From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Ga.

This has been brought up before..How would one hybridnize an ag strain? By selfing?? How many generations of selfing? Also,,would selfing help with adaptability of a plant in an enviroment like here in s.Ga.?I notice alot of growers growing seed from with in their region..Will growing the seed from your pkin you grew year before help to adapt these giants to your climate?Thanks...
J

8/21/2003 12:52:51 PM

Oz

what is selfing?

8/21/2003 1:16:06 PM

That State Up North

A hybrid is any cross between two different individuals. So all you have to do is cross between two different plants and you have a hybrid. A hybrid however may or may not be a good seed, what you are after is heterosis, whish is more commonly known as hybrid vigor. Not every hybrid has hybrid vigor, actually the vast majority do not. Producing hybrid vigor by crossing AG x AG is likely to be difficult to begin with because this is a same species cross, and a very select subset of a species of that. Furthermore AG appears from preliminary investigation to have a high inbreeding coefficient, and high inbreeding coefficients are often associated with greater difficulty in achieving heterosis. Heterosis is most commonly associated with a cross between very different individuals (often of different species). This is very difficult to obtain, and traditionally requires much work with hundreds or thousands of plants and years of selection, and experimentation to find the correct gene lines that will hybridize to produce heterosis. Not something the back-yard pumpkin grower has a good shot of accomplishing. But this is an event to consider when looking through your seed collection of thousands of seeds, and deciding if a particular seed may exhibit a degree of hybrid vigor.

Self pollination is taking a male flower and using it on a female flower on the same plant in a controlled cross. This is actually the only pollination that can be made which is not a hybrid.

just a few thoughts

Nic Welty

8/21/2003 4:20:11 PM

Oz

cool,,,does selfing produce more vigor?

8/21/2003 5:58:59 PM

Md/ Usa

selfing does not previde vigor in a greater amount then open polenating and ag with other ag's.

8/21/2003 6:09:57 PM

Long Island,New York

Hey Nic...how about a sibb cross? Wouldnt that be a non hybrid cross too?

8/21/2003 9:40:58 PM

That State Up North

Glenn

Sib actualy would count as a hybrid because it is a cross between two geneticaly different individuals.
Food for thought vigor is not singularily associated with heterosis, that is just one means by which some vigor has been observed. Vigor can also be attributed to heritable traits, and in that case selfing and selection from a large pool can increase vigor, but a very large population is often necessary for success.

8/21/2003 10:10:59 PM