I’m in central Florida, currently sprouting GTS kale and spinach in 90+ degrees (F) heat, intending to grow them in such as well. While I am ecstatic that the genetics are there for this, and that I’ll possibly be able to grow traditionally winter crops in our sweltering summers, I can’t help but feel a little guilty because I see so many posts here where people are trying very hard to move the genetics towards better cold germination and overwintering. I also remember the mild frustration I felt at so many of the GTS offerings I wanted geared towards these same goals, and none towards my own (as well as a few other members here in similarly oppressive-heat climates). Would it make sense for the GTS offerings of certain crops to be separated by cold/heat germination goals, or does it really matter that much to the bigger picture? In other words, is it still preferable to have these different cold/heat genetics mixed together?
I think that eventually regional grexes would be good; Pacific Northwest, Southwest, Rocky Mountains/Front Range, Great Plains, Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, Northeast. But for that to happen, we’d probably need a much bigger pool of contributors.
At the same time, I remember reading somewhere that in at least some crops cold and heat tolerance are correlated; it is a matter of general temperature tolerance. I’m not sure if that is universally true, and I can’t remember now where I read it; it may have been in one of Carol Deppe’s books.
Also, as some other members have pointed out, short-season crops are relevant to both hot and cold extremes; in each case, they allow crops to utilize short windows of favorable weather.
Aye.
I read that too, but I wonder where the line is drawn for it being favorable rather than detrimental; because otherwise, any temperature preference could be taken as meaningless. I wonder if it has to be extremes; such as, ability to easily withstand a freeze correlates with ability to withstand 90-100 degree daily temps, whereas a mere tolerance for some cold might only correlate with a mere tolerance for some heat.
I’m a garden noob, and begrudgingly coming to terms with the idea that short seasons might improve my garden chances. Yes, I’ve got winter-season crops germinating and some that are doing really well out in the garden, but by-and-large, most of my crops are struggling, badly. Even the supposedly summer crops. Only the cowpeas (and oddly, the onions) are flourishing in the heat. I guess you’re right; genetics that take quick advantage of favorable weather would benefit in both types of climates. Perhaps both hard freezes and searing temps are selections better set aside for more advanced breeding projects. I would love to be able to actually eat a lot of my harvest while saving seed; right now, I’ll be lucky if I get any mature fruits from most of my crops. I’ve probably been selecting for survival too hard by going so far out of recommended limits, and in that case, short season genetics (more mindfully planted) would be great.
Hello.
If you take a look again at the landrace gardening course, you’ll see that Lofthouse is reporting that the same seeds that are thriving in his climate, high cold desert, are performing in hot California much better than no landraced seeds.
Maybe in a not too distant future there will be enough landraces in every climate to be selective, but for now any grex can do.
The great thing is that the genetics that you need will succeed and when someone from a cooler climate ends up with some of your future seeds those beneficial genes will be passed into their population (a potentially more diverse population since the plant is originally adapted to a cooler season/climate).
This means more genetic diversity can also be eventually returned to your population, because when you applied the selection pressure you bottle-necked that population.
The same is true in reverse, adapting warm season or hot climate plants to be more tolerant of cooler temps or shorter seasons.
What would be beneficial might be to set up a pattern of returning specific seed populations to specific regions to try to maximize that benefit of increased genetic diversity of a population which included the selected adaptive genes.
Some species love the heat of southern regions. I’m thinking of cowpeas, okra, sweet potato, mango, citrus, banana, and whatever else you grow in the south that I lack any knowledge of. I’d love to see some GTS mixes of those sorts of species.
Southern growers report success with my short-season adapted varieties, because they jump out of the ground, grow like crazy, produce an abundant harvest, and then succumb to bugs, diseases, and weather patterns that don’t exist in my garden. The southern gardener can then plant a second crop, or a third. I only get one chance at my place.
I have been working on okra and should have a lot of seed available to send this year.
I’m planning to plant out some okra seeds soon; I’ve never grown them before and have barely ever eaten any either, but our state’s university recommends just three crops right now (cowpeas, okra, and sweet potato) so I might as well try growing them and seeing what they’re about. They have wonderful hibiscus-type flowers, while the sweet potatoes have morning glory-type flowers, so I’m liking the idea of dual flower-fruit crop beds.
Okra is a pretty low maintenance plant. Not many pests seem to mess with it.
I used to eat it fried but lately have baked it as a healthier option. It is really delicious both ways. Baking okra decreases the mucilaginous texture that many people seem to dislike.
Hey Jess! I’m in the South (Louisiana) and I’m working on grexes and eventually landraces that will be extremely tolerant to humid, wet, hot conditions. I have the same goals as you!
I’d like to walk out to my garden/farm in the middle of August and see plants thriving. It would help me as a market gardener to also have lots of fresh produce available when others have less variety. I will be contributing most of my seeds to GTS so hopefully you get some of those! I also like the idea of more contributors in our climate sharing their seed so those mixes have a wider range of adaptability.
I’m excited to hopefully get some of your seeds! I should definitely have cowpeas to share, and I feel like I’m getting the hang of things so I feel hopeful that I’ll have other crops survive to seeding as well! A wide variety of crops thriving in August sounds wonderful.