Elisabeth x Kent Blue F3 seeds

[Galina]

Jayb shared seeds with me from her Elisabeth x Kent Blue cross. I had both pink and purple flowered, green mangetout podded, peas from these seeds. I am just packing these seeds. I have kept the pink flowering separate. The second packet is mixed, just randomly collected pods from pink and purple flowered plants. Looking at these two batches of F3 seeds, there are differences in the seeds. The pink flowering plants produced sand or brown coloured seeds, the sand coloured seeds have brown dots. The second batch contains seeds that have purple spotted seeds. There are no purple spots in the pink flowered batch. I wonder whether purple spots signify that a plant is going to be purple flowered? And I also wonder whether purple spots would have allowed Jayb (or myself) to preselect the F2 seeds (although there are some dark brown seeds in both batches, so it would not have been a definite preselection perhaps).

I am thinking about the other cross ElisabethxSugar Magnolia (Sugar Beth), where I had no pink flowering plants at all. Is it possible to predict from the colour of seeds arising from a cross, whether the result will be pink or purple flowering?

Two photos added showing the pink flowered batch (no purple speckles) and the mixed batch (which contain seeds with purple speckles). Hope the difference shows up on the photos

[jayb]

I think to a degree, it's something I noticed earlier in the year when sorting seeds and wondered about. I think I made a blog post or commented to you in an email. I'll see if I can find it.

[jayb]

A couple of pictures of seed from the F1 plants for comparison.

[jayb]

Elisabeth X Llanover F2 seed, spot the potential white flowered ones!

[Galina]

E x Llanover: well the plain beige and the plain green ones probably flower white for a start. It is harder to see on the ExKB pictures, but the ones with the envelope look to have less purple in them. Interesting that you have so many more brown seeds than I do. .

We are used to sandy coloured seeds (occasionally with a bit of pink or brown) from other pink flowered peas. Wonder what sets the brown seeds apart (apart from being more delicious to pea maggots!). Is that some sort of Mendellian ratio in my picture. 1:16 perhaps? Should they be grown separately in the F3 generation? Silverleaf do you know more?

Jayb I am sorry, but what you wrote clearly went straight past me at the time. Yes, if you could find it again, that would be great and I promise to pay attention this time ;-)

[jayb]

E x Llanover: well the plain beige and the plain green ones probably flower white for a start.

Yes I reckon too

Interesting that you have so many more brown seeds than I do.

Pictures are from the seed batch both you and I grew from this year, I made no selection other than counting them out, so perhaps it is the difference of a generation? I've not got as far as podding my saved seeds this year! But I'll post a picture when I do.

Jayb I am sorry, but what you wrote clearly went straight past me at the time. Yes, if you could find it again, that would be great and I promise to pay attention this time ;-)

More likely I expressed my self badly or just expanded it in my head and not wrote it down!

[Galina]

Well sometimes we are just not ready (perhaps life has interfered with more urgent problems) to pick up some new facts. However we now are. Silverleaf could you please chip in and take us to the next level of understanding, when you get a moment, pretty please ;-)

[jayb]

Yes please