Re: Pollen Count
- To: <pumpkins@mallorn.com>
- Subject: Re: Pollen Count
- From: "* M* M* D* <j*@ovnet.com>
- Date: Wed, 8 Jul 1998 21:44:26 -0400
I wonder how multiple male flowers affect the consistence of the offspring
of a pumpkin. If you consider each male flower a brother then the genetic
expression potential will vary. Won't using one male assure more consistent
results from the seeds (for bigger or smaller of course)? Also won't it
allow then for more precise evaluation of a cross between two large
pumpkins?
Jim
-----Original Message-----
From: COMPUTRESE@aol.com <COMPUTRESE@aol.com>
To: pumpkins@mallorn.com <pumpkins@mallorn.com>
Date: Wednesday, July 08, 1998 5:31 PM
Subject: Re: Pollen Count
>Greetings!
>
>I cringe when I read of growers who use multiple males to pollinate their
>females or just "allow the bees to do it". I take a more scientific
approach,
>that is, I prefer to control the crosses carefully.
>
>I am not saying my field was a sterile lab experiment, but I had plenty of
>plants in bloom and always plenty more males than females. I used one male
>stamen per female flower. The blossom was labeled and dated, then tied
closed
>with a piece of string. Pollination was done in the early AM hours. Records
>were documented each day as progress was noted.
>
>I know open pollinations occur in nature, I just choose to do selective
>breeding. I am big into record keeping and data analysis. Open pollinations
>leave question marks as to heritage and make it virtually impossible to see
>trends from a hereditary standpoint. If you're growing for fun, open
>pollinations are OK. If you're in it for scientific, research or
competitive
>purposes, then you'll want to take the textbook approach. It's a little
more
>work, but well worth the effort.
>
>Barb
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