Posted by Gus on 10/28/2009, 9:03 pm, in reply to "hybridisation" Link: Eucalyptologics: Info resources on Eucalyptus cultivation worldwide
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Hello Hans! A pleasure to read you 
I would recommend keeping a good photographic record of the E. perriniana x nitens hybrids. From seedling to flowering at least. It is another example of "man made" hybrids, very unlikely or impossible in the wild. This means there are very few to none graphic documents on them!
There is an incoming study in Tasmania about this particular hybrid. A good number of them were also raised there a couple years back, and as you have also noticed, viable crossing is just a first step. After seed is collected and seedlings raised, variability in crosses becomes visible and it is time for selection. Only a small % of the total hybrid seedlings may be of true interest for a given trait, whatever that is (cold hardiness, growth, straightness, etc).
About cold hardy hybrids, there is a good number of possible interesting crosses. However, I think that the first step for a "new area" should always be testing the "cold hardiest species known" first, and from those "down the cold hardiness list". Why? Because if the cold hardiest don't work, an hybrid cross of some of them won't either. Another very important point, once you know what is biologically possible (cross compatibility), the logical step is defining the target: what are you crossing them for? Is the target compatible with other improvement targets? This is the type of questions to keep in mind
Let me come back from South America, get organized, and I will write some about cold hardy hybrids and how to make them!
Cheers from Sao Paulo
Gus
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