[CH] Tricots?

Chilehead@tough-love.com
Wed, 17 Apr 2002 23:39:56 -0700 

> I know from my younger days  (Yup, Monty Python days Erich) that certain
> seeds soaked in a gout treatment solution , colchicin or some thing like
I really don't have a clue about the ploidy of chiles. I have some 
familiarity with daylilies which in nature are diploids with 22 
chromosomes. The plant can be treated with colchine (nasty stuff) 
and sometimes converted to tetraploid (44 chromosomes). The 
seeds can also be treated with Surflan or Treflan (more nasty stuff) 
and occasionally get a tetraploid plant. The hybridizing potential for 
a plant with 44 vs 22 chromosomes is best left to you mathematic 
majors, but it's immense.

Keep an eye on your seedling. Plants with one seed leaf are called 
monocots. Grasses, corn (maize) and daylilies are monocots. 
Plants which normally have broad leaves usually have two seed 
leaves and are called dicots. Your tricot is probably an accident of 
nature unless you live near a nuclear power plant<G>.

The daylilies which have been converted still put up only one seed 
leaf so ploidy probably doesn't translate to number of seed leaves.

Beware of apricots!!!

Dave Anderson
TLCC
http://www.tough-love.com



> that, would either turn the seedlings polyploid or kill-em.



> Of course you could not smoke, whoops eat that generation but subsequent
> generations were fine for smoking , whoops eating from then on in a very
> high proportion of seeds from subsequent generations had a high ratio of
> Polyploids.
> I have a rocoto seedling that germinated in late January with 3 cotyledons
> (first leaves) and I have been watching it with interest. Because Polyploids
> as they are called are supposed to have extra vigor . Well for months there
> was no noticeable difference but just yesterday I had another look and yes
> it is starting to look different to its siblings.
> The leaves are now larger and greener. It is in a batch of perhaps 50 so it
> is quite noticeably different.
>  I am keeping a close eye on it now for the famed Rocoto project.
> Is there much happening with the said Rocoto project Cameron , anyone, ?
> I have pasted my original polyploid posting on the bottom of this digest.

Dave Anderson
Tough Love Chile Co.
http://www.tough-love.com