Container Garden Plant Breeding Experiments

Heather Gardener wrote:Hi everyone,

I live in a small house, with a small concreted yard covered in containers of compost, which is where I grow. My desire to pursue my interest in plant breeding and enthusiasm for big plants that aren’t all that suitable for containers is somewhat at odds with the lack of space. You gotta appreciate the irony!

This year is the year that I decided to finally actively try to undertake some plant breeding, rather than just read about it and get excited. This year is also the year that the slugs have decided to actively eat my breeding programme participants. It does comfort me slightly to know that Carol Deppe says her plants have accidentally been selected for the ability to outgrow slug attacks, given that she chooses to garden organically. I am more than happy to be selecting for that too.

I have a lot of projects that I want to undertake. I’m currently working on a mini sunflower project (I love red, brown, bicoloured or any other unusually coloured sunflower). I plan to display these on my mini sunflower wall. Some slug resistance here would be very helpful, as slugs keep decapitating my poor seedlings. 😢

Ever since I heard Mark Reed talk about his sweet potato landrace, and how he grows them from seed, I wanted to have a go at doing the same. It might not work here in sunny (or not) Yorkshire, but it’s fun to try. I have slips from a purple flesh variety I sourced from a nursery, a white fleshed variety I sourced from the grocery store and an orange fleshed one also from the grocery store. Had to grow my own slips on those last two.

I’m also wanting to create a colourful & tasty potato landrace that I can readily grow from true potato seed. My potatoes are currently flowering and I have 3 different flower types, so at least 3 varieties. Could be any of the original varieties that I’ve reproduced clonally from a couple years ago (Mayan Gold, Highland Burgandy and Salad Blue or their offspring as I’ve grown from TPS in the same space, so some of those tubers could’ve made it through the winter too.

Last thing, is my Osteospermum breeding project. I love African daisies and I have some that I’m trying to grow from seed as well as a whole bunch of ones from the garden centre. The garden centre ones do produce pollen, but don’t produce seeds. I hear male cytoplasm sterility is much more common than female sterility, so I’m hoping if I try and cross these to some (presumably fertile) seed grown ones that it will restore fertility. Apparently MCS is always transmitted maternally, so if I use the garden centre plants as the pollen donors, it should work out ok if I’m understanding things correctly. Of course, I could be hopelessly wrong too. Did I mention I am a complete amateur at all this?

I will update as things progress. Either that or the slugs/snails will reign supreme and eat everything….🐌

Heather Gardener wrote:Aww thank you Mary Anne 😊 Not sure if purple flower colour colour and purple tuber colour are necessarily linked, but can’t hurt to try.

Dorothy Pohorelow wrote:

Heather Gardener wrote:Aww thank you Mary Anne 😊 Not sure if purple flower colour colour and purple tuber colour are necessarily linked, but can’t hurt to try.

There is an article on Cultivariable about potato plant flower color and what they can tell you https://www.cultivariable.com/what-potato-flowers-can-tell-you-about-tuber-color/

Dorothy Pohorelow wrote:

Heather Gardener wrote:Aww thank you Mary Anne 😊 Not sure if purple flower colour colour and purple tuber colour are necessarily linked, but can’t hurt to try.


There is an article on Cultivariable about potato plant flower color and what they can tell you https://www.cultivariable.com/what-potato-flowers-can-tell-you-about-tuber-color/

Cool, thanks Dorothy 😊🌱