Quote:
Originally Posted by Zone9b
Does this mean that my old school attempts to improve the productivity of an OP variety in my harsh growing conditions is of little, if any, value? I continue to choose the largest tomato from the best vine to save seeds from. This has seemed to work well for me on at least one variety. This fall season it produced its largest tomato yet after growing for approximately 7 seasons, also its productivity is very good. Thanks,
Larry
|
There's no question that selecting for healthy plants in disease and stress prone areas can lead to improved tolerance to some diseases and general improvement in plant health. However meaningful tolerance to some pathogens (e.g. late blight, fusarium wilt and TSWV) require specific resistance genes. I've found that a combination of phenotypic selection for plant health and incorporation of resistance genes via molecular markers gives the best result.
All the fruit on a plant has the same genotype, so there is no possible benefit from saving seed from the largest vs smallest fruit on an individual plant.