Re: How true to seed?
At 08:21 AM 8/26/99 -0800, Nan Sterman wrote:
>How true to seed is "true to seed?"
As I understand it, it means the baby plant has the exactly the same
genetic makeup as the parent and will look and act like the parent plant --
at least as far as the traits that interest you.
>I started an avocado pit from my favorite kind of avocado a few years back.
Avocados generally do NOT come true from seed, and seedlings commonly
produce inferior fruit (after a long wait to bearing age) so they are
normally grafted. However, you COULD end up with an even better fruit than
the parent had, you just never know.
By comparison, some types of mangos produce seedlings that are identical to
the parent, so it works fine to just sprout the seed when you want more
mango plants.
Katherine Pyle
Berkeley, California
