seeds Isolating Seed Stock - Slut shaming

AJ Drew

AJ Drew

Lots of threads about people buying seed that do not grow into what was expected.  One recent one has a person growing habs he thought were reapers.  I think maybe some of this is due to lack of isolated grows instead of people selling something and claiming it is something else.  Maybe the seller has nothing but good intentions but doesn't know how easily peppers will cross pollinate.
 
Thought to stimulate conversation about isolating seed stock plants with this video from Jim Duffy.  He grows a very large variety in some very small places by using what I call bridal cloth.  Sure it is not the same stuff used in weddings, but do not know the horticultural name.

Thoughts?
 
http://www.peppersbymail.com/jim-duffy-isolation-kitchen-table/
 
 

 
 
I love sluts and don't think shaming anyone is good for anything.  Shame and guilt are kin to criticism aka judgement which just sucks.  Leave that to the creators says me.
 
RE: Isolated crops, etc - especially with new(er) varieties don't you expect some differences and variation?  Don't buy ten seeds and plant two.  Plant all ten and give them a chance to grow.  Chances are even the crosses are tasty...
 
Terravexti - two questions.  First, for horticultural use isnt there another name, one that denotes it will stand up to rain?  Next, dont you think that new growers do not seem to get it?  I figure there has to be a reason so many people say X, Y, and Z seeds are wrong.  I prefer to think it is peopl who do not know about isolation than people just making false claims.
 
SmokinFire - Hoping you get that I was going for humor and not actually slut shaming.  Pepper pron, ye baby.
 
Isolating flowers isn't difficult at all, and tulle fabric is cheap.  Even then, chances of cross pollination with C. chinense isn't as likely as people think it is.  Every collected pollen from one?  it's like next to nothing.
 
Helvete, my first experience with cross pollination were cucumbers and cantaloupe.  Disgusting results.  Been paranoid ever since. 
 
ajdrew said:
Helvete, my first experience with cross pollination were cucumbers and cantaloupe.  Disgusting results.  Been paranoid ever since. 
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Cukes and melons are the sluts of the plant world anyways.  They don't self-pollinate as it is since they have separate male and female flowers. 
 
You can easily make a cover that goes over a plant out of some pvc pipe and tulle fabric, it will keep out most pollinating insects other than ants but the lack of larger insects will stress the plant into more self-pollination as it is.  I think the only way to truly isolate seeds would be separating cultivars indoors, so if you have the space to have a room for only reapers plants and a room for only jalapenos then I'd say go for it. 
 
I don't think any of us on this site particularly grow only one cultivar of any given pepper and have it located a mile+ from other pepper plants, but I could be wrong.  For me, tulle fabric it is...mostly I just let mine OP anyways.  Pepper crosses can be pretty fun.
 
Helvete said:
Cukes and melons are the sluts of the plant world anyways.  They don't self-pollinate as it is since they have separate male and female flowers. 
 
You can easily make a cover that goes over a plant out of some pvc pipe and tulle fabric, it will keep out most pollinating insects other than ants but the lack of larger insects will stress the plant into more self-pollination as it is.  I think the only way to truly isolate seeds would be separating cultivars indoors, so if you have the space to have a room for only reapers plants and a room for only jalapenos then I'd say go for it. 
 
I don't think any of us on this site particularly grow only one cultivar of any given pepper and have it located a mile+ from other pepper plants, but I could be wrong.  For me, tulle fabric it is...mostly I just let mine OP anyways.  Pepper crosses can be pretty fun.
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interesting, is that right?
i grew these pickler cukes... i dont recall anything other than the flowers from which the fruits themselves grew?
 
Helevete: Think you are on to something.  Because ones own pollen is so close, it is most likely to fill the slot before pollen from something else comes along.  Still, the number of people who complain that they bought X and grew Y makes me think more of a cross pollination problem than a seed seller misleading people.  Sure, it happens, but for the most part I think people try to be honest.

BTW: One of the seed catalogs had a cucumber watermelon cross this year.  I had to laugh.  Ours were the size of a melon, the inside appearance of a cucumber and a taste so bitter nobody would want to eat them.  Mother nature is weird.
 
An isolated cross is one thing, the more pervasive problems probably just come down to bad sourcing for seed stock. It's not like a major distributor is going to be sitting on a large stock of the latest monster-of-the-week pepper, these things tend to have a very short-lived marketability as a novelty item until the next record-breaker comes out. I imagine what happens is some seed distributor get rid of whatever they have too much of, repackages it as the latest-greatest thing, and it trickles down the supply chain. Joe Schmoe doesn't know any better, grows the pepper and passes the seed out to his buddies, etc. etc. Crossing just wouldn't explain the volume of bad seed that's out there.

I rarely isolate my plants when I'm saving seeds and at most I've only had two crosses in a year. Hell, even some of Judy's seeds have turned out to be crosses for me. Not complaining, it's just the reality of dealing with seeds.
 
Syn, still wanting to think the best of people but saw Carolina Reaper coming in bulk from China before it seemed possible and now seeing the same with Chocolate Bhutlah, i gotta figure you are right that there is something else going on.  Can not imagine a professional grower would risk a season of work on questionable seeds from China, so do kind of figure China sells 1000 seeds to someone on ebay who repackages and sells 10 at a time.

Now wondering if there are more fake Rolex watches out there than real ones.
 
Helvete said:
:party:
 
https://completegarden.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/female-and-male-cucumber-flower-identification-copy.jpg
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i went back and read the description of the cultivar i bought.
 
here:
 


Of primary importance in all cucumbers is whether or not they require pollination to produce fruit.
Varieties that don’t need pollination are referred to as parthenocarpic. If you are growing in a
hoophouse or greenhouse, where there are few bees or other pollinating insects, parthenocarpic
varieties are strongly recommended.
Click to expand...
 
from here.
 
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/assets/information/cucumbers-types-terminology-8989.pdf
gynoecious and parthenocarpic cuces have only female flowers AND self pollinate.
makes sense now.
 
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