Re: Germination box
I knew if I said natural selection this is what I would get. But I am not
talking about all these other factors. Just germination. How strong can a
seed be if it doesn't germiniate at 70 to 75 degrees in a house? Maybe all
of the sanding of the sides is causing seeds that wouldn't germinate to
germinate. And perhaps these are the plants that are too hard to set, abort
frequently and split with regularity. In humans, women have miscarages with
regularity. Most of the time women don't even know that they happen. This
type of natural selection seems to be benificial, like a seed not
germinating. But this doens't stop humans from "babing" their children much
like we do our pumpkins. And sandly, we treat our pumpkins better than many
treat their kids. But does letting the bad seeds have to be bad. What are
we so scared of?
--- LIpumpkin@aol.com wrote:
> Bill....I'm no philosopher...probably spelled it wrong too....but who said
> anything about the best surviving? We cater to every whim of these plants
> we
> can figure out...these giants are the queen ants of our
> backyards---constantly preened by worker ants ..constantly fed by worker
> ants...constantly .well...you know...by worker breeding male ants......she
> cannot go out and catch dinner or build a nest....she's been catered to
> for
> eons and does what she does.We are picking the biggest/heaviest pumpkins
> and
> breeding them.Then choosing the biggest heaviest offspring from them and
> breeding them.We are more than likely losing any disease resistance,drought
>
> resistance,limiting variability along the way.we are making big pumpkins
> ...thats it.We are creating the seed stock that produces the
> biggest/heaviest
> fruit under catered conditions,not making the strongest plants.
> I am heavy,short,wear glasses,and certainly not the brightest dork in
> these
> parts...but I survive because of optometrists,high blood pressure
> medicine,a
> society that allows for people 5'-7 3/4",and the fact that i don't have to
> go
> out and kill a wild cow everyother day.(hey..I'm from NY..all our cows are
> wild).I survive because the environment i live in allows for it. Now living
>
> on PEI you may get away with leaving your plants untended a week or
> two...but
> many others would lose everything if left alone. We are not breeding the
> best
> plants.We are breeding the biggest fruit producers under optimum
> conditions.
> Sorry...I may have digressed a bit there.We may be ignoring the best seed
>
> to handle the real world(I'd bet on it) ,but we're looking for the
> biggest,not the best...and it depends on your definition of "best"....g
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Pumpkin-growing FAQ: http://www.mallorn.com/lists/pumpkins/search.cgi
> To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
> message text UNSUBSCRIBE PUMPKINS
>
>
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger.
http://im.yahoo.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Pumpkin-growing FAQ: http://www.mallorn.com/lists/pumpkins/search.cgi
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE PUMPKINS
