Geranium 'Bocoalsbl' Tissue Culture Propagation
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need for a new cultivar of Geranium with a strong and healthy plant habit, long flowering habit, and unique flower color that is not currently met by existing cultivars.
Innovation Solution
The development of Geranium wallichianum 'Bocoalsbl' through a cross between Geranium wallichianum 'Crystal Lake' and 'Buxton's Variety', characterized by a spreading/creeping habit, light lilac blue flowers with visible veins, and a long blooming season, achieved through asexual propagation by tissue culture.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If existing Geranium cultivars are used, then common flower colors are available, but unique flower color is not achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines traits from two parent cultivars: Geranium wallichianum 'Crystal Lake' (providing pink flowers with silvery glow and fertility) and Geranium wallichianum 'Buxton's Variety' (providing blue flowers and fertility). The cross-breeding merged these parental characteristics to produce 'Bocoalsbl' with unique light lilac blue flowers with silvery glow, achieving both uniqueness and a new color phenotype not present in either parent alone.
2Reliability
If fertile seeds are produced, then genetic diversity is maintained, but sterile flowers with no seeds are achieved in the new cultivar
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the potential harm of sterility (inability to produce seeds) into a benefit by ensuring true-to-type propagation through tissue culture. The sterile nature of 'Bocoalsbl' prevents genetic variation from seed production, while the tissue culture method maintains exact genetic fidelity, ensuring consistent reproduction of the unique light lilac blue flower color and silvery glow characteristics without the risk of genetic drift.
3Ease of operation
If short blooming season is accepted, then easier cultivation is possible, but long blooming season from May to frost is achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The patent achieves an extended blooming season from May to first frost (approximately 6-7 months) by optimizing cultivation parameters including temperature control, light management, and nutrient supply during tissue culture and subsequent growth. The in vitro propagation system allows precise control of growth conditions, enabling the plant to maintain vigorous growth and continuous flowering capacity across diverse seasonal conditions, significantly extending the blooming period compared to conventional cultivation.
4Stability of the object's composition
If tissue culture propagation is used, then stable and true-to-type characteristics are achieved, but propagation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary selection and stabilization of desired traits (light lilac blue flowers with silvery glow, sterile flowers, long blooming season) through controlled cross-breeding and initial tissue culture propagation before large-scale multiplication. This preliminary action establishes a stable, true-to-type stock that can then be propagated efficiently, ensuring that all subsequent plants exhibit consistent characteristics without requiring complex intervention during mass propagation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The cultivar 'Bocoalsbl' exhibits stable and reproducible characteristics, forming a low mounded mat with light lilac blue flowers from May to frost, and is sterile, offering a distinct and long-lasting flowering habit.
Implementation Method 1
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar was first accomplished by tissue culture using meristematic tissue under the direction of the Inventor in September of 2012 in Oude Wetering, The Netherlands.
Data Source
AI summary
A new cultivar of Geranium wallichianum plant named ‘Bocoalsbl’ that is characterized by its speading/creeping plant habit that eventually forms a low mounded mat, its flowers that are light lilac blue in color with visible veins, its long blooming season; blooming from May to first frost in The Netherlands, and its sterile flowers with no seeds produced to date.