Return to the Hybridizing Forum
| Post a Follow-Up
Pitch-Loblolly Pine Hybrids from Musser Forests?
| | |
Posted by Nick_B79 z4 MN (My Page) on Tue, Jul 15, 03 at 23:56
| I just recieved a catalog from Musser Forests, and they list a new selection this year: a hybrid between Pitch Pine and Loblolly Pine. They state that it "combines the winter hardiness of Pitch Pine with the rapid growth of Loblolly Pine." It is listed as zone 4 hardy, and 2-yr seedlings as being 10-18" tall (by comparison, 2-yr seedlings of Red or White Pine are listed as only 3-6" tall). Anyone else know more about this hybrid? I'm tempted to order a few just to see. Oh, and does anyone know if they breed relatively true-to-seed, or are they cuttings-propagated? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Pitch-Loblolly Pine Hybrids from Musser Forests?
| | |
I bought some of these as bare root seedlings from Musser this spring.
After potting up in 1 gallon pots with almost no fine roots, they grew well, and have hardened off for winter.
I grew Pitch Pine also, and similarly, with only a tap root intact, they prospered. The cross has slightly longer needles and is straighter in the stems than Pitch, which is almost corkscrew-like.
These are first generation crosses I assume. If they were F2's, they would start to segregate back into their parents and would not be true, according to Mendelian genetics. But to be sure, phone Musser. |
RE: Pitch-Loblolly Pine Hybrids from Musser Forests?
| | |
I have no first-hand experience with pine hybrids, but books on foresty genetics say theF2 are remarkably true to F1 type.
ON THE OTHER HAND. One such book mentions in passing that it is normal to plant many more seedlings in forest plantings than one wants full-sized trees. Then if it is an F2 planting, the most vigorous of these will out-grow the less vigorous seedlings. Thus an F2 forest looks much like an F1 forest, but the average F2 seedling may not look like an average F1 seedling.
On still another hand, Oikos Tree Crops offers F2 Oaks from many differnt crosses. The F1 sources have in many cases been progeny-tested and the F2 is quite good or they don't offer that accession.
For what its worth.
Walter |
RE: Pitch-Loblolly Pine Hybrids from Musser Forests?
| | |
| Any more experience with this hybrid to report? I'm considering getting a couple myself either this fall or next spring. |
|
|
|
|
