In collaboration with National Research Council of Canada, Canadian Carnation Company developed a method to produce haploid carnation plants in the greenhouse. These plants were very fragile, and not able to set seeds, they were sterile. With special treatment, the single set of chromosomes of these plants was doubled and diploid fertile plants could be produced which could set seed. These plants were used for selfing, and a cross breeding program. Selfed plants are genetically pure, and produce stable varieties which do not segregate. The crossed offspring lines where shown to follow Mendelian rules as expected:
We produced uniform F1 plants, segregating F2 plants, and back-crossed F3s, and F4s. In this way, several hundred breeding lines were produced and tested in a nursery. This material has been shown to maintain it's germination capacity for several years. These seed lots are an excellent source for a future breeding program.