digitS'
Garden Master
•
•
•
Updates?
•
•
Updates?
Lettuce Breeding
- Thread starter Branching Out
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #12
Branching Out
Deeply Rooted
Thanks for asking digitS'! I have run into a little snag, in that I am not able to discern any noticeable difference that would lead me to believe I have a successful cross of red and green Romaine. All of the lettuce plants look very similar so far, suggesting that either all of them are crossed-- or perhaps none of them is crossed. In rereading Frank Morton's information on selecting cultivars for crossing, two different types (i.e. one red and one green) yield something that is muddy in the middle. By selecting two similar types, each dark red for example, you end up with a red that is deeper and darker than either of the two that you started with. Perhaps I should have started with two similar cultivars rather that a red and a green.
But-- selecting off-types (natural crosses) that pop up in the lettuce patch is going very well for me. I am growing out an incredibly deep, dark maroon Romaine that appeared in a patch of Darkness lettuce last year, and those plants are uniform and thriving. While the off-type could have been from a stray seed I am thinking that it's a genuine cross, as I cannot find any such Romaine elsewhere. Next year I'll grow out a large patch of that one again, just to make sure it remains true to type.
And I discovered another natural cross this year too! One of the new lettuces that I'm growing this year is called Balls Afire, a Frank Morton lettuce that looks like a small red flaming tennis ball. After several weeks in the sun two of the plants turned from red to green, so now I have a couple of unique specimens of that variety that I can save seed from. Green Balls Afire! So the plot thickens.
But-- selecting off-types (natural crosses) that pop up in the lettuce patch is going very well for me. I am growing out an incredibly deep, dark maroon Romaine that appeared in a patch of Darkness lettuce last year, and those plants are uniform and thriving. While the off-type could have been from a stray seed I am thinking that it's a genuine cross, as I cannot find any such Romaine elsewhere. Next year I'll grow out a large patch of that one again, just to make sure it remains true to type.
And I discovered another natural cross this year too! One of the new lettuces that I'm growing this year is called Balls Afire, a Frank Morton lettuce that looks like a small red flaming tennis ball. After several weeks in the sun two of the plants turned from red to green, so now I have a couple of unique specimens of that variety that I can save seed from. Green Balls Afire! So the plot thickens.
Attachments
Last edited:
