HYB:Marking Crosses

> <<<I am wondering how you mark your crosses in the garden>>>
> 
I was hoping this would get several responses. We had a fairly extensive 
discussion of this a year or two ago, but I can't find it in the archives. 

I've seen a lot of people write the cross on thin flagging tape.

Others mark right on the tags as Dorothy described.

I have a slightly different approach.  I have reusable homemade tags made 
from strips of plastic milk jugs cut to size with the corners rounded.  I use a 
hole punch and lengths of bright colored yarn to hold them on.  The yarn makes 
them easy to spot if I lose track of one in the garden.  

I number the tags , , , one through however many crosses I expect to make.  
My original set had about 150-200 tags, but I threw about half of them away 
when I moved in 98. The plastic is starting to break after nearly 20 years of 
exposure to the sun, so it's time to start replacing them. 

I keep a 'field' note book to record all the particulars about the cross, 
starting with pod parent x pollen parent.  My information will include tag 
number, date, weather, and which bloom was pollinated.  Later, if I cross more 
blooms on the same stalk I will add that information.  I use the 9 X 6 notebooks 
and list two crosses per page.  Recording the crosses is important.  I carry the 
notebook with me into the garden.  It's frustrating to have an unknown pollen 
parent because you were NOT able to remember what you used!  If a cross 
doesn't take I just mark an X across that entry. 

Once all blooms are gone and I know which crosses took, the information is 
transferred to a worksheet in Excel.  The crosses are sorted by pod parent. On 
this sheet I list the new seedling number.  This becomes the permanent record.  
Also, include the field number so I can refer back to my field book for more 
information, when needed. I then include all parentage and number of seeds 
harvested.  

In the past, I put the permanent record in another note book and may go back 
to it this year.  I'll still keep the computerized sheet, but the notebook 
adds flexibility that I like.  I carried the notebook with me into the beds and 
would write little things on the pages.  Like when the first sprouts were 
spotted.  I don't do that with the Excel sheets because they have plastic covers 
and it's inconvenient to take the paper out. 

This is a routine I developed the first or second year I made crosses and it 
works for me.  Just another alternative.

Betty W. in South-central KY Zone 6

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