Galanthus January 2011

[KentGardener]

Nice find Melvyn.  I had one a couple of years ago that looked similar and I had high hopes for - alas it didnīt appear in 2010.   

[Gerard Oud]

Big Boy is right Brian
Dutch Windmill not

Dutch Windmill is a spike and its sterile.
Its Daglingworth 

[Gerard Oud]

You can get more tetraploid snowdrops when you treat diploids with NO2 in a gascontainer with 5 atm during 8 to 10 hours. When you look at the pollen under a microscope  70 to 80 % has doubled. You can do the same with the less fertile triploids and end up with hexaploid pollen 50 to 60 %.
I have stopped with the experiments because it took to much time and i have a good choice from several very nice snowdrops to use as parents.

When you know that only 1 % of all the new seedlings is worth saving, i try to make the best combinations with using good growers and those who are immune for stago,botrytus, virus, etc

[Diane Whitehead]

Last year I collected seeds from a lot of elwesii that had been sprayed with
herbicide as they were emerging.  They germinated just fine, and in about
five years I should know if any had their ploidy changed.

[Gerard Oud]

Or there appear clones that are resistant against herbicide

[johnw]

Gerard - Haver you tried Surflan (10μM Oryzalin solution) to induce polyploidy?  It's a pre-emergent herbicide and has been quite successful on perennials if the emerging seedling is immersed.  I tried it on bamboo seedlings in 1999 in the hope of getting bigger Fargesias.  They are still under 50cm tall.

I found a bunch of nicely variegated Acer rubrum seedlings one year and dug them up. They all quickly reverted to the type the following year.  I found out later the area had been sprayed with Roundup.

johnw - +3c, a few snowflakes ocassionally.

[Gerard Oud]

I haver never tried or going to try to use herbicide, because i am afraid that the concentration will be too high and with herbicide the DNA structure can be damaged too!

[Martin Baxendale]

I have a couple of elwesii that I'm starting to think (from seed raising results) may be hexaploids, so I'm starting to use them. It all takes so bloody long to see results though. If you find you're on the wrong track with certain crosses, it can be a lot of time wasted.

[johnw]

I haver never tried or going to try to use herbicide, because i am afraid that the concentration will be too high and with herbicide the DNA structure can be damaged too!

Using the precise polyploiding mix rate for Surflan I had not a single loss of the fragile sprouting seedlings.

johnw

[johnw]

I have a couple of elwesii that I'm starting to think (from seed raising results) may be hexaploids, so I'm starting to use them. It all takes so bloody long to see results though. If you find you're on the wrong track with certain crosses, it can be a lot of time wasted.

 

Martin

Not wasted time, results from such experiments  - successful or not   - always give valuable information.  Keep at it.

johnw 

[Gerard Oud]

I keep it in mind John, but like Martin says it takes soo bloody long. And instead spending lots of time and money on these experiments you forget or neglect to breed the ones you think they could be a good combination!

[Diane Whitehead]

I think you can tell a polyploid by the size of the stomata which are
larger than those of a diploid.  I don't know whether this would work
well with a monocot, though.

[Brian Ellis]

Big Boy is right Brian
Dutch Windmill not

Dutch Windmill is a spike and its sterile.
Its Daglingworth 

Wow Big Boy and Daglingworth, what size will the result be I wonder!  Keep us posted Gerard

[Maggi Young]

Big Boy is right Brian
Dutch Windmill not

Dutch Windmill is a spike and its sterile.
Its Daglingworth  

Wow Big Boy and Daglingworth, what size will the result be I wonder!  Keep us posted Gerard

Big enough to be a better idea give up and grow Leucojums, I expect


PS: I've made this  a new thread for January 2011.

[johnw]

Apparently Hans Guck had his eyes closed (or was it a veil?) in my previous posting, here he is wide-eyed.  Compton Court seems very late this year. Also a few others including the very tiny Magnet type 6384, rizehensis and very long distance shot of Wendy's Gold (why are blondes so difficult, especially that one from Norfolk?).

johnw   - 0c and ground bare & frozen