Subject: Re: taproots, sustainable seeds

From: Jack Rowe <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 11:19:03 -0500

Good points, Dan, when you wrote:

"Most vegetative propagation results in a root system that varies from that
of a plant propagated from seed... Adventitious roots don't seem to form a
tap root when the clover is transplanted."

And strong taproots are vital to drought-resistance in many plants. Many
arid-adapted plants, such as Tepary bean and alfalfa, use about as much
water as other plants but have amazing taproots which rapidly grow to great
depths. Tepary beans can follow a single rainfall as it drains downward
through the soil to produce a crop of viable seeds.

A Seeds of Texas board member has worked selecting seedlings of Tahitian
squash, Daylilies, corn, etc. by planting hundreds or thousands and then
letting 90% die in our Texas heat before assisting the survivors to produce
seed. Initial seedlings had a mix of root systems tending either primarily
toward fibrous- or tap-rooted systems. In soil which was well-drained and
permeable to several feet, the seedlings over several seasons shifted to
plants with consistently-strong tap-rooted root systems. After three
seasons of selection, the remaining squash plants were able to survive and
produce normal-size fruit during our long, hot, dry summers without
irrigation (5 months at 90-105F, 30-40C, average 45-50 day-droughts in the
95-105F, 35-40C range). In beds overlying dense clay subsoils where
taproots would suffer from lack of oxygen, the seedling roots remained
fibrous and shallow, and the plants were not able to adapt to the summers'
droughts. 

Jack Rowe

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From: Jack Rowe <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 11:19:03 -0500

Jack Rowe

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From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 07:14:06 -0500 (EST)

>fibrous and shallow, and the plants were not able to adapt to the summers'

Hi Jack:  

How does one buy seeds from your group?  We have similar problems here in
Florida where we  hare aerial humidity but the sandy soil can dry to the
point that well established plants under mulch wilt the third summer day
after a good rain (say 2 inches).  Moreover we waste so much water in this
state that what was mostly a freshwater swamp has destroyed 90 percent of the
everglades by pumping and drainage and looks to divert entire rivers to urban
populations such as Tampa/St. Pete so that they don't have to conserve and
don't have to limit growth.  While urban and industriall use is a large
fraction of this waste, agriculture also has quite a share in the problem.

Myself, I hate to irrigate as it indicates to me that I have planted
something that isn't adapted.  But I hate to shop in supermarkets even more.
 (I do use surface water instead of artesian water whenever practical in
irrigation.)  It seems as though those drought resistant seeds would be perfec
t.  Of course we also have to now reselect for resistance to diseases
promoted by humidity.  This is a problem with tepary beans--I've actually
given some thought to getting a large selection of them and seeing if any
survive our summer.  We would also have to plant them rather far apart and in
the open--a lot of our stuff benefits from shade part of the day.  (I have an
afternoon shaded garden and a morning shaded garden and we will see, over the
years, which plants go where.)

To others reading this, if you don't HAVE to select for a trait, it is better
not to.  You may lose other traits that could be useful from time to time by
reducing total diversity.  Interestingly, I find that crops that I selected
for my original homestead in Western Massachusetts--we could count on no more
than 90 frost free days--are very useful here during some seasons.  We have a
bunch of short seasons and most garden plants do not thrive from one to the
next, except peppers (Capsicum).  We have a strain of chile pepper that sort
of selected itself when we lived in Jacksonville, where Cynthia was going to
school.  It actually overwinters with mild frosts--no colder than 15 F--and
comes back from the ground to produce a good crop at least three years
running.  (Then we moved.)  We have a Jamaican strain of Haberno that grows
through all warm seasons, but of course it can't handle cold.  Pepper plants
make nice supports for short peas the following season, by the way.  I can
even do this with the perennial peppers as we grow green peas in the winter
only.  

I'm rambling.  It's after 630 a.m and I still haven't had my coffee! 

For Mother Earth, Dan Hemenway, Yankee Permaculture Publications (since
1982), Elfin Permaculture workshops, lectures, Permaculture Design Courses,
consulting and permaculture designs (since 1981), and now correspondence
courses via email.  Next live training:  Paraguay, Sept. 1998. Internships
available. Copyright, 1997, Dan & Cynthia Hemenway, P.O. Box 52, Sparr FL
32192 USA  [email-masked]  

We don't have time to rush.

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From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 07:14:06 -0500 (EST)

Hi Jack: