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Post by chrysanthemum on Apr 10, 2023 21:04:19 GMT -6
We have caliche here. It’s not a word I knew before I moved to this area. The caliche is the reason that I have raised beds, though I do use sulfur in them for particular crops, too. I keep my blueberries in pots because I know there would be no way to keep the pH low enough for them otherwise.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Apr 11, 2023 8:58:15 GMT -6
My blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, and grapevines are all in pots, for similar reasons.
I just became happier that I hadn't completed my second set of F1 production holes. Initially I had planned to use a miniature version of heavyhitterokra's planting setup, I even obtained virtually everything needed, including the plastic mulch. In that original plan was; compost, organic fertilizer, and sulfur that were going to be tilled into the existing soil to create raised beds. For some inexplicable reason, in this revised version, I had left out the sulfur (fatal flaw). So, belatedly I added sulfur to the two already planted rows, and now when I mix compost into the backfill, I'll be mixing some sulfur in there too. So my two expansion rows should be much better prepared to nurture okra plants.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Apr 11, 2023 23:52:40 GMT -6
I am finding it fascinating to watch okra seedlings develop. One observation is that SIR seedlings have lots of red pigment as soon as the seed leaves fully ufurl. They are red on the stems, the petioles of the cotyledon leaves, and in the leaf veins of many seedlings. Of HH seedlings observed, so far, they have a faint pink blush on the upper surfaces of most petioles, where the petiole attaches to the leaf blade, and a lighter pink blush on many stems. Regular seed starting mix does not have enough nutrients for optimal germination. Many seedlings quickly developed severe chlorosis, which even hindered some from properly completing simply emerging and unfurling their cotyledon leaves, most, without immediate supplemental feeding were unable to continue growing true leaves. Once I applied a pinch of powdered organic fertilizer, per cell, and watered it in, they were able to grow out of their chlorosis and recover - I suspect they may never fully recover. In the future I plan to incorporate additional supplemental fertilizer, prior to planting pre-germinated seeds into either ground or cell-pacs - and especially watching the pH.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Apr 12, 2023 6:01:22 GMT -6
Though I've only observed a few seedlings germinate of only a handfull of different varieties. It is interesting to see, that only out of a few dozen seed, at most, both 'African X' and 'Nkruma Tenten' had seedlings germinate with three cotyledon leaves, no other varieties showed that characteristic. One SIR seedling (out of 30) grew a matching pair of first true leaves, opposite each other.
I have received some seed of 'French Quarter Red' (FQR), which I am pre-germinating now, I plan to sow it as the red variety in my expansion rows, then use my developing group of SIR to fill in the first two rows, where SIR had failed to germinate successfully, reworking the soil in those locations to ensure proper pH adjustment, with incorporation of garden sulfur. Likewise for the similarly affected HH seedlings. The updated plan is to use both SIR and FQR as red gene donor parents, to use each HH seed parent plant to host as many seed pods from as many different SIR and FQR pollen donor plants, as possible, keeping track of those parental combinations.
It appears I am short the necessary amount of drip irrigation emitters of my chosen variety. Later today I plan to purchase a fresh supply, to expedite having my various plantings automatically irrigated, ASAP.
