How to cross plants. Crossing plants at home. Traditional breeding methods in creating genotypes resistant to diseases and pests
Quite often, non-specialists are suspicious of hybrid plants, not realizing that many of the crops they grow on their own garden plots, is the result of long labors of breeders.
- Crossbreeding development
- Benefits of Crossbreeding
What is plant crossing
Hybridization or crossing of plants is one of the main methods of plant breeding. The essence of the method is contained in the crossing of two plants different varieties, species or genera.
The result, which depends on the selection of parent plants, is the production of species and new varieties.
For example, few people know that such crops as plums or plums did not exist in nature. garden strawberries. The plum was taken by the method of cherry plum and sloe crossing, and garden strawberries, or as they are incorrectly called, strawberries, are the result of crossing wild species of strawberries - Virginia and Chilean.
Crossbreeding development
Crossbreeding involves the unnatural or natural transfer of pollen from a plant of one variety or species to a second, carried out under careful control.
At this time, it is fundamentally important to isolate the flowers to prevent the ingress of foreign pollen.
Crossing method:
- Choose two plants of different varieties or species.
- On the mother plant, choose the most conveniently located flowers.
- Carefully open the unopened buds (one day before blooming).
- Using tweezers, carefully remove all stamens with pollen.
- Wrap flowers with removed stamens in white narrow material to prevent unplanned pollination.
- A day before removing the stamens from one plant from the second (paternal) buds that are planning to bloom, collect pollen in a glass jar.
- Cover the jar with gauze or a bright transparent cloth and place it in a dry place.
A day after removing the stamens from the mother plant, fertilization is performed:
- The best result is the first half of the day before twelve o’clock.
- Shake the jar of pollen.
- The pollen that has settled on the walls of the jar is carefully applied to the stigma of the mother plant with a cotton swab or a second handy tool (possibly with a finger).
- Cover the fertilized flower again with a bright narrow cloth or gauze.
- Repeat fertilization for 3 days.
Fertilized flowers must be covered for the entire growth period until the fruit ripens. It is recommended to remove excess flowers. After the harvest of ripe fruits is completed, they must be stored for from several weeks to several months, depending on the time of storage and ripening of the crop.
Seeds of stone fruit plants are sown immediately on the beds; pome seeds of summer ripening, after three days of drying, are sown in the sand on the beds in the autumn. Plant seeds that ripen in the autumn are collected at a time when the fruits are already beginning to deteriorate, but no later than April. After drying and harvesting, they are sown in prepared containers.
Spatial and temporal isolation during crossing
When crossing cross-pollinating crops, it is possible to use spatial isolation: plants are grown in different areas remote from plants of a given variety. Such crops include carrots, cabbage, beets, etc.
In dioecious plants such as spinach, when growing in one area, the male plants of one of the varieties must be removed.
Crossing cross-pollinating crops in isolated areas greatly minimizes labor costs: pollination occurs naturally - by wind or insects. In addition, it is possible to place a couple of plants of the same variety in one isolated area, thus increasing the number of hybrid seeds taken. A significant drawback of this method is the impossibility of completely eliminating the ingress of foreign pollen.
In addition, with natural cross-pollination, approximately a good half of the plants are fertilized with pollen from their own variety.
In regions with a warm climate, where the growing season is quite long, for plants with soon-to-bloom flowers, it is possible to use isolation at temporary intervals: various combinations of crossing are carried out in the same area. Various terms flowering excludes unplanned cross-pollination.
In breeding practice, in the absence of sufficient space for organizing individual areas, insulating structures are used:
- The design is made in the form of a frame, which is covered with light transparent fabric.
- To isolate individual shoots or inflorescences, small houses are made of parchment paper or gauze, which are covered with a wire frame.
For insect-pollinated plants, when constructing insulators, it is better to use materials such as cambric or gauze; for wind-pollinated crops, parchment paper.
Benefits of Crossbreeding
The process of hybridization - crossing plants - is aimed at obtaining plant varieties that have the advantageous characteristics of the parent varieties, such as:
- High yield
- Disease resistance
- Frost resistance
- Drought resistance
- Short ripening times
For example, if the paternal and maternal plants are resistant to various diseases, the resulting hybrid will inherit resistance to both diseases.
Hybrid plant varieties have better vitality, they are less susceptible to changes in temperature, humidity, and transformation climatic conditions than their non-hybrid counterparts.
Pure varieties!!! or hybrids!!! what to choose?
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How to cross plants? Plants are crossed in order to obtain new variety with the characteristics necessary for the breeder. Therefore, the first step is to decide what qualities are desired in the new plant. Then a selection of parent plants is made, each of which has one or more of these dominant qualities. It makes sense to use plants that grew in different regions - this makes their heredity richer. But still, before you start breeding, you should still familiarize yourself with specialized literature, for example, with a description of the working methods of I.V. Michurin.
How to save a plant? There are times when a plant begins to die for some reason. The first sign is usually a painful condition of the leaves. Then you need to check the condition of the stem. If it has become too soft, brittle or rotten, then there is hope that the roots are healthy. But if they also deteriorate, it means that the plant has died. In other cases, you can try to save him. To do this you will have to cut off the damaged part. But the stems are not cut off completely, leaving at least a few centimeters above the ground. Then you need to place the plant so as to halve the amount of solar time it receives and water it moderately when the soil is completely dry. Such measures will help the plant fight the disease and new shoots will appear in a few months.
How to care for indoor plants? To keep your plants healthy and looking beautiful, you need to follow a few mandatory rules. First, you need to water them properly. You can’t overwater the plant; it’s better to underwater it. This should be done when the soil is dry. The water should be at room temperature. It must be remembered that tropical plants They also require daily spraying. To others, an important condition for plant life, is lighting. You should definitely find out what lighting intensity and duration is required for the plant and provide it with the necessary conditions. Temperature is the third important factor for the life and health of plants. Suitable for most of them room temperature. But some species in colder regions need lower temperatures in winter. This can be achieved by placing the flower on a glazed balcony.
