage enhancing trait for winter pepos. The rind would protect them from bumps and dings where rot gets started, and potentially might limit water loss? Although ornamental gourds seem to dry out well enough. A couple of problems with long keeping pepos seem to be that the flesh quality deteriorates relatively quickly, I've had good Delicatas the spring after harvest, and supposedly Long Pie keeps till late winter, but most pepo winter squash are "eat before Xmas" types (here in the Northern Hemisphere). Secondly, a problem I've experienced with summer squash saved for seed, and also with Ned Kelly, is that the seeds rapidly germinate inside the fruit, so the time they can be stored is limited by the rate of internal seed sprouting. It seems like there must be some sort of genetic control for this problem, as I've never seen sprouted seeds like this in a Delicata or similar winter squash.
I'm considering a hard rind winter squash breeding project, crossing Ned Kelly to Long Pie or Winter Luxury or something and seeing what happens in the F2. Would a hard rind Winter Luxury keep for longer? Although WL might be a poor choice as it has that wierd netting which might interact strangely with Hr? Thoughts?
When we grew out raymondo's F2 population of Lady Godiva X Thelma Sanders, I was surpised that most of the progeny (possibly all) were hard rinded squash. I had been under the impression that both parents were normal soft rinded squash, and hard rind is supposed to be dominant in pepo. A look at some online pictures of Lady Godiva shows possible slight wartiness, similar to some that I saw in the F2 segregates, so it may be that Lady Godiva is a hard rind cultivar. I don't think a lot of research has gone into understanding hard rind in all the cucurbita species so possibly there are modifiers that might hide Hr under certain conditions. This article teases a lot of stuff in the citations, but I couldn't find enough to read them on SCI-HUB.
Here's a half rind of Ned Kelly with the flesh removed.
It seems like hard rind might be a storage enhancing trait for winter pepos. The rind would protect them from bumps and dings where rot gets started, and potentially might limit water loss? Although ornamental gourds seem to dry out well enough. A couple of problems with long keeping pepos seem to be that the flesh quality deteriorates relatively quickly, I've had good Delicatas the spring after harvest, and supposedly Long Pie keeps till late winter, but most pepo winter squash are "eat before Xmas" types (here in the Northern Hemisphere). Secondly, a problem I've experienced with summer squash saved for seed, and also with Ned Kelly, is that the seeds rapidly germinate inside the fruit, so the time they can be stored is limited by the rate of internal seed sprouting. It seems like there must be some sort of genetic control for this problem, as I've never seen sprouted seeds like this in a Delicata or similar winter squash.
I'm considering a hard rind winter squash breeding project, crossing Ned Kelly to Long Pie or Winter Luxury or something and seeing what happens in the F2. Would a hard rind Winter Luxury keep for longer? Although WL might be a poor choice as it has that wierd netting which might interact strangely with Hr? Thoughts?
