Warning! Botanidrivel!
Jun. 20th, 2010 12:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mdehnersAt Stage 2 with my Sinningia guttata hybrids. For non foodged, etc)hybridizers, the stages of a new Hybrid are:
1:Choosing a plant that is either exceptional as a type or original(different colour, blossom shape, number of petals, how they're arranged, etc
2:Propagating it. Doesn't matter how exceptional or differnt if you can't reproduce it, esp. easily.
3:Remote Testing. Having folks in differnt climates grow it and report the results. Even one's house climate is affected by that outside.
4: Registering the plant.
5: Releasing it to vendors.
For me, #2 is the bugger. I'm usually pretty good at picking parents so there's usually something in every Cross I make. The problem is that since I like, like Seymore Krelborn of 'Little Shop of Horrors' fame like "Strange and Unusual Plants", these odd pairing oft create not just Sterile plants but those that don't take from leaf or stem cuttings.
The present Cross is typical for me in it's probable difficulty. The mother plant is a previous hybrid of mine that is tuberous(it goes Dormant after Blooming) Crossed with a non-tuberous(it just continually grows...). So far all have had at least rudimentary tubers but that can simply mean when it dies back after blooming you have what looks like a dead garlic;>! One of the "neat" things about these Crosses when they do work is that they form caudexes, creating plants that look like something form the Savannah's of Africa with their swollen bases.
All cuttings are tip cuttings. Unfortunately, it's obvious that Blooming at the end of a growth cycle like a tuberous plant is the Dominant form. This means that if it doesn't have viable genes for at least a caudex, they'll Root and later die when the present leaves reach there "sell-by date"....
This all may sound like a collosal waste of time but it's a lot of fun(at least to me). I guess I always knew I had a bit of "Mad Scientist" inside;>...
Cheers,
Pat
1:Choosing a plant that is either exceptional as a type or original(different colour, blossom shape, number of petals, how they're arranged, etc
2:Propagating it. Doesn't matter how exceptional or differnt if you can't reproduce it, esp. easily.
3:Remote Testing. Having folks in differnt climates grow it and report the results. Even one's house climate is affected by that outside.
4: Registering the plant.
5: Releasing it to vendors.
For me, #2 is the bugger. I'm usually pretty good at picking parents so there's usually something in every Cross I make. The problem is that since I like, like Seymore Krelborn of 'Little Shop of Horrors' fame like "Strange and Unusual Plants", these odd pairing oft create not just Sterile plants but those that don't take from leaf or stem cuttings.
The present Cross is typical for me in it's probable difficulty. The mother plant is a previous hybrid of mine that is tuberous(it goes Dormant after Blooming) Crossed with a non-tuberous(it just continually grows...). So far all have had at least rudimentary tubers but that can simply mean when it dies back after blooming you have what looks like a dead garlic;>! One of the "neat" things about these Crosses when they do work is that they form caudexes, creating plants that look like something form the Savannah's of Africa with their swollen bases.
All cuttings are tip cuttings. Unfortunately, it's obvious that Blooming at the end of a growth cycle like a tuberous plant is the Dominant form. This means that if it doesn't have viable genes for at least a caudex, they'll Root and later die when the present leaves reach there "sell-by date"....
This all may sound like a collosal waste of time but it's a lot of fun(at least to me). I guess I always knew I had a bit of "Mad Scientist" inside;>...
Cheers,
Pat
