Wondering about inheritance of fall bearing and thornless traits. Planning some crosses and wondering how these traits are inherited - recessive or dominate. I am thinking they are recessive. Needing F2 generation to get a few with both traits.
Check the ancestry of some patented thornless primocane cultivars?
By fall bearing I assume you mean “primocane” (bearing on first year canes). I looked into this a couple years ago and the best I could find was that the genetics weren’t clearly understood as the ratio of primocane and floricane type seedlings were not predictable. I grew out a bunch of self pollinated seedlings from a primocane type a few years ago and so far none of the seedlings have shown a primocane tendency (though I want to give them another year before deciding conclusively).
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Be careful when buying “thornless”. Nurseries will offer
- True thornless, such as those bred by U. AR and U. NC.
- Induced thornless. The roots of these Rubus plants have been treated with an auxin that causes them to stop producing thorns. However, Rubus can repropagate by adventurous rhizomes (canes coming up several inches or feet from the main stalks). Some of these will not be thornless. Seedlings of the treated plants will also not be thornless.
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I am trying to get a thornless primocane black raspberry. Crossing Niwot and a thornless black raspberry called born free. So it seems F1 will not have the desired traits but F2 could produce a few with both traits. Thanks for the replies.
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