Emasculating flowers on a gooseberry plant. Flowers will have 5 or 6 anthers which are removed before they split and shed pollen, to prevent self-pollination. The two flowers in the lower right-hand corner are shedding pollen already and will be removed completely.
4-22-23 Seedlings in the field began blooming ~2 weeks ago. They’re humming with honeybees now. The big carpenter bees are partial to R. curvatum.
I’ve nearly finished hand-pollinations. Crosses were limited this year because many recently propagated plants were too small to bloom. One of the crosses was between 21-63b-124 and 19-53b-158, both larger-fruited seedlings:
‘Industry’, R. cynosbati, and R. curvatum have been the “backbone” of my crosses. They all do well here and have proven themselves over the years. Most of my crosses start with one of these three as a parent.
‘Industry’/’Whinham’s Industry’ (PI 555867/CRIB 358.001) produces small berries here, contrary to the literature. They are similar in size to R. curvatum and smaller than ‘Abundance’ or ‘Pixwell’. If the clone’s authenticity is questionable, its track record is not—it has excellent vigor which carries over to its offspring.
R. cynosbati (PI 617847/CRIB 1083.001) is a thorny species. This clone has large berries, a trait that carries over to offspring.
R. curvatum (PI 555810/CRIB 87.001) has a wide geographic range. This clone was collected from the wild in Texas. It blooms late on short racemes and grows well in afternoon shade in our climate; berries are small, about the size of a pea.
When making crosses, the anther(s) of a flower shedding pollen is touched to the stigma of an emasculated flower.
It can be tricky coordinating bloom times when using potted plants. Since the plants are kept outdoors, late-bloomers are moved into an unheated greenhouse to give them a head start over the early-bloomers, which are kept in check by the cold spring weather outdoors. When to bring them inside is mostly guesswork—keep good notes.
Because of the weather, field crosses are not as reliable as crosses made indoors with potted plants. A late frost can wipe out all your work, but if you choose branches close to the ground for crossing, you can protect them easily with a tarp or frost blanket when necessary.
These are organza bags, which are generally used as gift-wrap (wine bottles and party favors). They’re cheap, lightweight, and come in a variety of sizes. They are excellent for keeping out bees, etc., but will not stop raccoons and opossums when the fruit is ripe…