possible hybrid kale/collard growing

[rxkeith]

i have a single plant growing in the garden patch that is different from anything i have planted in the past. the leaf habit is long like a kale leaf would be, but the growth is large round individual globes of green that go up the stem. color is like a collard. i tried a bit of the stem raw, and it has a hot peppery taste. i cut the leaf, and stem up and threw it in with my scrambled eggs. tastes good.
in the past i have had both kale and collards go to seed at the same time, so i suspect this single plant may be a hardy hybrid. i will put a bucket over it this winter for protection, and see if i can get any seeds from the plant next summer.



keith

[bower]

I have a diverse group of brassicas growing this year which also flowered and set seed with overlap, and made me wonder which ones could cross with each other, it is super confusing. At first I was searching for species names thinking this would be a barrier to crossing but it may not be as good as I thought! See the chart below which showed the rate of successful crosses when different groups were hand pollinated.


Lacinato kale, collards and broccoli are in the same B oleracea which is relatively secure from crossing with the others. But the mustards (B juncea) and oriental cabbage, bok choy types B rapa, and Red Russian Kale B napus . are apparently easier to cross than I thought.


I've saved all the seed anyway because all of them make a fine baby greens to cut and come again in the winter. Some of the original seed planted this year was labeled 'random brassicas' and came from my mom's 'everything brassica' patch. There are several types not seen in the original, and they are good eatin. I'm planning to start some seed soon, just to see what comes of the different packets...

[NarnianGarden]

Wow that is a fascinating graphics, bower. I will need to re-school myself to keep those species Latin names in mind, I always tend to speak about 'those brassicas'! So 'oleracea' won't easily cross with others than 'juncea' (wonder why).. but there already is plenty of variability within the 'oleracea' branch, so there is lots of room for new variants.

[bower]

Sorry I forgot to cite the source, here 's a link to the pdf. Author AV Stewart.
https://www.agronomysociety.org.nz/f...ollination.pdf

[Tormato]

Bower likes brassicas? I'll have to post a list, here, of what I'll be sending to Nicky for the Canadian swap. Hopefully, I'll get to it by next week.

[bower]

Originally Posted by Tormato

Bower likes brassicas? I'll have to post a list, here, of what I'll be sending to Nicky for the Canadian swap. Hopefully, I'll get to it by next week.

Indeed! Where would we be without the brassicas... man cannot live by lettuce alone!

[Salsacharley]

Here is an interesting article on new brassicas. Although the article was focused on hydroponics it is interesting.

https://view.joomag.com/maximum-yiel...34793731?short

[Tormato]

This is "most" of what I have. It's not the time of year for me to go hunting down the lost stashes of seeds.
American Purple Top
Apollo F1
Aspabroc F1
Baby Choi
Beira Tronchuda F1
Bekana

Choho F1
German Bremer Scheerkohl
Giant Red Mustard
Joan
Lascinato
Long Island Improved
Maruba Santoh Round Leaved
Miz America F1
Morris Heading
Oven Roaster
Pechay
Purple Sprouting

Red Russian
Romanesco
Ryokuho F1
San Fan F1
Senposai F1
Seven Top Greens
Shuka F1
Spigariello Liscia
Tendergreen
Tronchuda
Tyfon Holland Greens
Veronica F1
Violetto Italia
Wild Gardens Mild Mustards (a genetic mix)
Yukina Savoy


On a side note..."Romanesco" is my favorite type of brassica. However, I've never had success with it in the garden. And, I haven't seen it anywhere in about a decade.

[bower]

Romanesco is truly a beautiful thing to behold. I had a few seed once but none germinated. I admit I am not famous for culturing large magnificent heads in the B oleracea gang. It is by no means beneath me to let rambunctious kales overwinter and serve up their flower bud shoots as "mockoli". Also having some success with the Asian greens, including Yu choy sum, bok choy, and napa cabbage/michihili (okay it bolted but it was darn sweet). Yu choy is sweet and very nice, but Gailan (I have bought a few times) is even nicer in its own way and I'm hankering to grow it too. The 3 mentioned are all Brassica rapa, Gailan is B oleracea though so explains the great flavor and sturdiness of its stems.
That's quite a list you have there!! Could be a pleasant evening on google, for me. Seven what?

[NarnianGarden]

I have succesfully grown only kohlrabi and Red Russian/White Russian to their full size, turnips are way too tricky. Those 'little friends' love to munch everything away Protective cover doesn't deter them.

This year I have tried bok choy in a container and I got a nice result... meaning, a few leaves I was able to cook.
Kailan looks like something that would be nice to try, as well as Raabini (the Italian one..) I have seeds but haven't grown them yet.
At least they all grow succesfully as microgreens, and bugs don't have a chance.

[Labradors2]

I love those Japanese greens (if that's what they are called) - Bok Choy, Mitsu, but so do the flea beetles which totally devastated them this year so it was a dead loss.

I grew a few varieties of kale, and a sprouting broccoli (Calibresse), but the ones that turned out best (with the least amount of Cabbage White caterpillars) were the curly kale. Hubby even liked the young leaves in a salad! The chickens love the leaves and the dogs go nuts for the stalks. I'll be growing lots of that next year.

Linda

[Tormato]

Originally Posted by bower

Romanesco is truly a beautiful thing to behold. I had a few seed once but none germinated. I admit I am not famous for culturing large magnificent heads in the B oleracea gang. It is by no means beneath me to let rambunctious kales overwinter and serve up their flower bud shoots as "mockoli". Also having some success with the Asian greens, including Yu choy sum, bok choy, and napa cabbage/michihili (okay it bolted but it was darn sweet). Yu choy is sweet and very nice, but Gailan (I have bought a few times) is even nicer in its own way and I'm hankering to grow it too. The 3 mentioned are all Brassica rapa, Gailan is B oleracea though so explains the great flavor and sturdiness of its stems.
That's quite a list you have there!! Could be a pleasant evening on google, for me. Seven what?

Just don't get yourself lost in the Fibonacci sequence.

[bower]

Well I have to show off my new brassica seed saving thing!!!! Paid $4 for it on a Dollar Store spree... My rationale was to blanch some of my shelly peas to freeze, but once I got it home, it's true life purpose dawned on me! As my friend said when I showed her, in amaze "the holes.... the holes are ROUND..." Yep, another brassica seed saver.
So all I have to do is shatter/strip off the pods into a big bowl, pods and all. Then I pour them into the round holed thingy, shake gently and... voila!! This is way easier than whatever I did last time there were many brassicas.

[rxkeith]

bower,

thats the same technique i used with the giant colander my wife picked up.
i cut the stalks with the seed pods, jam them into an empty chicken feed bag, step on the bag, and rough it up a bit to separate the seeds, place something under the colander to catch the seeds when i pour the contents out of the bag. nice and clean.



keith

[bower]

GIANT colander.... LIKE!!!!