Monday, April 4, 2011

Seedling 1-336; Conversion of "The Freak"





Hello Daylily Friends,



I have been so busy in the Greenhouse that I haven't taken the time recently to write an article. For example, with advice received from my good friend, Jeff Wade at Atlas Greenhouse, I recently changed the "Pulleys" on both of my large fans. I also installed a larger "Pump," and I drilled more holes in the PVC Tube that distributes water in my coolant system. I am now ready for summer. My Greenhouse is in "first class" condition. In fact, when I went out to check the Greenhouse this morning I had many, many blooms, but the one that I was the most pleased to see was my Seedling 1-336. I have had seedlings look one way one year, and then the next year they look quite different. Seedling 1-336 looked the same this morning as it did when I first posted its initial bloom last year back on May 10, 2010. The main difference that I see is that this year there is more branching, and the bud count has improved. I'm showing a picture of what I saw this morning.




I have been making so much progress with the daylilies that I treated during the winter, and I've posted several articles about some of the progress. Today I want to tell you about a daylily that was given to me by my good friend, Barry Mathie, from Canada. The daylily is called "THE FREAK." It is a very beautiful daylily, but unfortunately, I haven't taken a picture. So, I'm using a picture that I took from the internet. I treated plants that were growing in three (3) separate, one-gallon containers. One plant died. One plant is still living, and is doing ok. The third one-gallon container had two plants in it, and so I just treated both plants. I'm showing the two plants before they were cut for treatment.




To me it is interesting to see the plants before they were treated with Colchicine, and then see them after they were treated. I must say that I was very successful in the way that I cut THE FREAK. It was clean, not dirty. There was no "debris." Just plants that were cut close to the "growing tip," and frankly, I would have thought that they other two plants that were treated would have done much better. However, Plant Number #1 that contained two plants, so far, has grown like a champion. I like using the red dye with my Colchicine; it helps me to see what I am doing. I think that I've made two positive changes in my treatment program. The first change is to go from one (1) milliliter of DMSO, to six (6) milliliters of DMSO. I would have thought that this increase in DMSO would have been harmful, but instead it has only been helpful. The second change that I have made is to cut away the outer rings of foilage about ten days after treatment. Then, after this foilage is cut away, it is at least another 10 days before any water is used. As I say, I'm showing THE FREAK just before and then just after the first treatment with Colchicine.


I'm going to show two more pictures. One picture shows Plant No. #1 on March 23, 2011. This is the 41st day after the initial treatment. I like the plant on the left the best, but the plant on the right is also doing fine. In the second photo I reversed the appearance of the plant. The plant that was on the right is now on the left, and the plant that was on the left is now on the right. I did this with the second picture so that you could see the roots that are forming at the base of the flower. When roots begin to form, this is a good sign. It usually means that the plant has accepted the Colchicine, and is content to move toward being a tetraploid. I would also note that both plants are very stiff, but the plant on the right, in the second picture, has grown quite a bit and is not as stiff as I would like. This plant may only be a partial conversion. Well, we'll have to wait and see the pollen.


As for plants that I've converted in the past, I must comment on TET. PINK RUFFLED LOVE. Today it bloomed with four petals and four sepals. Just gorgeous. I took pollen from Seedling 1-336, and put it on TET. PINK RUFFLED LOVE. Surely this will be a good combination. I might pick up the wonderful peach and pink in TET. PINK RUFFLED LOVE, and also capture some of the "teeth" from 1-336. Now that would be a great combination!


Bill

3 comments:

  1. Bill,

    Love seedling I-336. You have to let all of us Waldrop blog followers who the parents are. As to daylilies changing their plant habits from year to year, I find that to be very true. One year I might have a daylily that is branched like an oak tree and the next it's all top branched. I've noted this at some of the local hybridizers in the area too. I think it has a lot to do with conditions. Watering, fertilizing, soil conditions, weather, all play a key role. And not to be too chatty, but I really enjoy all your photos and writings on treating dips. Ya know you might think about offering a class on how to treat a diploid. I would be happy to pay to come to a class like that, and I'll be there are a lot of other folks in the daylily community that would too. I appreciate your blog. Keep up the good work.

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  2. I agree... Seedling 1-336 is outstanding. Ive been drooling since you posted last year.

    Kim L

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  3. Paul and Kim,
    Thanks for your notes. The parents of Seedling 1-336 are as follows: (Wild Hair x Fantastic Fringe). In my humble opinion Seedling 1-336 may be a "superior" daylily because of its teeth, its height and its branching. Time will tell. I will keep you posted on the progress.
    As for the potential of "teaching" how to convert diploids to tetraploids, this is often taught at some daylily meetings. I keep learning. If I had taught a class last year it wouldn't have been as good as one I might teach this week.
    Again, glad to receive your notes.
    Bill

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