Cross Pollination

[setter4]

They are supposed to be self-pollinating usually, tomatoes are. I've read some folks who say that potato-leafed varieties are more likely to cross. I think that these are all heirlooms and the gardeners may be especially concerned.

I've grown my grandmother's tomato, a plum saladette and pehaps "Porters," in my garden for about 15 years without any noticeable change in the plants and fruit. It stays right in amongst hybrids & open-pollinated varieties in my Tomato Jungle.

Maybe since my investment in her tomato is growing rather high ♫, I will start hiding a plant or 2 on the far side of the garden just to be sure. It would be disappointing if Setter4's "could" became a "did" . . .

Steve

If I had a tomato that was REALLY important to me and i couldn't pick up more seeds someplace esily I too would move a couple waaaaay over there to protect them!

 

[seedcorn]

cross pollinating corn can be a problem. Planting in stages may or may not help depending on what you are planting. If it's the same maturity corn, it will stop most of it. But if you plant a full season, then 2-4 weeks later an earlier variety, they could still pollinate at the same time.

Corn pollination can vary quite a bit due to how fast it germs, grows (heat units accumulated) and maturity of corn.

 

[patandchickens]

You really really do not have to plant things far away to get pure seeds without crosspollination. (e.t.a - for insect pollinated things anyhow. Wind pollinated ones are harder to do this with, and you certainly can't do it in bulk like for corn)

All you have to do... and it is REALLY EASY... is make a few fine mesh bags to tie around a spray of flowers about to open, so natural pollinators cannot get in, and then when you see flowers in there open, hand-pollinate them (with picked flower or paintbrush) and re-close the bag til the petals have withered. Then just leave a twist-tie or suchlike on the stem there, so you remember which fruits are guaranteed-non-crosspollinated to save seeds from.

Extremely simple, takes longer to describe than to do, almost. And then you can plant things right in each others' laps if you want.

Pat

 

[vfem]

You really really do not have to plant things far away to get pure seeds without crosspollination. (e.t.a - for insect pollinated things anyhow. Wind pollinated ones are harder to do this with, and you certainly can't do it in bulk like for corn)

All you have to do... and it is REALLY EASY... is make a few fine mesh bags to tie around a spray of flowers about to open, so natural pollinators cannot get in, and then when you see flowers in there open, hand-pollinate them (with picked flower or paintbrush) and re-close the bag til the petals have withered. Then just leave a twist-tie or suchlike on the stem there, so you remember which fruits are guaranteed-non-crosspollinated to save seeds from.

Extremely simple, takes longer to describe than to do, almost. And then you can plant things right in each others' laps if you want.

Pat

You are a genious!!!!!!!!!!!

I need to do this with my tomatoes... I thought it would be a lot of work, but if I get to chose just 1 or fruits I know I want the seeds from, that would be easy to do with just 2-3 flowers per plant. Thank you soooooooooooooo much!!!!

 

[patandchickens]

You are a genious!!!!!!!!!!!

No, I've just spent a lot of time amongst plant evolutionary ecologists

It adapts real well to home garden use though.

Have fun

Pat

 

[Rusty]

I wonder if this is what happened to my tomatoes last year? I planted 30-40 romas and then about 10 beefsteaks. What I ended up with was a fruit that looked like a beefsteak except it was really small. Made the WORST tomato sauce I have ever tasted. I finally threw out the whole batch because it was so bitter it made me gag.

So now I am wondering if something crossed with the Roma and the beefsteak while they were in the fields before the seeds were ever harvested and sold to me--or was it because *I* planted them next to one another?

In any case, it won't happen this year because I am NOT planting Roma, just a few slicing tomatoes.

LOL The longer I garden, the more I discover how little I really know about gardening!




Rusty

 

[vfem]

I think gardening is awesome for the learning experience. You never fully get EVERYTHING right... and you have to adapt a lot and often. It makes it continuous... you know what I mean?

So you make a few mistakes, you learned something and another season will come. Keeps it interesting and you don't get bored.

 

[digitS']

This is one thing I like about hybrids - with the hands-on breeding, the seed companies darn well better have gotten it right. The result is consistency.

With open-pollination, garden plants can get kind of "random" out there.

As far as gardening mistakes, some aren't. We can't control the weather and just try to adapt in our choices and care. But, it is a full 12 months before we can figure out if we "got it right" the 2nd or 3rd or 20th go-around.

One thing nice about getting old - I realize that one year follows another. Perfection isn't instantaneous and can't usually happen, anyway. But, the opportunities run on for awhile .

Steve

 

[theOEGBman]

You really really do not have to plant things far away to get pure seeds without crosspollination. (e.t.a - for insect pollinated things anyhow. Wind pollinated ones are harder to do this with, and you certainly can't do it in bulk like for corn)

All you have to do... and it is REALLY EASY... is make a few fine mesh bags to tie around a spray of flowers about to open, so natural pollinators cannot get in, and then when you see flowers in there open, hand-pollinate them (with picked flower or paintbrush) and re-close the bag til the petals have withered. Then just leave a twist-tie or suchlike on the stem there, so you remember which fruits are guaranteed-non-crosspollinated to save seeds from.

Extremely simple, takes longer to describe than to do, almost. And then you can plant things right in each others' laps if you want.

Pat

Thank you for explaining this in detail, Pat. I've read about it multiple times but it was just a brief section about it and my little brain just couldnt pick it up.