Quote:
Originally Posted by KarenO
Chose three to grow out. These 3 first up.
Have you noticed variability in the germination time? I noticed between 5 and 28! Days for seeds sown the same day in the same pot. I kept the last puppy dogs tail to germinate and it has just got its first leaves. i will grow it out to to see if it is different in other ways as well.
Seed labelled 11X-F4-6-1 determinate purple cherry.
KarenO
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Doggone you, Karen. Just when I had settled on a process of working through a plug tray in which I planted several hundred seeds in a way I felt was efficient and effective, you toss a monkey wrench into things by asking about the stragglers.....
I've never paid any attention to them or given them any thought. Today, as I was giving a tray its last haircut to get rid of the last of the tall seedlings, I paid attention to, and gave a bit of thought to the stragglers. There were a lot more ot them than I thought there would be. And, most of them were among the shortest of any that had sprouted in that tray.
I'm convinced that there are several different genes that contribute to making a micro. I don't think it is as simple as a plant having 'the 'Dwarf' gene and a second recessive 'micro' gene working together to make it micro.
I think it is usually the 'Dwarf' gene along with a whole bunch of other genes that either contribute to slow growth, or don't contribute to normal growth. That's why there is a continuum of size, rather than any clear differentiation like we see with those that have the Dwarf gene. If that is correct, then it makes sense to me that some of these genes that slow down the normal growth of the plant may well slow down the emergence and growth of the initial seedling.
Perhaps the true 'outliers' on the tiny wing of the plant size curve are among those stragglers. I assume that a good portion of the stragglers are weak seedlings that will never thrive. Until thinking about it today, that is what I assumed they all were and I dismissed them out of hand.
After having given it some thought today, I'm going to give them a serious look-see. I'll give a second chance to those that appear strong and healthy, but just slow growing. That means I won't be able to toss the tray of seedlings when I normally do.
See what you've done. You disrupted my whole schedule. Thanks for the observation and making me think.
What about it, you geneticists out there? Does my logic make any sense or am I about to waste some time?