Hosta genetics help, please.....

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eastwood2007
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Hosta genetics help, please.....

Post by eastwood2007 »

I have pm'd a few, but I need some help from some experienced hybridizers, please.... :oops: :roll: :oops: :roll:

I have been Googling and trying to research hosta hybridizing and while I have found alot of good info on the "how-to's" of pollinating, I cannot find any info on genetics...ie. dominant/recessive traits, what traits pod parent or pollen parent carries, etc.

Are there any websites or books you may recommend? Help!!!! We're blooming here and I'm lost! Thanks in advance! :D
Charla
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thehostagourmet
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Hybridizing

Post by thehostagourmet »

Charla, you might begin by reading http://www.hostalibrary.org/hyb/index.html without skipping anything. If you have more questions then, ask again, I'll be happy to tell you the little I know.

George
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Post by Kent »

Charla,

These are not pure species that we hybridize with so it's difficult to tell what will always be dominant or recessive.

So the best thing to do is experiment (this is the fun part) find out what works and what doesn't. Keep notes if needed. You will soon learn what plants to use for the given traits you desire, you will also find many surprises :o

Like they say in the Nike commercials...Just do it!

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MollyD
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Post by MollyD »

Read through that link you posted George and the whole process is very much what I do when hybridizing my daylilies. Even the collection and storing of the pollen.

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wzbt03
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just do it

Post by wzbt03 »

I was going to comment but when Kent says "Just Do It", he has offered the best advice.
If any of us are half as successful as Kent we will be happy.
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MollyD
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Post by MollyD »

Sounds like something I'd like to try doing.

My next question (and I'm still reading that web page) would be how long can seeds be stored and what are the proper conditons for storage.

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largosmom
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Post by largosmom »

From my reading so far, hosta breeding is more art than science.

I've had some advice, so far, and I'll use the term "dominant" very loosely, because as far as I know, there are no strictly dominant characteristics. In other words, if you breed a fragrant hosta to a non-fragrant hosta, you cannot expect 100 % of the offspring to be fragrant. There also seem to be more than one gene responsible for some of the colors, and that makes it tougher. If I were looking for a look of "dominant" characteristics, I would want to know:

Shiny leaf vs non-shiny leaf
white backs vs not
What color should the parents be to get: gold, green, blue, dark green, etc.
Waviness...dominant or not

The only way to be able to figure this out is to have a set of pod parents with a predictable "seed set" and good germination rate so that you could cross them with various other pollen parents to figure out the percentage of offspring that have the characteristic in question. There seems to be so many different combinations that it would be hard to figure out without isolating the pairs of characteristics.

Laura
eastwood2007
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Post by eastwood2007 »

Thanks for the input everyone...I have read the hybridizing info on hosta library, several times. I think I have an idea about "how" to apply pollen, etc. I just don't know what to apply it to...what do I look for when choosing pod parent...streaks, I know, but which parent determines leaf shape and size...? Color? Growth habit? Flower color and size? I may be just too new at this to understand what y'all are tellin' me, but I just don't seem to be gettin' it. :oops: Thanks sincerely- I guess I just need to do what Kent says...and practice. It is a habit of mine to over research everything I try, so that is probably what I am trying to do... :roll: It's just that you get one chance per year, and all... :roll:

Thanks again! I really appreciate your thoughts! :D
Charla
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scootersbear
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Post by scootersbear »

I think the only true dominate trait is there mostly going to be green.
Most of its just a good guess or luck.
Take a hosta this year and self pollinate it, don't use a plain jane green or a streaked. Pie crusted, red petiols, etc.. and make sure it extremely fertile and produces a lot of seed in a single pod, then when you grow your seedlings take note of the similarities and differenes, bet your list of differences will be longer. In short it's the genetic possibilities that makes this fun.
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MollyD
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Post by MollyD »

Charla,

From what I'm reading it sounds to me as though hosta breeding (like daylily breeding) is still in it's infancy and the genetics involved are not fully understood yet.
Go for it! What have you got to loose any way? If you are thinking time well that same amount of time will have passed whether you hybridize or not!

Good Luck!

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Post by Tigger »

Charla,

I'm not a hybridizer, so can't speak from personal experience, but from all I've ever read and seen, there does not appear to be any significant sex-linked genetics in hosta pollination. I.e., what a plant can pass along in its pollen isn't any different from using that plant as pod parent. It's certainly true of flower fragrance, for example. (I haven't even heard about minor traits, for comparison that human baldness comes more down the maternal line.) The notable exception, as documented extensively, is that the pod parent must be streaked to have any significant chance of producing variegated offspring.
thehostagourmet
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Hosta hybridizing

Post by thehostagourmet »

Charla, I taught my first Hosta College class this March on Hosta Hybridizing. One student thought it wasn't elementary enough. You might have liked it.

The Hosta Library hybridizing section has at the top of the first page a link you might have missed, because it has responses from hybridizers about the questions you're asking. It's "different traits". Mary Chastain, Bill Meyer, Kent, and others responded.

George
eastwood2007
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Re: Hosta hybridizing

Post by eastwood2007 »

thehostagourmet wrote:Charla, I taught my first Hosta College class this March on Hosta Hybridizing. One student thought it wasn't elementary enough. You might have liked it.

The Hosta Library hybridizing section has at the top of the first page a link you might have missed, because it has responses from hybridizers about the questions you're asking. It's "different traits". Mary Chastain, Bill Meyer, Kent, and others responded.

George
George, I think I would have liked that class! :D Thanks for the tip about the link. I had missed it...what great info there is there from the who's who of hybridizers. Thanks for pointing me to it.

I also found some older posts on hybridizing...all this info has really helped alot.

Alot has been done in recent years in hosta hybridizing, so I didn't see a need to reinvent the wheel, so to speak. I knew the info had to be out there somewhere! I love playing with all this stuff, but my time is limited. I have to make the most of the time I use for this. I have those 5 great streaked hostas that were given to me, and I want to make some intelligent efforts with them. I practiced this morning on a few others I had blooming. What fun!

Thanks again for everyone's help. I don't know yet what the results will be, but thanks to you I am at least off and running! :D :D :o :D
Charla
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