Re: HYB: getting 'takes': was thermo-hygrometer

I follow all these reports of theories and variables; I too want to 
maximize my 'takes'.

But ultimately, I have to wonder whether our learning will make all 
that much difference.  I, for one, am still going to try as many 
crosses as I can every day of bloom season, on any cvs that pertain 
to my hyb goals.  Measuring temperature and humidity to find my 
chances of making effective crosses is not going to stop me from 
getting out there and trying everything I want.

I remember my first year of hybridizing that I wanted to use Titan's 
Glory in a cross.  But upon examination, TG seemed to have almost no 
lip and unlikely pollen.  I used it anyway, and both crosses took.  
As much as we try to maximize the odds, are we going to give up if 
they don't look good?

I made some 284 crosses this year and got about 40 pods, several of 
which disappeared before they matured.  But I'm as thrilled with 
those seeds as if they were doubled (which I couldn't handle anyway 
in my seedbed room.)  My seedlings from last year were a tiny 
percentage of those processed, as hard as I tried everything I 
learned here.  But the strongest have been planted out now near their 
parents (to examine the similarities upon bloom -- probably too small 
for next season).  But they're enough to keep my motivation going 
strong.

I haven't been a very patient person (I'm 63), but in this endeavor 
patience seems to be a sine qua non.  So I keep trying to be patient.

Patricia Brooks
Whidbey Island, WA, zone 8


--- In iris-talk@y..., "nmogens" <neilm@c...> wrote:
> --- In iris-talk@y..., oneofcultivars@a... wrote:
> "Shootin' hoops poorly here and thinkin'  50% is an astronomical 
> percentage of takes, -- Bill Burleson 7a/b  Old South Iris Society
> 
> Bill, I think your metaphor of shooting hoops is an excellent one.  
> Pods don't form if one doesn't try.
> 
> Over the years I think I have developed a "feel" for making 
crosses, 
> but sometimes try anyway even if I don't expect success.  Few of 
> those ever form pods, I believe.  I just keep hoping.
> 
> As to "50%" -- that is at best, not over-all performance.  On the 
> order of 30% is a more typical average.  There are those few days, 
> hours, however, when just about everything takes.  I seem to have 
hit 
> those right on this year.  I just didn't make many crosses.  The 
> basketball stayed in the shed, so to speak.
> 
> One thing of note--and I have seen other posts to this effect--
there 
> were an astonishing number of "balloon" pods formed this year.  I 
> left them on thinking seeds from these potential parents might be 
> useful.  No seeds!  I believe the frosts and rapid shifts in 
extreme 
> weather during stalk development may have been a factor.
> 
> Linda, I am glad you got this thread going.  Your weather and mine 
> are quite similar, but there is one difference I did note on my 
visit 
> to your home and garden.  Where I grow my principal breeding stock 
is 
> in an area with soil much deeper and much more nutritionally rich 
> (thanks to a lot of additions!) than that of most of your iris 
beds.  
> I also have somewhat fewer frosts, but not THAT many fewer. I 
seemed 
> to have had more damage this year than you reported from the March 
> freezes. The small amount of bloom I had was on secondary fans 
> mostly, thus developing somewhat later than usual.  I believe this 
> may have had an effect on fertility and pollen quality.
> 
> Neil Mogensen  z 6b/7a Arden (between Asheville and Hendersonville) 
> NC


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