When I read about irrigation requirements, like 1 inch per week - I only wish that could be true for this area. It's more like, an inch at sunrise, another just past noon, and another at dusk.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Apr 13, 2023 1:43:52 GMT -6
Well I soaked and inserted 30 FQR seeds onto a black napkin and inserted them in a zipper sealed plastic bag, kept on a heat mat at 80F. The next day 24 were already demonstrating early signs of germinating, so I transferred them to individual cells of cell-pacs. These will be for working the expected intense reddish/purple colors of FQR into the new variety in progress. After some research, it does appear that dwarfism in okra plants is controlled by a single recessive gene. So eliminating it in the new variety may be a little more difficult than if it were a dominant gene, but still doable. Any plants in subsequent F2, and later generations, distinctly demonstrating dwarfism must immediately be relegated to the cull category. Hopefully there should be many contenders remaining, even after all signs of the dwarf trait have been excised.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Apr 14, 2023 3:21:19 GMT -6
Of the 30 seed of FQR I had bagged for pre-sprouting, there were 4 that just didn't move. I was about to throw in the towel for them, but decided to give them one more day, then, about 1:00 am, a short while ago, I checked on them. Lo and behold, 3 of the 4 were sticking out their radicles, perhaps when I give them their final check, later this morning - when I have cells ready to receive them, I may be able to plant all four. All their sisters have been planted into cells, but none have emerged, yet. So far, HH has been the quickest from radicle to popped sprout, and SIR isn't far behind.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Apr 15, 2023 20:14:18 GMT -6
Many of the FQR sprouts are swan necking, and a few are unfurling their cotyledon leaves. I'm anxious to document the pigmentation patterns in FQR seedlings. See how they compare with pigmentation of HH and SIR. So far there is no discernable red pigment visible in the stems or underside of the seed leaves. This is concerning, the more red pigment presenting, the higher the confidence the pigment desired will be expressed.
I have been reworking the first two rows, making sure the soil has been properly amended and a healthy seedling planted, where needed. I then place a generous collar of alfalfa hay mulch and water in well. I've also been removing a couple of jumping/teddy bear cholla cactus plants that are growing just a little bit too close to okra and my garden.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Apr 16, 2023 10:53:52 GMT -6
Only a few more planting holes to rework, in the initial two rows. Then I need to get busy putting the two new rows together.
I'm really trying to get a variety that has as much red/purple color, as I can possibly manage, into every part of the plant. The fruit is the focus, as several varieties already have red colored fruits, and that seems more easily doable.
If photographs tell an accurate story, then FQR has red fruits, stems, and petioles. I'm waiting to discover, when that pigmentation develops. Since it is dwarf, and pigmentation seems to develop later than the seedling stage, I'm going to work at making three initial F1 hybrids; 1) HH x SIR, 2) HH x FQR, and 3) SIR x FQR. Here I'm looking to accomplish two things: With 1, I am initializing the original basic premise (keep a preponderance of HH traits, but introduce red pigmentation, especially to the fruits). With 2, the same goal as #1, but with FQR as the male parent. Finally, 3, see if more movement can be achieved towards the final goal, such as reducing the genes for dwarfism and increasing them for red/purple pigmentation. If 3 does appear to facilitate movement in the desired direction, the F1 or later offspring of 3 can be introduced to any later generations, in the hopes of synergism, as well as increased hybrid vigor.
Once a desirable phenotype is identified, generations of self-pollination can then be used to reduce/eliminate any recessive dwarf genes. Depending on the outcome, backcrossing to HH may be needed to bring back any desirable traits lost to that process.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Apr 16, 2023 20:33:47 GMT -6
In observing germination and seedling development of SIR and FQR it may be different genes responsible for red pigment in each variety. If that's correct, the most desirable outcome would be to, combine the color genes from SIR and FQR, into a base of HH phenotype. Keeping all, or most of the HH traits, adding the color traits of SIR and FQR, and dropping the dwarf trait of FQR. It is not always as straightforward as that; I'm watching out for wild pitches - they could come out of anywhere.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Apr 17, 2023 3:56:01 GMT -6
Observations of FQR; its seed are slightly smaller than all the other okra varieties I'm currently working with. Soon after emergence, the cotyledon leaves are smaller than other varieties, one cotyledon leaf is nearly half as large as its opposite - most other varieties, they are more nearly equal. About 20 out of the 30 pre-germinated seeds have fully emerged. Only 2 of the 20 are showing any red pigment, and that's in the veins on the upper surface of seed leaves. I can only be sure of this when I use magnifying glasses.
