Fourberries

Contrary to popular belief, most plants (at least in an undomesticated state) are not self-fertile, i.e. they cannot fertilise themselves, but normally need a cross-pollinator, another variety of the same species. For cultivated plants or for plants that are to become cultivated plants, self-fertility is certainly a desirable characteristic. In this article, Markus Kobelt shows how Lubera® breeding attempts to obtain self-fertile varieties in Ribes aureum fruit varieties and in Lonicera...

Plant breeding in April 2022: at Lubera’s field for plant breeding trials in Buchs, Switzerland in early April. You will look in vain for laboratories and white coats. Practical plant breeding takes place first of all in the field, then in the greenhouse; thirdly via researching and evaluating on the computer and only then perhaps in the laboratory. On a Sunday afternoon (when else?), I set off on a tour of our Lubera breeding field in Buchs. What do I notice? What is the latest news? What...

Unknown or little-known, hardly noticed fruit species are also worked on in the Lubera breeding programme. But why do we care about the obscure, little demanded, often not directly edible berry and fruit species, when we could possibly invest more in raspberry breeding? In this article, Markus Kobelt shows the importance of wild fruit species in the Lubera breeding programme and also describes in concrete terms the objectives for which research is carried out on the various wild fruit species.

In particular in these special days, when the trade and sale of plants in Germany and Europe is subject to considerable restrictions, some plant producers will probably be worried whether their already produced and ready-for-sale plant stocks can be delivered completely and if so, at what time this will happen. However, apart from the current crisis, it can always happen that plant stocks cannot be completely cleared. As gardeners, we are still very dependent on the weather, despite an...