Progress 09/15/07 to 09/14/12
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416): 1. The overall objective is to identify superior selections worthy of cultivar status that could form the basis for a new berry crop for the Northwest. 2. Propagate promising selections, distribute for advanced trials, and select the best of these for release and naming as cultivars. Approach (from AD-416): Complete evaluations of hybrid seedlings currently in greenhouse and field plots. Records will be taken on relative plant size, growth habit, freeze damage, time of bloom, bloom density, and estimated crop. After harvest, crop weight, weight of 10-berry samples, fruit shape, firmness, overall appearance and preliminary taste tests will be made by investigators. Superior selections will be studied more indepth: e.g. fruit quality, sugar:acid ratios, storage tests, and anthocyanins and anti-oxidant capacity will be evaluated. Propagate by cuttings several of the best selections for distribution to interested grower and nursery cooperators. Documents Grant with Oregon State University. The objective of this research is to develop, through breeding, cultivars that will form the basis for a new berry crop in the United States. Special focus is directed towards cultivars suitable for the home garden or small U-pick operations. This year, conventional plant breeding activities were carried on as in previous years. Promising second generation seedlings were chosen as parents to produce third generation seedlings. Due to limited space, only 5 crosses were made. Seedlings from 2011 crosses are currently growing in the greenhouse and will be planted in the field in September. Evaluations of all plants included bush size and growth habit, bloom dates and estimated amount of flowers, berry characteristics, including BRIX analyses, and yield of each bush. Last September-October, 534 plants of 18 promising selections were distributed to 19 grower-cooperators for trial and evaluation. Grower evaluations are very important for identifying the most successful selections. In Spring, 2012, over 900 plants of 19 selections were propagated for distribution in September 2012. Additionally, 12 newly identified promising seedlings were propagated for further evaluations. Each generation of seedlings reveals more about the nature of inheritance of traits which leads to superior choice of parents and consequently improved seedling populations. Cold storage tests of berries of 250 selections showed positive results. A few firmer-fruited types held up very well for 4 weeks in a refrigerator. Pollination tests of self-and cross-incompatibility among 14 selections were set up in vitro and flowers frozen for analyses with fluorescent microscopy when time permits. This research was conducted in support of objective 3A of the parent project.
Impacts
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Progress 10/01/10 to 09/30/11
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416) 1. The overall objective is to identify superior selections worthy of cultivar status that could form the basis for a new berry crop for the Northwest. 2. Propagate promising selections, distribute for advanced trials, and select the best of these for release and naming as cultivars. Approach (from AD-416) Complete evaluations of hybrid seedlings currently in greenhouse and field plots. Records will be taken on relative plant size, growth habit, freeze damage, time of bloom, bloom density, and estimated crop. After harvest, crop weight, weight of 10-berry samples, fruit shape, firmness, overall appearance and preliminary taste tests will be made by investigators. Superior selections will be studied more indepth: e.g. fruit quality, sugar:acid ratios, storage tests, and anthocyanins and anti-oxidant capacity will be evaluated. Propagate by cuttings several of the best selections for distribution to interested grower and nursery cooperators. Plant breeding activities were carried on as in previous years. Controlled pollinations were made between parents whose traits complement each other. This year, second generation seedlings were used as parents to create third generation offspring from original seed imports. Seedlings from 2010 crosses were planted. Evaluations of older seedlings included bloom and harvest time, berry yields and quality factors. Eighteen of the most promising selections were propagated for distribution to grower-cooperators. Feedback from growers is valuable because this project does not have enough space for advanced trial plots. Sufficient evaluations are essential to identifying the very best selections worthy of cultivar status. We expect to identify one or two cultivars for release through this research. Methods of project monitoring included meetings, e-mail, and phone calls.
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Progress 10/01/09 to 09/30/10
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416) 1. The overall objective is to identify superior selections worthy of cultivar status that could form the basis for a new berry crop for the Northwest. 2. Propagate promising selections, distribute for advanced trials, and select the best of these for release and naming as cultivars. Approach (from AD-416) Complete evaluations of hybrid seedlings currently in greenhouse and field plots. Records will be taken on relative plant size, growth habit, freeze damage, time of bloom, bloom density, and estimated crop. After harvest, crop weight, weight of 10-berry samples, fruit shape, firmness, overall appearance and preliminary taste tests will be made by investigators. Superior selections will be studied more indepth: e.g. fruit quality, sugar:acid ratios, storage tests, and anthocyanins and anti-oxidant capacity will be evaluated. Propagate by cuttings several of the best selections for distribution to interested grower and nursery cooperators. Documents Grant with Oregon State University. Formerly 5358-21000-036-25G (6/2008). In fall 2009, we planted approximately 400 new hybrid seedlings in the new plot on the farm. We also continued to salvage minimally evaluated older seedlings from the USDA Repository Farm by propagating cuttings of 73 plants (4 each) that will be field-planted October 2010. In addition, we propagated 31 selections that appeared to be the most promising from the 2009 harvest of the preliminary trial plot. Over 20 of each were propagated for distribution to grower-cooperators. Due to lack of land space to plant more seedlings, very few crosses were made and only a few seeds collected this year. Efforts are currently concentrated on evaluations of selections already established on the farm. Evaluations include bush size and growth habit, dates of beginning and ending of flowering, date of harvest, berry traits such as size, shape, attractiveness, subjective taste, and firmness. This year we obtained BRIX readings for 175 plants (range from 10.1 to 16.0 %). We also stored 60 selections in the refrigerator for 1 to 3 weeks to determine how well each survived. It was encouraging that several appeared very good after 2 weeks. Because of the bird netting over this plot we were able to obtain accurate yield records for the second year. It is evident that bird protection will be essential for growing this crop. Because it is the earliest berry to mature, it is particularly prone to bird predation. In fall 2009, we distributed 438 plants to 17 grower-cooperators in 6 states. Distribution of selections for grower trials has been ongoing for several years. Although, recipients have been requested to provide feedback on performance of plants, only very few have responded. I have concluded that the only way to obtain meaningful evaluations of advanced selections would be to provide funding to growers for this time-consuming activity. Methods of ADODR monitoring included meetings, e-mail, and phone calls.
