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In the shade - PDX, OR

There are plenty of these crosses & reverse)but most seem to have offspring of very light color.

Only two outliers are the 845 Nesbitt & 707 Toftness which seem to throw very nice medium orange. These two seem to be the only ones that rec'd the orange gene from mom.

3/8/2005 12:55:35 AM

Hudsonville, Michigan (michiganpumpkins@sbcglobal.net)

An interesting study of color genes can be found by following the offspring of the 842 Eaton and Al's reverse cross, the 1236. I grew an 842 Eaton last year that threw pretty good medium orange (682 Edwards), but that seems to be an anomaly for the 842 Eaton. Almost all 842 offspring are light colored.
By contrast, 1236 Eaton throws a range of color, with a few being a almost white (like 1236 was), and some being a dark red orange (darker than 846 was). I believe this is a good example of how color is more influenced by the pollinator than by the mother plant. A seed with 846 as pollinator has potential for better color than a seed with 723 as pollinator.
Maybe someone with a firmer knowledge of genetics than I can explain why this is so/or refute the idea. But for now I'm going with Eric Gerry's theory to 'pollinate big and ugly with orange and lovely'...since in my opinion color is governed more by the pollinator.
Frank

3/8/2005 8:13:05 AM

Minnesota(dw447@fastmail.fm)

Interesting thoughts and observations.
I'm wondering if other traits seem to be more influenced by one side or the other, such as wall thickness, shape, etc.

Doug

3/8/2005 9:29:46 AM

Hudsonville, Michigan (michiganpumpkins@sbcglobal.net)

Oops...I should have said that 1236 Eaton throws offspring "some being a dark red orange (darker than 842 was)." (Not 846, THAT was about as dark as it gets.)

Also, it seems that when introducing color on the pollinating side, you will more likely get consistent results in terms of color if there was a recessive, unexpressed color gene already present in the mother plant....

3/8/2005 7:39:38 PM