Duronal's Potatoes from Seed Experiment '08 and into '09

[BrideXIII]

ohh good idea, i have the salad blue seeds to plant and no idea when they have to go in.

[MaureenHall]

Just thought I'd resurrect this thread cuz I don't know when we're supposed to be planting the seeds we've saved from the fruits of last years plants.

[Demeter]

I think my PROJECT for next year is experimental cucurbit crosses - see if I can get a cucumpkin, a melgette, or perhaps a butternut gherkin...

Joking aside, I would love to have a section on special projects and experimental growing. Maybe it could be a sub-forum on here. We have had threads about things like hydroponics, upside-down tomatoes and tomato / potato grafts too, as well as the TPS experiment, unhybridising and other seed saving experiments. Not to mention the Chileman challenge!

[Flummery]

I've discovered that it's not worth buying Sungold. I have a couple of the offspring that seem to me to be as good. One other has the usual Sungold trick of splitting - it's doing it on the vine before it's fully ripe! I'm going to grow on seeds from the 2 best and I might sow a few more F1s next year to get another spread of genes. I've still got the ones that are not Sungold shaped to taste too. They are ripening a little later. The whole lot are later than my other toms as I didn't get the PROJECT going as early as my other toms.

Have a go with the beans Snadger. Broad beans cross readily anyway. They say to keep a strain pure you need to grow them at least 10 metres from another type - that's why I grow the red seeded in the back garden and the red flowered in the front. I don't know how you can guarantee the particular cross you are after but you can always eat your mistakes!

[Snadger]

Unhybridising F1 tomatoes and crossing peas have been my personal projects this year.

Any interesting results from the unhybridised F1 hybrid toms Flum?

A project I have in mind involves broad beans! I grow scarlet seeded and white flowered beans plus scarlet flowered and green seeded beans.
I would like to be able to cross pollinate these so that I have scarlet flowered and and scarlet seeded..........what do you think?

[Flummery]

Unhybridising F1 tomatoes and crossing peas have been my personal projects this year.

[quark1]

Ladies and Gents - I have asked PW, one of the mods, twice if this could be done....I think he must be rather busy!

I suggested that a new or sub-category be placed under Growing Techniques with the 'best of the best' comments perhaps edited to become the 'bible' entry after the project is complete.

Please PW, or any other mod, can we have Special Projects as a defined section?

[Duronal]

I usually dry my seed that come from something squishy (tomatoes, true spud seed) in small china bowls (the sort made for dipping suaces if you eat Chinese much). They dry very well and don't stick so there's no problem picking them off the paper towel. I'm looking forward to this PROJECT. Nice one Maureen!

That's a great excuse for buying more 'GU' chocolate puddings. (a tasty choc souflée with a free dish!')

[Duronal]

I guess the thing with the projects section is should it include easy to do projects e.g

build a cloche
build a pallette/tumbling compost bin
maintain a lawn
prune roses
take cuttings
and growing from saved seed.

Or merely be a section for experimental growing? like this potato experiment.

It would certainly be easier to orchestrate a trial experiment in a section but i'm guessing that there would have to be a clear defined benefit over what we have already for it to be put into reality by the powers that be.

Just a thought

D

[BrideXIII]

So thats a PROJECTS section , and maybe a CONTAINER section we are lobbying for??

[Flummery]

I usually dry my seed that come from something squishy (tomatoes, true spud seed) in small china bowls (the sort made for dipping suaces if you eat Chinese much). They dry very well and don't stick so there's no problem picking them off the paper towel. I'm looking forward to this PROJECT. Nice one Maureen!

[MaureenHall]

I think a "Projects" section would be great too. Is anybody there? Can you hear us?

[Duronal]

world domination here we come right?

Did anyone get anywhere with lobbying for a projects section on here? I'm happy to add my support but i'm not sure who to ask!

D

[Snadger]

The seeds ARE smaller than a tomatoes!

It doesn't really matter which potatoe variety you use because you will be creating completely new varieties anyway methinks!

[Skotch]

Hi

I had aPicasso seed head - opened it up a couple of weeks ago and the seeds were very small - how big should they be? Smaller than a tomato, about the same, bigger?

Still managed to get them out of the 'tomato' and dried and bagged in readiness