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05-17-2010, 11:05 AM | #46 |
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Some plants are like some animals and people
they just expire for reasons only known to them and God no emotional attachment needed just replace the plant |
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05-17-2010, 11:07 AM | #47 | ||
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...
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05-17-2010, 11:12 AM | #48 | |
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Quote:
We got two tomatoes off of it last year. |
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05-17-2010, 11:46 AM | #49 | |
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Ive seen it done but never used this method. video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgmJDwjUZwU
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True Son of Liberty Last edited by MOhillbilly; 05-17-2010 at 11:58 AM.. |
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05-17-2010, 11:48 AM | #50 |
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yup.
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05-18-2010, 12:48 PM | #51 |
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OP, Hybrids and Heirloom Plants
When reading about gardening there is often reference made to the terms "OP (Open Pollinated)", "Heirloom" and "Hybrid". These terms are often misused and more often misunderstood. The problem comes mainly from the fact that except for the term "OP", the other two have no absolute definition. I will explain. Let's start with the term "OP" or Open Pollinated. Plants that are "OP" will produce fruit with seeds that can be regrown to produce plants like the parent plants. The only requirement is that the pollen that fertilizes the plant must be from itself or another plant of the same variety. Using a tomato as an example, when an "OP" tomato like a Marglobe produces tomatoes after being pollinated by itself or another Marglobe the seeds within that tomato can be used to grow another generation of Marglobes like their parent plants. This allows you to continue to grow a certain variety of plant by collecting seeds from it. This is true as long as the flowers of an "OP" plant are pollinated ONLY by plants of that variety. Another type of tomato's pollen in a Marglobe tomato would produce a tomato with seeds that if planted would grow up a plant unlike a Marglobe in some ways since the seed would have characteristics of both parents for the most part. This is called "Cross-Pollination" or crossing one plants genetic code with another. Plants produced by cross pollination would be called "Hybrid". "Hybrids" are plants that are created by "Cross Pollination". In other words two different varieties of a plant are grown in close proximity and the result from pollinating each other is a new variety of that plant. So if you grow two different "OP" plants in a small enclosed area, the result would be seeds that showed some characteristics of both parents, not an exact copy of either parent. "Hybrids" often produce a seed that is sterile and will not grow. "Hybrids" that do produce a viable seed may or may not produce a plant that is even like either of the parents. Genetic crossing is an inexact science and trial and error is the rule not the exception. "Heirloom" plants are "OP" plants that have been grown in their variety for long enough period of time to be declared "Heirloom". The term is not a scientific term, but instead a gardener's term used to describe a certain history of the plant. It was coined since many families of older days would pass seeds down from one generation to another like they would pass a ring or piano down. The seeds are prized possessions of many families. An "Heirloom" plant has to be an "OP" type seed for the obvious reasons but the time it has existed and grown is debated. Some groups only consider it an Heirloom after 75 years while others have settled on 50 or even as little as 25. The point is that Heirloom is pretty much synonymous with OP, but with the added point that it has been around a while. Now for the confusing part. Some heirlooms are actually Hybrids in a technical sense. The Marglobe tomato has been around for nearly 100 years now. It is technically a Hybrid since it was created in 1917 by the USDA by crossing a Marvel tomato with a Globe tomato. The offspring of this cross produced a viable seed that grew a copy of itself with characteristics of the parents and a few extra good things that were the result of genetic crossing. The Marglobe was the first tomato that was resistant to Fusarium and Verticillium Wilt. Quite a big hit back then and since then the Marglobe has been parent to many tomato varieties with good disease resistance. In fact the Marglobe is the United States' most popular canning tomato for about 75 years now. The Marglobe and many other plants were developed by cross breeding, but since they were able to reproduce their kind generation after generation, they have been called "OP" now and since they have done it for a while many are also now considered "Heirloom". Summary" "OP" means you can save the seed and then regrow the same crop as long as it was not cross pollinated. "Hybrid" means a cross breed that will probably not produce seed that would grow a plant like it came from and more often than not grow any plant worth growing. "Heirloom" is basically an "OP" that has been around long enough to pass the test of time. Bonus Info: You also hear a lot of reference to "GMO" seeds. This refers to "Genetically Modified Oranisms" or plants that were produced by splicing the genetic material of various things (Not always plants, but frogs, goats, bacteria, virii, insects, etc.) by laboratories into plant genes to change the organism in ways to obtain changes that one could only dream of before. They have used frog DNA from a frog that doesn't freeze even at 0 degrees to make some plants more tolerant of low temps for example. The sky is the limit with GMO technology, and the highs and lows of potential successes and failures are seriously debated.
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05-18-2010, 01:22 PM | #52 |
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Nice write-up, MOhillbilly... thanks. I'm just a mater newbie who got sick of the storeboughts with the tough skins and the no-flavor. I figured the Heirlooms were around before we cross-bred & GMO'd tomatoes into the abominations that we buy in stores today. And now I know... the ...rest... of...the ...story...
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05-18-2010, 01:26 PM | #53 |
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Thanks, Mr. MOhillbilly. Fascinating stuff. I learned a great deal.
After reading that, it strikes me that I have no idea what these "heirlooms" are that I planted. The girl told me that there were several different varieties, so I guess I'll be cross-pollinating the entire group of plants and creating something that won't grow from seed next year. Or, maybe it will. I'm going to save some seeds to try. Any best practices on how to save tomato seeds? FAX |
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05-18-2010, 02:26 PM | #54 |
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You rock Mo. Good article. Rep.
Last edited by Saccopoo; 05-18-2010 at 02:33 PM.. |
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05-18-2010, 02:32 PM | #55 | |
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05-18-2010, 03:37 PM | #56 |
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My garden is going berserk with all this rain. I can't wait! I just add organic material and plant... pH is the most important part of any garden. If the pH ain't right the nutrients aren't available to the plants no matter what you try to do.
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05-18-2010, 03:48 PM | #57 |
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Mines goin crazy aswell though i wish itd dry out just long enough for me to till again. Forcast doesnt look good so screw it, ill just plant what i have left wet.
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05-18-2010, 03:54 PM | #58 |
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I got my beans in last week when the soil had barely dried and then it was another round of days of rain.
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05-18-2010, 04:03 PM | #59 |
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We are using mushroom dirt in our garden for the first time this year. Last year some neighbors of ours used it and had an amazing garden, their vegetables were gynormous.
We don't have any weeds and already have a few green tomatoes. A few days of sunshine and we should have some ready to eat. I picked some arugula yesterday, this mushroom dirt is amazing and fairly inexpensive considering we didn't have to add any fertilizer outside of the dirt. |
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05-18-2010, 04:08 PM | #60 |
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Know anything about the Mortgage Lifters? I picked up some of these this year, but hadn't heard of them before...any info would help--Thanks
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