Physiological dwarfism

I wonder if anybody has observed this, too? I am not talking about MGs that are dwarfs genetically. To me it seems that sometime when the conditions are not ideal, lets say you start sowing your MGs outside and the temperature wasn't quite right, they seem to produce pyhsiological dwarfs just in order to produce seeds and survive. Not so ideal conditions may also be that the pot is really small, so their roots reach the bottom within no time. I had a mini-version of blue silk two years ago, but made a mistake when I sowed the only seed it produced (I started sowing too early...). In retrospect I thought perhaps it wasn't a real dwarf after all. I have another dwarf, so it seems, this year, but am not sure if this is genetic (could be because it's a cross between a purpurea and a youjiro) or if it's the container again. I suppose we'll have to just wait and see. I'd be interested if my theory is right about physiological dwarfism though...


Martin

Martin - I have seen that happen personally, too, when the growing conditions of the vine are less than ideal. For me, it usually has to do with what's happening underground with the root system. Poor soil is the common reason that I get dwarfs in my yard. My ground soil is awful here. When I plant them in at least a gallon size pot with good soil, then the vines usually do quite well. But I have many growing on my windowsill in quart pots and they too are growing quite well. Whether the dwarfism passes on in future seeds, I don't have an answer for you. I have grown seeds from "dwarf vines" and they were normal sized vines. But is that true in all cases? I honestly don't know.

Here is what I would call a physiologically dwarfed purpurea, most likely Rebbecca that flowered after only around 5-6 weeks from sowing. Astonishingly, the flower is normal-sized and not dwarfed, which makes sense as otherwise the seeds would become smaller and smaller with every generation. I will have to self-pollinate this one and sow it immediately to see if it is a real dwarf or if it will reverse to a normal-sized MG to confirm my theory.


Martin

Here is what I have to say - The plants will flower in response to the hours of sunlight and the particular spectral content which will vary with the geographic location as the sunlight passes through different lengths of atmosphere...

The plants will flower when they sense that they should and sometimes halt vegetative growth in the process of flowering...


over and out...

well, that makes sense... wondered why the ones upstairs in the window bloomed and the plants down under artificial lights did not..
but the seeds of the small orange mg keeps producing teeny tiny plants and blooms.. those must be dwarfs? They have been "called" sunspots, noahs, and I.coccinea, and even "wild cherokee mg" here in my state ..