Guest guest Posted May 27, 2008 Report Share Posted May 27, 2008 It probably would work, but with rose family species (and tomato family as well - but that's another topic), genetic self- incompatibility is rampant. There are 2 subfamilies with well-studied self-incompatibility alleles - the apple/pear subfamily and the cherry/ almond/peach subfamily. The nerdy neat thing is that these self- incompatibility alleles are often more closely related between members of different species than members of the same species - a phenomenon known in the population genetics world as " trans-specific polymorphism " . Much of the work on self-incompatibility in the rose family has been done in China, Japan and Korea. Most of the work in the tomato family has been done in the US. In both families, (when self-incompatibility occurs) it is a simple one-locus gene with multiple alleles. If the pollen shares an allele with the stigma on which it lands, the pollen will not germinate -- no fruit set. I'm not sure if nursery names correspond to different self- incompatibility genotypes so i'm not sure if it is possible to figure out without more in-depth species/hybrid knowledge which ones would be compatible. -jennifer On May 27, 2008, at 2:56 PM, haecklers wrote: > This is in the current issue of Mother Earth News, and tells how to > grow your own peach, apricot and nectarine trees from seeds of fruit > you get locally. I wonder if it works for cherries and plums, too??? > > http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/2008-06-01/Grow-Free- > Fruit-Trees.aspx > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 28, 2008 Report Share Posted May 28, 2008 --- In , Steinbachs <jen@...> wrote: <<I'm not sure if nursery names correspond to different self- incompatibility genotypes so i'm not sure if it is possible to figure out without more in-depth species/hybrid knowledge which ones would be compatible.>> When you buy a fruit tree, you are told (or should ask!) if it is self fertile or if it needs another variety to cross fertilise. They have figured it out for you. The problem with growing anything from seed these days is that one can't usually be sure if its an F1 hybrid - if so, it will not breed true and look or taste like the plant that you got the seed from. Also, you may spend five years growing a seed that produces a fruit less like that delicious apple that gave you the seed and more like one of its scrubby sour ancestors! I am glad that the spirit of mother earth news lives on, but I would buy the fruit trees - grow some seeds for fun if you wish, but don't expect too much! regards from edella who has learned all this by painful experience! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 28, 2008 Report Share Posted May 28, 2008 I spent a lot of time googling it yesterday and I found some who had a lot of wild apple trees on their property and said most of the trees gave pretty good apples. And apples are the ones that you most often hear not to grow from seed! I did not hear much other than Mother Earth News about peaches, etc. coming out close to the parent, but in case that is so, I pulled the baby peach trees growing under the one I bought from the nursery - its fruit is completely flavorless! On a fruit grower's list there was a discussion about the changing nature of grafted trees, that the fruit changes over time so after some decades you aren't getting a fruit very similar to the named variety it is supposed to be coming from. Anybody remember how good Braeburn apples used to be? Now they're mushy, insipid, and taste more like red delicious, which are bitter and awful to me. It makes me wonder if red delicious were actually delicious once upon a time! My daughter has an apple seedling that she got out of an apple. We're going to try our luck. I can't imagine it being much worse than what we get in the grocery store. And for her, sour would be a bonus! > > <<I'm not sure if nursery names correspond to different self- > incompatibility genotypes so i'm not sure if it is possible to figure > out without more in-depth species/hybrid knowledge which ones would be > compatible.>> > > When you buy a fruit tree, you are told (or should ask!) if it is self > fertile or if it needs another variety to cross fertilise. They have > figured it out for you. > > The problem with growing anything from seed these days is that one can't > usually be sure if its an F1 hybrid - if so, it will not breed true and > look or taste like the plant that you got the seed from. > > Also, you may spend five years growing a seed that produces a fruit less > like that delicious apple that gave you the seed and more like one of > its scrubby sour ancestors! > > I am glad that the spirit of mother earth news lives on, but I would buy > the fruit trees - grow some seeds for fun if you wish, but don't expect > too much! > > regards from edella who has learned all this by painful experience! > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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