Seed Pods

[Alpine]

Hmmm... Ok, cross pollination is a genuine no-no but what about open pollination ( between plants of the same strain, of course)? Does open pollination offer no advantages over self pollination with bags?

 

[deluxestogie]

In theory, open pollination of plants yields offspring with increased vigor. By contrast, varietal tobaccos are nearly completely homozygous--that is, they have almost no genetic diversity in their genome. So no increased vigor from open pollination. Tobacco pollinating insects can travel well over 1/2 mile, and present a risk of varietal crossing to unbagged plants.

Just bag them. Back in the 19th century, bagged tobacco plants were noted to produce a lower yield of seed. But this was at a time when oiled paper bags were used for bagging. With a breathable bag material, yield of seed is normal.

Bob

 

[Alpine]

Thanks for the answer Bob, i was wondering if my celikhan grown the traditional way (no topping, only pruning) would have offered seeds somehow better than bagged plants... Insects aren't a problem, the nearest tobacco plant is 50 km away...
my plan was to let the plants open pollinate and collect the seeds from only the best three plants but seems that it isn't worth the effort!
here ends the dream of a rookie genetist lol
Pier

 

[Frozenthunderbolt]

here ends the dream of a rookie genetist lol
Pier

Get one of burbank's books on plant breeding if you're really keen ;-)

 

[ProfessorPangloss]

Hmmm.

• 90 semester hours of mandatory courses
• required tobacco projects
• required readings
• required exams
• independent research
• writing and defending a thesis

How inviting is that?

Bob

To an academic masochist like me, actually kind of interesting. Can I pay the tuition in leaf?