Re: HYB: Breeding Strategy
iris@hort.net
  • Subject: Re: HYB: Breeding Strategy
  • From: L* M* <l*@lock-net.com>
  • Date: Fri, 06 Jul 2012 20:39:57 -0400
Thanks for the comments, Betty.
So far, branching seems to vary a lot in the IMM kids. One of the reasons I picked these (GOLDEN PANTHER, FOGBOUND (& TREASURED), CELEBRATION SONG) to focus on more than some of the other 'good' shotgun crosses is precisely because these went so 'high' in the AIS award system. I can't evaluate them here because they have poor branching, low bud count, bunched up buds, short stalks, but am counting on their having the 'good' genes for those traits, just not able to express them in my growing conditions. TREASURED does such a wonderful job as a pollen parent for form, I've included it in the mix. So far, all the kids from it have had decent branching & bud count; not the best maybe, but ok.
I added SEAKIST in spite of the open standards because it doesn't always pass that to the kids (and I'm hoping will be easy to be rid of in grandkids) and has shown ability to give a range of patterns to the falls. Plus passes on super substance. 


Twenty five years ago I was advised that it was important to use the best branched iris as your pod parent as the quality is difficult to recover. Check your judgebs manual to see what AIS finds acceptable


As for EARL OF ESSEX, it never did well here - died long ago.
OVER AND OVER made pollen this year and wound up on ENGLISH COTTAGE. One of the few crosses that made seeds.
I started trying to make a spreadsheet of all the crosses that have proved useful here, trying to see if there are other 'shotgun' crosses I might want to add to the mix. There are a <lot> to choose from. & I don't have info on which of the non-top award winners are likely to have the best branching & bud count under ideal growing conditions.
Thanks again, Betty. Next project will be to make a list of the other shotgun crosses & see if I can find out which have the 'best' branching/bud count genes. CSONG has been great, esp in later generations, but too soon to know about GPanther & FOG. First generation isn't too great, but one from FOG was pretty good.
If fertility issues are too much trouble in next generations with these chosen targets, I will pick some other 'shotgun' crosses to work on. CSONG & FOGBOUND (via TREASURED) are definitely in the mix.
Not too sure about GP - 2nd generation this year look bad; & only one seedling from IMM X GP survived, <but> two pods (!!) from same cross this abysmal year, 30 seeds total, giving it another try.
Branching on ABOUT TOWN seedlings is phenomenal - form is lacking, so I haven't even tried fertility on any of them. Will reconsider! 

Hot & humid, but at least it rained!

Linda Mann east TN USA zone 7b

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