If the color genes of SIR and FQR are different, I hope they don't share the same loci (position on the chromosome), or that they might be transposons or subject to the affects of transposons. Transposons are a natural mechanism that makes it possible for genes to migrate elsewhere in the DNA. Usually, if two different genes, for the same basic trait, exist, they are naturally at the same loci (or location), so you could only get one or the other, but if, for instance, gene "A" is at loci '2C' and is migrated, by transposon to loci '67D', for instance, then loci '2C' would be available to receive gene "B". In this hypothetical case, gene "A" and gene "B" are both genes for color expression, but now they can both be part of the plants genome, where they can possibly interact with one another - potentially enhancing the expression of coloration - hopefully, in a desirable way.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Apr 18, 2023 10:12:30 GMT -6
Additional observations of FQR; the cotyledon leaves have expanded a few millimeters in most dimensions, one of the cotyledons remains proportionately much smaller than its opposite, the upper veins on the cotyledons have become a dark reddish-pink.
On the underside of the cell-pac, the roots are growing and expanding much more vigorously than any other okra variety grown, thus far. They've expanded their root system, so much, it's alarming (this might make transferring them out of the cell-pacs more problematic). Though, this aggressive root system could, in the long-term, be a plus. Especially if it's resilient, too. In other words, can it quickly recover from transplant trauma.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Apr 27, 2023 14:32:47 GMT -6
The first two rows are progressing well. I had to replace a few plants, which had, for various reasons, not thrived. These first two rows are SIR and HH, alternating. Most are 3-4 inches tall - many are already producing their first clusters of tiny flower bud primordia. All the HH plants have red petioles, but otherwise show very little red. The SIR plants have much red, throughout, even much of the upper surfaces of the leaves are tinged with red.
The second set of rows, HH and FQR, alternating, are about 1/3 planted. I'm hoping to complete planting them out, right after sunset.
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Post by Tucson Grower on Apr 28, 2023 16:00:18 GMT -6
The post hole digger became too heavy, considering the pre-moistened sand that I'm digging in and the summer sun/heat. I've taken to using a tiny trenching shovel. It's just the right size, and since I'm frequently employing my reciprocating saw, with a 12 inch carbide toothed blade (to remove 1/2 to 3 inch to diameter mesquite tree roots), in order to complete the planting holes.
I'm using a black plastic masons mud tray, to mix 1/2 compost, 1/2 native sandy soil, and about a 1/2 quart soil sulfur and 1 quart 3-5-2 granular organic fert. per batch - that is my backfill for the planting holes. I don't pack it too tight, but leave about an inch below grade for the planting holes (easier to get more water to the root zone). At some point I like to mulch around the plants with chopped straw or hay. Presently I have 3-4 species of young grasshoppers attacking some of the young okra plants, as well as one being carefully dissected by crickets. For now I've slowed them down with a dusting of ground cinnamon.
Heavyhitter's suggestion of a BB gun, reminded me of my mother's father, papap Joseph Jurichny in Shadyside, Ohio. He got me my first gun, a BB gun rifle. The kind with a lever pump below the barrel, to charge it with compressed air. He taught me how to use it. It doesn't sound efficient for grasshoppers, but somehow rewarding.
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Post by Tucson Grower on May 12, 2023 14:11:02 GMT -6
The first row (the southernmost row), is the row that is positioned with the most slope (it was dug into a berm I created when I dug channels and beds for various plantings of bamboo), to help divert rain runoff from flooding my yard. Some of this first row, are on this angled piece of land. In digging these, the purpose was to leave a slight depression, where the plant would be, so a basin would retain irrigation water, giving time for more deeper penetration. About a third of these first row didn't have enough of a difference between the uphill side and their downhill sides, so I moistened a small amount of the plain excavated soil, making mud (adobe), and used a small masons trowel to create miniature mud dams to build-up the low edges. It is working nicely.
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Post by Tucson Grower on May 20, 2023 1:36:21 GMT -6
First photo is of SIR with fruit. --> Second is of HH with fruit. -->Also note; low growing small grasses are allowed to grow near the plants and alfalfa has sprouted around the plants from seed contained in the chopped alfalfa mulched around the base of the plants. At some future point I plan to use the reflective plastic mulch like heavyhitterokra uses - most likely when I'm growing out the F1 and subsequent generations.
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