My Flavorella Plumcot started flowering today, but since my apricot, apriums, and pluots, haven’t flowered yet, I hand pollinated the flowers with Desert Delight Nectarine. Nevertheless, I doubt that it will set fruit due to pollen incompatibility, so before it starts aborting the fruit, I’m going to perform embryo rescue on the kernels.
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Ulises, would you please explain what you mean?
For those wondering about parental effects, look up Xenia and Metaxenia.
Embryo Rescue is where the ovule is harvested shortly after fertilization, the embryo is excised, and then cultured into a plantlet. This is a relatively easy way to overcome problems related to endosperm formation and some genetic incompatibilities. Crosses between cultivated tomato and many wild species requires embryo rescue.
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My Leah Cot aprium is also starting to bloom. Is this pollen incompatible to pollinate a nectarine or does it take hundreds of tries or embryo rescue? Summer Delight aprium is still dormant in my yard.
Before the fruit drops, I’m going to remove it from the tree, then cut the fruit in half and try to extract the embryo from the kernel. Then in a test tube, I’m going to add liquid nutrients and finally place the embryo inside. If the embryo is still alive, it will start growing in a couple of days. Once it outgrows the tube, I’m going to trasnplant it into soil.
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If the nectarine is self-sterile, it will probably be pollinated by the aprium and if the fruit doesnt drop, it means that they are pollen conpatible.
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You have been doing this scientifically for quite some time. What combination of plants you think will give the best tasting fruit?
This will be my first try. I’ve been researching this method for about three months.
Probably peach/Nectarine x apricot or plum x peach.
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Speaking about embryo rescue, I hand pollinated these Nanking cherry flowers with Santa Rosa plum and Desert Delight Nectarine pollen. And since the embryos are now hybrids, the plant will probably try to abort them, so I have to act quick and I will try save them via embryo rescue.
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Anyone else breeding apricots with Nectarines/peaches?
I pollinated Indian Free peach with Flavor Delight Aprium pollen last month. Fruit is developing on it right now.
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If you obtain a hybrid from that cross, the result is going to be 50% peach, 37.50% apricot, and 12.50% plum.
Watch, the hybrid would probably end up and tasting like a plum, like most plum hybrids do. 
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An aprium has firmness whereas a ripe apricot goes soft. The aprium taste is less intense, not plum like to me. This hybrid, if all goes well, should have an interesting flavor, peach/apricot/slight berry?
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Probably like a sweet apricot.
Are you going to stratify the seeds in the fridge or in the ground over the Winter months?
Probably in the fridge. The Indian Free X Pride peach cross in the photo sprouted in the fridge then planted soon after in Nov 2017. I was hoping it would bear fruit this season but the blossoms dried and fell off. It should bear fruit next season, on the other hand, my Candy Heart cross is bearing fruit this season. This Indian Free cross is growing more vigorously than parent. No signs of leaf curl unlike my August Pride peach.
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Showy flowers!
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As I have pointed out before, it’s hard distinguish Peach/nectarine interspecifics hybrids from standard peach/nectarine seedlings. Here is for example, my peach x almond interspecific hybrid. I used the almond as the seed parent and yet it resembles like a peach tree. So probably some of you got peach x almond, peach x apricot, and peach x plum hybrid chance seedlings in your yards without even noticing that they are hybrids due to the peach-like leaves.
Photo below: luna peachmond.
