Chimeras

Bill Nash asks:
 
I'D LIKE TO ASK A QUESTION HERE:
                                               ..several years ago, my H. 'Kinba' hosta-divisions: showed definite yellow streaking in leaves of several plants.  In the next growth cycle however, (last year?) these reverted back to the all green leaf form, so my questions are: why & how can this happen; and is there possibility, streak will reappear again a year later (this year?) and via further eye-divisions?
Hi Bill,
      Glad you've joined the discussion, and thanks for answering my question.  I can't tell from the photo whether the plant is streaked or a sectorial chimera. Could you send it to me as a larger scan at say 300dpi and 400 pixels or so? I have handled a few hundred sports so far, so I'm starting to get some feel for it. The amount of variegation is a plus. Because there is so much on so many leaves the odds are pretty good that it hadn't disappeared last year. One or more all-green shoots had sprouted, leaving the buds containing the variegation unused. There are of course many buds on a plant that size, and almost certainly some still contained the variegated tissue. Allowing it to go through the year without somehow moving these buds into growth (cutting, BAP, etc.) is usually a mistake. I think what you have now is rhizome tissue and buds developed by last year's all-green division/s, which will be far less likely to still have some of the variegation remaining. I have seen it happen, though. I'd divide or BAP as much as possible.
                                                                                                                 ..........Bill Meyer
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index