Post by peppereater on Mar 9, 2010 11:19:26 GMT -5
We've all heard all kinds of conventional wisdom about not planting this or that too close to other crops. Most pepper seed packs even say not to plant hot and sweet peppers in close proximity or the sweets will be hot. As far as I know, this would only apply to the F1 and beyond from the cross, not the first year's crop.
Corn, on the other hand, can suffer from accidental crosses, evidently: SuperSweet corns pollenated by non-SS corn evidently is redered tough and tasteless.
Still, one sees both novice and experienced gardeners warning against planting things like melons and squash or cucumbers too near each other. Plenty of nonsense is out there regarding cucmbers crossing with tomatoes, and other simply impossible crosses...also some seem to believe that the flavor of one thing can be influenced by proximity to another...for instance, basil enhances the flavor of tomatoes. While I doubt this is so, and doubtless science doesn't support this, it's hard to argue something that's supported only by subjective observation.
Can someone clear up the facts on crosses happening in the first generation? How is corn altered by the type of pollen it's exposed to? What other crops suffer from accidental crosses? Is it related to outbreeding only types of plants?
Corn, on the other hand, can suffer from accidental crosses, evidently: SuperSweet corns pollenated by non-SS corn evidently is redered tough and tasteless.
Still, one sees both novice and experienced gardeners warning against planting things like melons and squash or cucumbers too near each other. Plenty of nonsense is out there regarding cucmbers crossing with tomatoes, and other simply impossible crosses...also some seem to believe that the flavor of one thing can be influenced by proximity to another...for instance, basil enhances the flavor of tomatoes. While I doubt this is so, and doubtless science doesn't support this, it's hard to argue something that's supported only by subjective observation.
Can someone clear up the facts on crosses happening in the first generation? How is corn altered by the type of pollen it's exposed to? What other crops suffer from accidental crosses? Is it related to outbreeding only types of plants?