In My eMailbox, Stabilize an F1 Hybrid
My Mailbox
Now let’s look what happens to the genes of the F1 hybrid population when allowed to self pollinate.
This is the topic of a paper that landed in my emailbox, via a few links. It is an article about how to stabilize characteristics that you like in an F1 hybrid tomato. The tomato is used with the assumption that it is self-fertilizing. This technique pretty much can be applied to other F1 hybrids if you prevent outcrossing. The bad part is that it takes about 8 years to stabilize your favored characteristics. The good part is, that if you are in a situation where you only have hybrid seed available, you can develop a stable open pollinated variety for future use. It is very difficult to stabilize a gene that you can’t see, such as disease resistance.
So here is the link to the article: http://kdcomm.net/%7Etomato/gene/genes2.html
John E. Perkins
Tags: F1 hybrid, genetics, hybrid seed, open pollinated seed, seed saving, seeds, tomato
Garden How-to, In My Mailbox | John E. Perkins January 16, 2010
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