Good evening,
I hope everyone is having a wonderful spring. I was just communicating with someone about a specific persimmon breeding project, and it was recommended that I post this publicly.
Some of you may have heard about the PCNA hybrid persimmon breeding project I have been working on. The foundation for the project was partially laid in the discussion that happened last year under the thread 'Is a non-astringent American-Asian hybrid persimmon within reach?" (Is a non-astringent American-Asian hybrid persimmon within reach?). Thank you to all who contributed to that discussion.
Anyway, it’s a long story to explain everything that has led up to the present, but as of February I was approved for some SARE funding to conduce a PCNA hybrid persimmon breeding project. If you wish to read more about the specifics, here’s a link. BREEDING A COLD-HARDY, NON-ASTRINGENT HYBRID PERSIMMON CULTIVAR - SARE Grant Management System
Currently, I am running into a potential bottleneck which could hinder or delay the progress of this research, so I wanted to explain the situation to all of you.
Project goals and objectives require that I find pollen from a non-astringent persimmon to utilize in making pollinations next month. Pollen from an astringent variety will not work. This is a bit of a challenge, because most non-astringent varieties only produce female flowers. However, Hana Fuyu, Okugosho, and Taishu are among the few non-astringent varieties that produce male flowers. As I was putting this project together, I lined up several potential sources for pollen, however, some of these sources have fallen through in the past couple weeks.
So I am in urgent need of pollen from a non-astringent variety if at all possible. I wanted to post this here in case anyone has specimens of Hana Fuyu, Okugosho, or Taishu which may be developing male blooms. If anyone can supply pollen, I have a mobile freezer, and I can potentially come (from Missouri) to collect the pollen and transport it with cold storage. I can also give reasonable compensation for the material.
If anyone has any leads, I’m all ears.
Thank you