Rambling
Yesterday at 2:00 P.M. the thermometer at the edge of my garden registered
110. We also had 96% humidity. The heat factor was just too high to be
safe. What does one do in this type of weather? Well, this week I have
continued applying pollen and I still have pods forming. Today I used the
pollen from Kimba. Does anyone have information on the percentage of set I
can expect with it? Late last fall I tried using the pollen from a very
young plant of it. The success rate was poor or nil. Hope that now the
plant is older things will work better.
Jim H. my Thia Brass will open its first flower tomorrow. I am really
excited. Do wish the weather was cooler as I wish to use its pollen on some
streaked seedlings as well as cross it with a few special things.
I have also been very busy collecting pollen from several late flowering
things that I wish to try early next spring. It sure takes a lot of flowers
to get enough pollen to store for just a few crosses. Ben, I finally got
frozen pollen to work this year. I have one cross that I am excited about.
I used Lakeside Ripples on a large leaf blue-green and yellow streaked
hypoleuca seedling. I have several other crosses using other pollens also.
This is also a good time to do bud cuts on the plants that are ready. I
managed to get 23 Lakeside April Snow from one, one gallon container. Now
there about 150 young plants from bud cuts growing under lights. If you are
looking for a lot of buds to cut then the center of the mother plant should
be damaged earlier in the season. Mother Nature seems to thing the plant may
die and puts out about three times the normal. Now I am sure that a group of
you could tell me that some acid either forms or did not form to cause this.
I have read and studied transposable elements, DNA, positioning, acids,
growth hormones and all of the information supplied. It is copied and ready
to file. How to use this information I don't know. I hope that in the
future I will see the light. Until I do I still like to think that the
plastids are floating around until the plant becomes stable. That makes me
think that the more I stir them the better things I will create.
Of course there are always the new TC plants coming in that must be potted.
So that means time is given to the care of the hundreds of plants in the
growing room as well as checking daily to be sure all outside water systems
are go. If one of the 28 stations is not doing its thing then it takes a lot
of my time and energy to yell ROY! He has the pleasure of keeping the
plumbing going.
With a little foresight as to what might be in the future, earlier this year
I bought a fan. It stands at my back in the potting shed. Once I dash into
the growing houses, where the temp seems to be 140 degrees, and grab a wagon
load of plants. I rush back to the cool air supplied by my fan. I am moving
the newer seedlings into two gallon containers and also using this time as
another opportunity to cull. Anything that has a muddy color, thin
substance, falls apart or is a slow grower goes the way of all poor hosta. At
this time I am removing about one-third of the seedlings. It is much easier
to throw the plants away now that there is just not enough room to keep them
all. Even the maybe ones are going. It is also an opportunity to note
anything that looks especially good at this age. I have made a few very
interesting discoveries. In fact I have one group of seedlings that are
reflecting either a red or a purple color on the black sheen when in the
bright light. This is the darkest group of seedlings that I have ever grown.
In another few years I hope that at least one will prove to be great. I
have also discovered that one of last year's dark ones is going to be large
and rippled. Of course I am also working for ripples and now they are
beginning to show up in many things.
As you see I am spending some of the hot hours in front of the computer. Now
it is time to stop and start work on a program for the Regional in Atlanta.
This is out third year. Each year it is bigger and better. So plan to come
on down the last Sat in Sept.
Mary
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