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Offlinepossum Happy Birthday!
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Registered: 12/12/12
Posts: 495
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Cross Pollinating Tomato Plants
    #18598064 - 07/23/13 02:36 AM (10 years, 8 months ago)

Okay, here we go.  I am in Cape Cod, Massachusetts for the summer staying with my grandfather. We share a plot at a local community garden in town.  Recently, we became interested in cross pollinating tomato plants to create some F1 hybrids.  The idea emerged when we were given seeds from an unknown strain of tomato plants, that appear hardier against leaf diseases that tomato plants tend to get as they mature.  Our goal is to cross this hardier, unknown strain with some of our Rutger's tomatoes, as well as Aunt Gertie's Gold.  I will keep this thread up to date and will include photo's as we move along.

First, we began emasculation by locating a flower which has not opened yet.  We knew that it is important to select a flower that is at the right stage, and has not yet began to self-pollinate.  According to my sources, the right stage will be a flower that is just about to show yellow prior to opening.  After we located the right flower, we used a pair of small tweezers to carefully remove the anther cone.  To achieve this, we pinched the side of the anther cone using our tweezers and pulled straight out to eliminate the possibility of damaging the pistillate part. Holding the base of the flower at the pedecil with our other hand, we kept things from moving around.  Personally, I found it much easier to remove the anther cone by first snipping the petals and leaves around the anther using a pair of small scissors.  We were careful that we didn't damage the stigma and style.  The pedicel, the sepals and the pistillate parts were all intact.

Next we began collecting pollen from the tomato plant we wished to breed.  Today we crossed Aunt Gertie's Gold with the unknown strain, which i will refer to as Hanks' tomatoes since he is the guy who gave us the seeds :lol:



This can be done by gently tapping the flower with your finger or a pencil and allowing the pollen to fall on to a dark surface for collecting.  We used a spoon masked with guerilla tape so that the pollen would be more visible.  This worked well because we were able to collect pollen easily and we could see it well after.  Some people like to use a lens removed from a pair of old sunglasses.



For collecting, my grandfather had the idea to use a small motor powered by a 9 volt battery attached to a popsicle stick to mimic the vibration of a bumble bee.  We found that this worked well.  An electric toothbrush would achieve the same results.



It was finally time to transfer pollen to the stigma.  This was done by gently brushing the stigma against the pollen we had collected on the spoon.  We had to be extra careful not to damage the pistillate parts.



We than used our small scissors to snip the surrounding flowers.  This will prevent them from pollenating our exposed stigma.  Using some soft embroidery thread we marked our stigma so it would be more visible.

[

Now that Hanks' tomatoes have been pollenated with Aunt Gertie's Gold we will look for the ovary enlarging (the fruit developing) in a few days. If pollination and subsequent fertilization don't occur the flowers will abort and abscise.  I am new to this but wanted to share my experience with you guys and well as document the process.

Here is a photo of our plot and below a photo of the entire garden.





*edit* 400th post :cheers:

Edited by possum (07/24/13 09:46 PM)

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OfflineSalnugs
A NUG OF ?
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Registered: 06/16/12
Posts: 1,972
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Re: Cross Pollinating Tomato Plants [Re: possum]
    #18601465 - 07/23/13 07:05 PM (10 years, 8 months ago)

super siick dude!!!!!
JELLY for sure :tongue2:


--------------------
I was entering alien ships and walking the walls of my brain , To say the least.

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InvisibleCrimson
Toots

Registered: 03/16/04
Posts: 25,495
Re: Cross Pollinating Tomato Plants [Re: possum]
    #18602603 - 07/23/13 11:09 PM (10 years, 8 months ago)

i wish i was a master of tomaterz! :flowers:

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OfflineSmOakland
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Registered: 02/26/13
Posts: 373
Last seen: 8 years, 2 months
Re: Cross Pollinating Tomato Plants [Re: Crimson]
    #18604197 - 07/24/13 11:03 AM (10 years, 8 months ago)

Cool project Possum.  I think this thread might have received some less infantile responses if you had posted in the Ethnobotanical Garden.  Thanks for documenting the process.  I personally stopped growing tomatoes a couple years ago due to the fact that even the heirloom "creole" tomatoes tend to rot before becoming ripe down here in New Orleans.  The leaf miners and other insects are relentless, and I prefer a more or less "organic" approach.  I used to grow tomatoes in California though.  It seems like you have thought everything out thoroughly- I have no suggestions.  Community gardens are the wave of the future, good luck.

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OfflineKaptKid
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Registered: 12/11/03
Posts: 6,252
Loc: Bright Side of the Sun
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Re: Cross Pollinating Tomato Plants [Re: SmOakland]
    #18626221 - 07/28/13 10:25 PM (10 years, 7 months ago)

This is a cool project.

I've only been growing for two years.
Very small.


--------------------
Child of the 60's, Tripping ever since.


:sun:

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