Hybridizing Carts? What do you use?

General Discussion
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21

Well, it has actually been quite some time since I originally asked this question. With that said, I will report back on what I ultimately ended up doing.

Instead of a cart, I bought an apron that has four pockets across the front. In the apron I have my twist tie labels, my baggies, a marker pen, retractable slim-line box knife (essentially a skinny razor blade), tweezers, and q-tips. I have a tray I carry with me that holds small dixie cups(the paper ones with no seam along the bottom) fitted in to a custom styrofoam insert I made to keep them from tipping over. I can fit 20 cups in the tray at one time. A clipboard (with a pen on a chain…LOL)for documenting my crosses also sits in the tray on top of the cups.

I use baggies to protect my crosses from rain. I prep the baggies in the boring winter months (usually while watching TV…LOL) by cutting the corners off for ventilation and storing them in a used tissue box for easy access later. I make my crosses using the q-tips for pollen application (can’t use my fingertips…my long nails get in the way…LOL). One q-tip per pollination (or pollen donor)and they are disposed of afterward.

So, in the end, I went a much simpler route. I do occasionally carry a light “bar” stool in to the garden to set my tray on while I am doing everything in a particular area. My garden is basically flat and the stool puts the tray at almost waist height, which is a nice convenience. The stool usually sits with my potting bench so it is easy access to grab and put away since I gather and replace all my supplies from the potting bench anyway.

The process is simple and fairly quick this way while still giving me the convenience I was looking for. The apron was really the key and then the customized tray.

22

Hi there,

For a garden cart, I’ve got something very like what’s in the link below. It’s invaluable! No matter what you have, nothing beats running water.

For pollinating, I use little metal … specimen jars? which you can find here:

http://www.micromark.com/ALUMINUM-STORAGE-CASE-WITH-24-CONTAINERS,6552.html

The huge advantage of these is the glass tops. You put pollen-filled stamens in the containers and shake them, and the pollen sticks electrostatically to the glass. Then, not only do you see how much pollen you have, but you can use the glass top itself to put the pollen on the female parent, and you can actually see how much is being transferred.

(A possibly interesting aside: When I first saw these containers in the MicroMark catalog, I said, “I know what those are, they’re for pollinating roses!” Trouble was, this was years before I started pollinating roses, and I had at the time no idea how I knew this.

A few months ago, however, I had a chance to get a set of Golden Book Encyclopedias, circa 1959. I had these as a kid and read them over and over until they fell apart; never saw them after I was about 12, when they were thrown out. In the section on Hybridizing, there is an illustration entitled “Hybridizing A Rose.” And sure enough, there is a hand, holding one of those little jars!

Forty or so years later, there was that image, burned into the back of my brain! And a good thing, too, because those jars are absolutely wonderful!)

To cover pollinated flowers, I make little, rectangular “hats” out of blue paper shop towels, cut in four. These are tied closed with blue painter’s tape. They allow the hopefully-forming hip to breath, and are easily seen against the background of everything else.

-Fa

Link: www.backyardcity.com/garden/accessories/BYG-Outdoor-Sink-WC100.htm