First Crossing season

The integral part of all breeding programs is crossing season. And in the case of many Prunus species, there is a very short window. Direction of crosses is also mediated by chill requirement of the specific genotypes. For example if you are crossing a 450 chill peach with a 850 chill peach, you can only cross the 450 chill peach as a pollen parent unless you have saved the 850’s pollen from last year. This particular year, I will be focused on restarting the rootstock crosses focused on a few traits: Armillaria resistance, fixing the low chill requirement of some good material, and mix that with some variation in plant vigor.

Here are some pictures of the whole process:

drawing

(Anthers drying on paper for pollen collection)

(Emasculation is as easy as pinching the bottom of the flower)

(Pollination done by pencil eraser)