How does Bonnie start their plants

[CrazyConure]

I'm curious because most of their tomatoes are hybrids (which means they can't grow the exact variety from seeds). How do they start their plants? Do they clone from suckers? This always confused me.

 

[Chuck]

I'm curious because most of their tomatoes are hybrids (which means they can't grow the exact variety from seeds). How do they start their plants? Do they clone from suckers? This always confused me.

It is too complicated to explain. Google F1 vs F2 seeds. There is a lot of scientific mumbo jumbo that will explain.

 

[Greenhorn]

Cuttings from Mothers. I visited a high production nursery and it was very automated and high tech. I think they did in excess 1,000,000 cuttings (cut from mothers and then planted in liners) a year, they did flowers primarily. Humidity and Misting rooms for the cuttings half the size of a football field. Moisture, humidity, temperature, light all automated, picture below. Big greenhouses just for the mother plants.


I think the mother plants had a 3 month cutting life span, for maybe 6 cuts total, cuttings taken every 2 weeks. Cuttings went from mother plant to liner pretty much same day. New mother plants would be started from the cuttings of existing mother plants.

In theory with one plant you could produce 1,000,000 plants in time with mothers and cuttings. Many hi breeds have stated from a singular plant. There is a popular plant that was found in the San Francisco area (northern California somewhere) that was the source for all subsequent plants. Dang can't remember the name and I don't think it is the only example, although it is a perennial.


Growing rooms the size of football fields. A machine about 20 x 20 that loaded liners with slips and soil mix. They had 4x4x8 bales of peat everywhere. Large areas for plant trials.

 

[roadrunner]

....In theory with one plant you could produce 1,000,000 plants in time with mothers and cuttings. Many hi breeds have stated from a singular plant. There is a popular plant that was found in the San Francisco area (northern California somewhere) that was the source for all subsequent plants. Dang can't remember the name and I don't think it is the only example, although it is a perennial....

This is basically how banana plants are propagated, since they are infertile. Works great until a disease comes along that can wipe them all out, since they are all basically the exact same genetically. http://www.fusariumwilt.org/index.php/en/about/

 

[Tetters]

Cor, that reminds me of my place of work. I was given charge of the propagators.....there is no way you could go in there with your spectacles on - they misted up pronto!

 

[ReslerMomma]

I'm curious because most of their tomatoes are hybrids (which means they can't grow the exact variety from seeds). How do they start their plants? Do they clone from suckers? This always confused me.

I'm so glad you asked this because I had been wondering the same thing.

 

[Greenhorn]

I was going through some pictures and found these.

Mother Plants for Cuttings

Cuttings rooting

 

[Marck]

I'm curious because most of their tomatoes are hybrids (which means they can't grow the exact variety from seeds). How do they start their plants? Do they clone from suckers? This always confused me.

Understanding the basics of creating F1 hybrids isn't that difficult.
Imagine two genetically different parent plants. These parent plants are the Parental or P generation. Each parent is diploid and homozygous for the gene loci of interest. Diploid means that they have only two copies of their genetic code, just like humans do. Homozygous means that all of the copies of those loci are identical.

When the two parent plants are crossed, all of their offspring will have the same heterozygous allele combination at that loci. Heterozygous means the two copies of the gene are notidentical. These offspring are the Filial or F1 generation. It is this generation, as seeds, that we purchase when we buy F1 hybrids.

If the F1 generation is crossed to produce an F2 generation. They will no longer breed true, because of heterozygotic gene sorting.

Here is an illustration that may help explain.