You need to check "Sunflower Steve" work with sunflowers. He started with one sunflower plant that grew in his land. Ten years later he has different sunflower plants and he is starting to sell the seeds.
Maybe a little bit, but we commonly use the term to describe the new open-pollinated varieties we offer from open-pollinated breeders. "Old heirlooms," those that have been stewarded in families or communities for 50+ years, are also open pollinated and have stabilized genetics.
@@RareSeedsBCdo you have more stories of other hybrids you are working on making stabilized for open pollination and seed saving? (PS: can you carry Roselle again?)
So how does this excessive amount of ray florets at the expense of disk florets in the capitulum affect pollinators? Are you essentially creating a “pretty” but useless plant, like all the horticultural rose varieties that waste space in parks and gardens? Pretty AND useful to pollinators is fine but otherwise…no thanks.
Hi and thanks so much for your question. Weston says: "Good question. That's why we are ruthlessly cutting out any plants that don't have the appearances we want. We leave the remaining plants standing, and we let the bees and insects do the cross-pollination between the plants that have a desirable phenotype."
Thanks for the comment. From Weston: "Yes, that's definitely something to consider. Pollination rates in doubles can be lower due to the concentration of petals on the flower face. We are already selling a couple fully double strains of sunflowers, and so our goal has been to create the exact same thing that we are already selling, except to offer it in a red color. But if this proves difficult, there is another workaround to this problem as well: when a sunflower plant only has a single double allele (when they are heterorozygous) they can produce a "semi-double" flower. These semi-double flowers are much more open to pollination and they have increased levels of seed set. When these semi-doubles are pollinated by other semi-doubles, they produce a beautiful segregating population of semi-doubles, singles, and full doubles. So, in a sense, we can use the fertile semi-doubles to keep regenerating a mix that includes amazing full-doubles as part of an array of flower forms."
I got some of these this year from you all! So excited to see its fuzzy texture!
Cool concept. Keep up the good work!
You need to check "Sunflower Steve" work with sunflowers. He started with one sunflower plant that grew in his land. Ten years later he has different sunflower plants and he is starting to sell the seeds.
Oh yes! We know his work! Fabulous!
I honestly would love to start a career in something like this.
Nothing is stopping you.😊
Beautiful...buy all my seeds from you. ❤
I can’t wait to buy these seeds!!
It will be at least 7 years.
It will take some time, yes, to grow out enough generations to stabilize the cross.
How do you prevent windblown contamination and bees spreading the wrong pollen about?
Yeah hasnt cross pollination already occurred in these plants? Thats gotta be tricky
@@mylesfalconer9183 There are exact protocols to follow which is why I'm asking. I've got seed from them for years and never once had an issue.
💚👍
New Heirloom? Isn’t that an oxymoron?
Maybe a little bit, but we commonly use the term to describe the new open-pollinated varieties we offer from open-pollinated breeders. "Old heirlooms," those that have been stewarded in families or communities for 50+ years, are also open pollinated and have stabilized genetics.
1:42
And it is also oxy-clean! 😂
@@RareSeedsBCdo you have more stories of other hybrids you are working on making stabilized for open pollination and seed saving? (PS: can you carry Roselle again?)
So how does this excessive amount of ray florets at the expense of disk florets in the capitulum affect pollinators? Are you essentially creating a “pretty” but useless plant, like all the horticultural rose varieties that waste space in parks and gardens? Pretty AND useful to pollinators is fine but otherwise…no thanks.
Where's your breeding project?
Hi there, we do all the breeding work on our farm in Mansfield, MO!
Hi and thanks so much for your question. Weston says: "Good question. That's why we are ruthlessly cutting out any plants that don't have the appearances we want. We leave the remaining plants standing, and we let the bees and insects do the cross-pollination between the plants that have a desirable phenotype."
Thanks for the comment. From Weston: "Yes, that's definitely something to consider. Pollination rates in doubles can be lower due to the concentration of petals on the flower face. We are already selling a couple fully double strains of sunflowers, and so our goal has been to create the exact same thing that we are already selling, except to offer it in a red color. But if this proves difficult, there is another workaround to this problem as well: when a sunflower plant only has a single double allele (when they are heterorozygous) they can produce a "semi-double" flower. These semi-double flowers are much more open to pollination and they have increased levels of seed set. When these semi-doubles are pollinated by other semi-doubles, they produce a beautiful segregating population of semi-doubles, singles, and full doubles. So, in a sense, we can use the fertile semi-doubles to keep regenerating a mix that includes amazing full-doubles as part of an array of flower forms."