I have a quick, perhaps stupid question. I isolated pods from a cross I made last year and I have about 10 isolated pods. I understand the dominant / recessive aspects of this but I am not sure of how the genetics will play out with the seeds from these pods. The question I have is, where should I expect variance from the seeds in regards to phenotype? Do all the seeds from the same pod carry the same phenotype? How about seeds from different pods on the same plant?
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Pepper Genetics
- Thread starter MiChris
- Start date
If they were isolated and it's unstable (it is) then even pollinating itself can cause extreme genetic variation because of heterozygous gene grouping. Each ovule is fertilized by an individual pollen cell and each can carry different genetic information.
Your best bet from your next round (your F2s) is to find several plants that are similar to what you're looking for in the cross and allow them to freely breed isolated from other plants otherwise you can get weakened genes (self breeding and sometimes inbreeding causes it) and end up with sterile plants. Try starting another F1 cross with the same two parent strains and using that for breeding too. You don't want the gene pool to get weak. The more parent plants in the mix the stronger the genes will be by the time you stabilize it.
Your best bet from your next round (your F2s) is to find several plants that are similar to what you're looking for in the cross and allow them to freely breed isolated from other plants otherwise you can get weakened genes (self breeding and sometimes inbreeding causes it) and end up with sterile plants. Try starting another F1 cross with the same two parent strains and using that for breeding too. You don't want the gene pool to get weak. The more parent plants in the mix the stronger the genes will be by the time you stabilize it.
