I am referring to male plants which produce female flowers. Supposedly the polen from such hermies is actually valuable in that when a regular female plant is pollinated the resulting offspring have a much higher female/male ratio. This is similar to the process used to create female or feminised seeds. In this case a female plant is stressed or treated with giberrilic acid to become a hermaphrodite.
In the example I am talking about, male plants which show female flowers are used as the polen source instead of treated female plants.
My question:
Is the use of such hermaphrodites in breeding beneficial as a means of producing a higher ratio of females? Or is the hemaphroditic trait more dominant in the resulting offspring making this practice detrimental?
In the example I am talking about, male plants which show female flowers are used as the polen source instead of treated female plants.
My question:
Is the use of such hermaphrodites in breeding beneficial as a means of producing a higher ratio of females? Or is the hemaphroditic trait more dominant in the resulting offspring making this practice detrimental?