Graham Jenkins-Bbelohorska

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since Dec 18, 2018
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Recent posts by Graham Jenkins-Bbelohorska

I've grown out some Daubenton X Purple Sprouting Broccoli F1s but none were very vigorous and all were biannual. I have plans to make further crosses of that type but don't have much space for that project just yet. I won't go into detail as it's not my work but I do know people with perennial sprouting broccoli in the pipe line and I've heard people are working with 9 Star perennial broccoli, so it is underway.
6 years ago

Greg Martin wrote:Graham, welcome to Permies!  I've read with great interest your work with these crosses.  Thrilled to see you here.



Hi Greg, thanks for the welcome.

Actually, I arrived here through a message with Chris were he linked to this thread. I'm always keen to see what other people are doing with perennial kale, so I'll be keeping an eye this tread.
6 years ago
Hi Philip, The chances are that the seed you grew originated with a cross I made some years ago. And the vast majority of the seedlings will survive flowering. Not all will be vigorous, but selection can produce perennial kales that set seed and continue to produce well.  Chris Homanics achieved just that with seed from this cross and produced his Homesteader’s Kaleidoscopic Perennial Kale Grex. Anyone looking to get perennial kale from seed would do well to order this grex, Chris has done great work here.

The great thing about the Daubenton derived perennialism is that it appears to be dominant so you can further outcross the F1 (or plants from Chris's grex) to other biannual kales to further increase diversity, that's the main rout I've taken trying to produce a dark purple perennial kale and also attempting some wide crosses to russian kales and leaf mustards. It's a slow path but I'm hoping the end result will be worth it.

Another plus in having kales with the ability to flower and remain perennial is that it makes these lines far easier to distribute and reproduce. When I first started with perennial kales it took me about two years to track the plants down, and they were only available as cuttings which made obtaining Tree Collards a real challenge as i live in the UK. But thanks to Chris's work and the release of his grex, perennial kales are easily available to anyone who can import seed. It's an exciting time for perennial kale.
6 years ago