Hello all,
Another question. Not really sure how to phrase this, but here goes. If I cross Sterling Silver and Honor, both capable of producing seeds, is there any advantage in choosing one over the other for the seed parent?
One thought I had was that the “mother” or seed parent might somehow pass stronger traits than the pollen parent. My thought stemmed from the statement that “a child gets its immune system from the mother”. However, the more I thought about it, this really didn’t seem to make sense as this wouldn’t change the dominant or recessive nature of the genes passed along. The dominant gene would still be dominant regardless of whether it is received from the seed parent or the pollen parent – correct?
Now I am new to this and I may be overlooking something and I am not sure that the statement I refer to above is factual.
Please share your thoughts on this. Perhaps there are advantages and I’m just not on the right track in thinking about it.
Thanks again for your help. It is greatly appreciated.
Melanie
Hi Melanie:
Theoretically, there may be slight differences when crossing roses one way or the other, but probably these differences are not important.
What is perhaps more important is to know which rose produces hips more easily, has the higher number of seeds per hip and has the higher germination rate. That rose should be used as the seed parent.
Great seed parents are hard to find.
Good luck!
Jim
I agree with Jim, although I do tend to use pollen of the most fragrant rose. It seems fragrance is most easily passed in that way. Although I don’t know why, it is something I’ve just noticed. It is probably nothing.
Off subject… I’m especially excited to have seedlings of my hardest cross this year, Cologne x Fragrant Plum. Cologne has this weird thing going on to its reproductive organs, and Fragrant Plum’s pollen seems less fertile. I love mauve roses especially the fragrant ones. I hope to get something good this season although I am disappointed to see mildew on their first set of leaves. I hope for a exhibition type with the disease resistance of Cologne and perfect form of Fragrant Plum.
Enrique
Okay.
Of the roses I have, I have done a study of their “recorded” offspring. Honor was used primarily as a seed parent while Sterling Silver was used as both seed and pollen, slightly more as a pollen parent.
So, do I go with the time tested results and try Honor as seed with Sterling as pollen, or should I go off the beaten path and try it the other way. Hmmm? I think I’ll try it both ways and see what I get.
Thanks for the help guys.
Melanie