our beautiful magnolia that was hit hard by a low of 24 degrees last night. there are quite a few browning petals.
This will be a short blog for me. I just transplanted the seedlings of my new F1 hybrids (lots of you are trying some of them out this year) to get a sense of plant habit (indeterminate or dwarf), and true leaf shape. This is really a confirmation on success of the cross.
Remember - you only have to plant one of the hybrid plants - the fun will be in seeing what the tomatoes are like. You can save lots of seed if you want to explore how the hybrid segregates and mixes traits in future years - with the crosses involving dwarfs, that is where the fun really begins!
Indeterminate X Indeterminate hybrids
Don’s Double Delight X Cancelmo Family Heirloom F1 - 5 seeds planted, 4 seedlings, all indeterminate and regular leaf - confirmed successful cross.
Ferris Wheel X Striped Sweetheart F1 - 5 seeds planted, 2 regular leaf indeterminate (successful cross), 2 potato leaf indeterminate (Striped Sweetheart, uncrossed), and 1 unclear. Anyone who received this should grow the regular leaf plant if they want to see what the hybrid looks like, and can add the potato leaf if they want to experience Striped Sweetheart itself.
Cherokee Chocolate X Stump of the World F1 - 5 seeds planted, 4 seedlings, all regular leaf indeterminate - confirmed successful cross.
Cancelmo Family Heirloom X Green Giant F1 - 5 seeds planted, 5 seedlings, all regular leaf indeterminate - confirmed successful cross.
Blue’s Bling X Polish F1 - 5 seeds planted, 4 seedlings regular leaf indeterminate and 1 unclear - confirmed successful cross.
Cherokee Purple X Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom F1 - 5 seeds planted, 4 seedlings, all regular leaf and indeterminate - confirmed successful cross.
Blue’s Bling X Little Lucky F1 - 5 seeds planted, 5 seedlings, all regular leaf and indeterminate - confirmed successful cross
Cherokee Green X Caitlin’s Lucky Stripe F1 - 5 seeds planted, 5 seedlings, all regular leaf and indeterminate - confirmed successful cross.
Indeterminate X Dwarf hybrids (and one Dwarf X Dwarf hybrid)
Blue’s Bling X Dwarf Mocha’s Cherry F1 - 5 seeds planted, 5 seedlings, all regular leaf and indeterminate - confirmed successful cross.
Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom X Dwarf Speckled Heart F1 - 5 seeds planted, 5 seedlings, all regular leaf and indeterminate - confirmed successful cross.
Cancelmo Family Heirloom X Dwarf Moby’s Cherry F1 - 5 seeds planted, 5 seedlings, all regular leaf and indeterminate - confirmed successful cross.
Lucky Cross X Dwarf Buddy’s Heart F1 - 4 seeds planted, 4 seedlings, 3 of which are regular leaf indeterminate and 1 is unclear. Confirmed successful cross.
Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom X Dwarf Mocha’s Plum F1 - 4 seeds planted, 4 seedlings, 3 of which are regular leaf indeterminate and 1 is unclear - confirmed successful cross.
Lucky Cross X Dwarf Chocolate Heartthrob F1 - 5 seeds planted, germination failure to date.
Lucky Cross X Dwarf Mocha’s Plum F1 - 3 seeds planted, 3 seedlings, all indeterminate and regular leaf - confirmed successful cross.
Dwarf Mr Snow X Dwarf Mocha’s Plum F1 - 5 seeds planted, 5 indeterminate regular leaf seedlings - unusual result and likely error in noting which fruit was crossed which way (see the next one) - it is a successful cross, but….
Don’s Double Delight X Dwarf Mocha’s Plum F1 - 4 seeds planted, 4 what appears to be dwarf seedlings, regular leaf - this could indeed be the Mr Snow X Mocha’s Plum cross, and the one above is the Don’s Double Delight X Mocha’s Plum cross. We shall see!
The good news is that only one of the new crosses failed (so far) to germinate - and only one of the new crosses is partially successful (some germinated seed will grow the hybrid, and some the female parent).
All of the new F1 hybrid seedlings, just transplanted so that 3 or 4 or 5 seedlings are in one 3.5 inch pot.
Now I am off to replant the new hybrid that failed to germinate, as well as 29 other varieties (not all tomatoes - zinnia, dahlia and basil will be planted as well) - this will complete my 2021 seed planting. Watch for more updates!
tulips showing their unhappiness with last night’s mid 20s