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| I do understand how to breed tomatoes on a small basis, but how the heck do they do it for the popular commercial hybrids? I rather doubt there's someone out there pinching off the anther cone & later pollinating a single flower. :) |
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- Posted by carolyn137 z4/5 NY (My Page) on Fri, Mar 23, 12 at 8:06
| Below is one link to commercial production of F1 hybrids, but there's several points that need to be made. Yes, you start with two inbred lines to make the first cross and all that, but there are usually two lines that are used, let's call them A and B. Within each line certain genes are introduced for uniform ripening, high solids and genes for tolerance to certain diseases, etc. There can be up to four parental inputs in each line. Then they take the last one in line A and cross it with the last one in line B and that gives the F1 hybrid seeds. Much commercial F1 seed is produced in countries where labor is cheap so yes, they still have to go through emasculation of the blossoms. But starting many years ago increasingly male steriles are used so you dont have to do the emasculation. The info about the exherted stigma being found with potato leaf varieties is not correct as many of us who have grown hundreds of PL varieties have found. But it's info that has been in the literature almost forever and just gets repeated as does the info about lack of Ca++ in the soil, with two exceptions, being the cause of Blossom End Rot. I'm sure there are other links for the info given below but this is the one I happen to have in my faves and does illustrate bulk production of F1 seed. Carolyn |
Here is a link that might be useful: Hybrids
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