Dear David and all,
Once again, my correspondant in Louisiana shares his long experience
with breeding Hippeastrum.
Best wishes, Joyce Miller, Gresham, Oregon
"Now to answer your question biefly, NO, there is no trend in
crossing breeding Hippeastrums, it does not matter which plant is the
pollen or seed parent. No, it does not matter which flower or scape
you use either.. Now all of this is predicated on one simple fact in
that both parents must or should be of the same chromosome number.
Remember that most species, not all, are diploids with 22
chromosomes and usually cross freely with each other. Modern hybrids
are mostly tetraploids with 44 chromosomes. Some trait dominance
would or might show up when crossing plants of different chromosome
levels.
If you wish, I could write up a one page, easy to understand
explanation of the latter situation tomorrow, on a document and send it
over.
Just be reminded that for every rule, there is an exception !
I find tremendous joy in cross breeding, learned it from my late
paternal grandfather as a child, but back then, we knew nothing of cross
breeding plants of different chromosome levels.
To your PBS member, do not be afraid to make all kinds of crosses,
some will take and other will fail, and this is the major part of the
learning process. It is very exciting to make crosses and
dream of what they might be and then wait with anxiety for them to
bloom. You will be very happy to see your very own hybrids bloom
and be the first person to see them in their glory.
Many commercial hybrids for the retail market are not the best, they
are just the most easy to propogate and sell quickly at a profit.
Hippeastrums are in that group.
My best of luck to anyone who cross breeds. I speak everyday with
friends who cross everything from exotic birds to plants and there is
always some new information to be shared. Barry