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Progress 10/01/08 to 09/30/09
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416) 1. The overall objective is to identify superior selections worthy of cultivar status that could form the basis for a new berry crop for the Northwest. 2. Propagate promising selections, distribute for advanced trials, and select the best of these for release and naming as cultivars. Approach (from AD-416) Complete evaluations of hybrid seedlings currently in greenhouse and field plots. Records will be taken on relative plant size, growth habit, freeze damage, time of bloom, bloom density, and estimated crop. After harvest, crop weight, weight of 10-berry samples, fruit shape, firmness, overall appearance and preliminary taste tests will be made by investigators. Superior selections will be studied more indepth: e.g. fruit quality, sugar:acid ratios, storage tests, and anthocyanins and anti-oxidant capacity will be evaluated. Propagate by cuttings several of the best selections for distribution to interested grower and nursery cooperators. Documents Grant with Oregon State University. Formerly 5358-21000-036-25G (6/2008). Significant Activities that Support Special Target Populations This year major activities were directed towards salvaging potentially interesting seedlings from the research plot on USDA land which will be cleared this coming winter. For a new preliminary trial plot, 155 seedlings were propagated in winter 2009 and additional 25 seedlings were selected this harvest year for propagation in 2010. To accommodate the new selections, an existing plot at my home was expanded. Four hundred hybrid seedlings from 2008 pollinations were planted in the greenhouse and will be field- planted in October, 2009. As a result of placing a bird net over the selection plot accurate yields records were obtained for the first time. In October, 2008, 600 plants were distributed to 23 grower-cooperators. Methods of ADODR monitoring included meetings, e-mail, and phone calls.
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Progress 10/01/07 to 09/30/08
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416) 1. The overall objective is to identify superior selections worthy of cultivar status that could form the basis for a new berry crop for the Northwest. 2. Propagate promising selections, distribute for advanced trials, and select the best of these for release and naming as cultivars. Approach (from AD-416) Complete evaluations of hybrid seedlings currently in greenhouse and field plots. Records will be taken on relative plant size, growth habit, freeze damage, time of bloom, bloom density, and estimated crop. After harvest, crop weight, weight of 10-berry samples, fruit shape, firmness, overall appearance and preliminary taste tests will be made by investigators. Superior selections will be studied more indepth: e.g. fruit quality, sugar:acid ratios, storage tests, and anthocyanins and anti-oxidant capacity will be evaluated. Propagate by cuttings several of the best selections for distribution to interested grower and nursery cooperators. Documents Grant with Oregon State University. Significant Activities that Support Special Target Populations This report covers the third year�s work of a 3-year funding period for an on-going breeding and evaluation project with Japanese blue honeysuckle berry. No new hybrid seedlings were created in either 2007 or 2008, and no new seedlings were planted. Major objectives were: 1) evaluations of existing seedlings and selections, 2) propagation of superior selections, and 3) distribution to grower-cooperators for advanced trial plots. Evaluations: Before the 2008 harvest period, hundreds of cedar waxwings completely stripped off all the berries on the entire plot of about 3,000 plants, even before the fruit ripened. Consequently, this year�s evaluations were made only on bush vigor, growth habit and possible freeze damage. Plans to apply the bird repellent, Rejexit, were prevented by the frequent rain showers throughout the critical period of fruit ripening. Propagation of superior selections: Sixteen of the most promising selections were propagated in large numbers, 24 to 40 each, and 57 somewhat promising selections were propagated in numbers of 8-12 each. Three environments and 2 to 4 planting dates were used to determine the most efficient method for hardwood propagation: 1) the USDA/ARS Quonset Hut with a somewhat controlled environment, 2) my plant growing room with 12 hours of light and bottom heat only, and 3) outdoors with no environmental control. Cuttings from outdoors rooted as abundantly (85%) as in the Quonset Hut, but due to cooler outdoor temperature, rooting occurred later in the season, so plants will not be as large by the end of the growing season. Establishment of advanced trial plots with grower-cooperators: Many plants will be available for distribution and fall planting this year. The most promising selections will be planted in five replicated trial plots with one plot established at the each of the following locations: an organic farm, a blueberry farm where the grower has agreed to test plants for mechanical harvesting when they bear sufficient fruit, at my farm, a Bellingham, WA farm, and a blueberry farm in Hood River, Oregon. Three plants each of the 57 somewhat promising selections will be planted in my preliminary trial plot at the research site. The remainder will be distributed to cooperators for smaller trial plots in different regions to evaluate the range of adaptation of this new berry crop. Methods of ADODR monitoring included meetings, e-mail and phone calls.
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