Questions About (Cross) Pollination

dfollett · September 2, 2015

I have a few questions relating to pollinating tomatoes and the possibilities resulting from crossing. These questions flow from results I am experiencing right now from crosses I attempted this summer. I attempted numerous crosses using F4s of a Micro Multiflora cross made by ChrisK and reported on in a separate thread. In each cross, I used the micro as the female and used pollen from several different full-sized and some dwarf varieties to make crosses. As I save seed from each crossed tomato I plant 2 or three to see if they come micro (cross failed) or regular sized (cross succeeded). That makes it easy to determine if the cross took.

Setup to the questions – Most of the time the seedlings are consistent – all large or all micro. In some instances, there will be two large and one small of the three or one large and two small. I haven’t taken them beyond the seedling stage, so I can’t say for sure if the smaller ones are just poorer or slower growing ones that would eventually catch up or are truly micros. Some of the pollen donors are themselves unstable F2 or F3 crosses and some of them with additional crosses on both sides.

1. Question – Is it possible that some of the seeds from a crossed fruit can be crosses and others from the same fruit be self-pollinated?

2. Another question that flows from the above – if you blend pollen from numerous different pollen donors and use that to make crosses, will the seeds in the crossed fruit be from one of the donors or will they be from multiple donors?

a. I know that can happen in the animal world. A female mink can have offspring from two or more different males in the same litter – from matings that were as much as 9 days apart.

3. The above questions are probably only different ways of asking this one question: Are all the seeds in a fruit from a single pollen donor or are many different pollen spores (? – or whatever they are called) needed to properly pollinate the flower with each one contributing to the seeds in the resulting fruit?

September 2, 2015	#1
dfollett Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Utah Posts: 693	Questions About (Cross) Pollination I have a few questions relating to pollinating tomatoes and the possibilities resulting from crossing. These questions flow from results I am experiencing right now from crosses I attempted this summer. I attempted numerous crosses using F4s of a Micro Multiflora cross made by ChrisK and reported on in a separate thread. In each cross, I used the micro as the female and used pollen from several different full-sized and some dwarf varieties to make crosses. As I save seed from each crossed tomato I plant 2 or three to see if they come micro (cross failed) or regular sized (cross succeeded). That makes it easy to determine if the cross took. Setup to the questions – Most of the time the seedlings are consistent – all large or all micro. In some instances, there will be two large and one small of the three or one large and two small. I haven’t taken them beyond the seedling stage, so I can’t say for sure if the smaller ones are just poorer or slower growing ones that would eventually catch up or are truly micros. Some of the pollen donors are themselves unstable F2 or F3 crosses and some of them with additional crosses on both sides. 1. Question – Is it possible that some of the seeds from a crossed fruit can be crosses and others from the same fruit be self-pollinated? 2. Another question that flows from the above – if you blend pollen from numerous different pollen donors and use that to make crosses, will the seeds in the crossed fruit be from one of the donors or will they be from multiple donors? a. I know that can happen in the animal world. A female mink can have offspring from two or more different males in the same litter – from matings that were as much as 9 days apart. 3. The above questions are probably only different ways of asking this one question: Are all the seeds in a fruit from a single pollen donor or are many different pollen spores (? – or whatever they are called) needed to properly pollinate the flower with each one contributing to the seeds in the resulting fruit?