AG Pollen Study
- To: pumpkins@mallorn.com
- Subject: AG Pollen Study
- From: H* E* P*
- Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1999 20:57:04 -0700
Brad Walters and ??? Bobier(?) [I wish people signed their mail]
have brought up some important ideas that I did not suspect.
I suggest during 1999 we cooperative pool our knowledge of Pollination
and pollen. If there is not a webpage on Pollen I will start one.
I had planned to just rub a male flower on a virgin female, the above
letters got me thinking. I may now harvest the male flower before it
opens. I harvest blackberry and strawberry flowers before they open.
For most plants, breeders harvest male flowers before they open and
then place them in a petri dishes in a warm dry location overnight. The
anthers open and a huge amount of pollen is found. A camel hair brush is
then used to place pollen on the female. Often the dry pollen can be
stored in the freezer.
Recall that in apples, the fruit is larger when all the seeds are
fertilized and growing. That is the reason orchardists rent bees. The
seeds release growth factors that cause larger fruit. If the same is
true in AG, then we need to learn more about pollen.
It is my impression that poor fertilization in watermelon and cucumber
causes mishaped, smaller fruit.
It would be nice to learn whether the little empty white seeds in AG
are
1 unfertilized
2 abortive due to a lethal mutant
3 abortive due to a develomental problem such as lack of water.
4 whether more seeds means a larger fruit.
Do the pumpkin books cover any of this?
--
Harold Eddleman Ph.D. Microbiologist. i*@disknet.com
Location: Palmyra IN USA; 36 kilometers west of Louisville, Kentucky
http://www.disknet.com/indiana_biolab
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