Hybrid Plants

[AeroFunk80]

I'm working on growing some hybrid plants, but the info I found online is that they're the same color as the original. Is there any indication that they're hybrid, though? I know sparkling means they've been watered... just curious... or is part of the challenge not knowing this?

Thanks!

 

[FraudulentDimetrodon]

I'm not 100% sure of what your question is? However, flower genetics do exist in this game. For example, you may have two Red Roses that look the same, but they actually have two different sets of genes. And those specific genes are what really matter in breeding even though you can't see it yourself; that's why you have to breed carefully to ensure that you don't get cross-contamination, especially for the more difficult hybrids like Blue Roses. If that's what you're asking?

"Hybrid" is kind of a vague term that people use in different ways, but in general, people differ between "seed" flowers (flowers that are usually red/yellow/white that you buy as seeds from Nooks' Cranny/that spawn naturally on your island, etc.) versus "hybrid" flowers that can only exist through breeding (pink flowers, blue flowers, etc.). Most hybrids you can tell from color, but some breeding paths require you to breed special "hybrid" versions of "normal color" flowers that can't be distinguished by phenotype but are different by genotype.

Hopefully that was what you're looking for! I'm not sure what info you found online, but just in case, I'm going to give you this guide here. Apologies if you've already got this info, but there's a lot of misinformation about breeding hybrids, and I just want to make sure you have the correct guides. Feel free to let me know if you have any other questions about breeding flowers~ I know it's a lot to take in.

 

[AeroFunk80]

Ah, OK. This is an example of what I found regarding Mums:

• White + Red = Pink
• White + White = Purple
• Red + Yellow = Hybrid Yellow (Looks identical to Yellow but needed for Hybrid Purple mums)
• Hybrid Yellow + Hybrid Yellow = Hybrid Purple (Looks identical to Purple but needed for Green mums)
• Hybrid Purple + Hybrid Purple = Green

The part that threw me off was how Red+Yellow = Hybrid Yellow but it looks identical. I wasn't sure if there was an actual way to tell the difference between, say, a normal yellow and hybrid yellow mum. That way I know which yellows to place next to each other to get the hybrid purple. I do plan to make a large field of flowers and do the checkered pattern with spaces in between.

Thanks for taking the time to explain. I'm going to just mess around with it and sure I'll eventually get some Thank you!!

 

[FraudulentDimetrodon]

Got it. Yeah, that's just part of the challenge and that's why you have to be meticulous in your breeding. There's no way to visually tell the difference between a "seed/regular" yellow versus a "hybrid" yellow. To be specific, the "hybrid" yellow refers to the fact that the yellow has a very specific set of genes that is required to make Green Mums. The same goes for the Purples.

It's easier to distinguish them when you actually write out the genes. For example, a seed Yellow has the genes 020, but those "hybrid Yellows" are 110. "Default" Purple has the genes 002, but the Purples needed for Green Mums are 120 or 210. Those numbers won't mean anything to you, but that's okay; I just wanted to clarify (hopefully) why they are different.

What "checkered" pattern are you using? Do they happen to look like this or like this? If so, I recommend against using those patterns. Using a lot of flowers is a good habit, but those specific patterns may cause the cross-contamination that I mentioned before due to Reasons that require more explanation to understand, haha.

Really, it depends on what hybrids you want to breed. For some hybrids, you don't have to worry too much and you can actually just breed by phenotype, and you'll get plenty of them. However, if you want to go for difficult ones like Green Mums/Blue Roses/Pink Windflowers/Purple Pansies, you probably won't be able to get by just through messing around. I mean, you could try; that's how we did it in the old days. But it's also possible to get unlucky to the point where you ended up with the wrong genes and you'll never get the flowers you want. If you're even remotely interested in the harder breeds, I'd recommend developing good habits early and learn how to control the flower genes precisely.

 

[AeroFunk80]

Oh, wow. That does sound super complicated and not something I want to mess around with. I'm just going to put flowers down in a pretty pattern and see what I get LMAO If I get something... great. If not... I'll deal with it LOL Sounds like you have it down, though! Thanks for your help and really thorough explanation.

 

[VanitasFan26]

Flower breeding is pretty complicated. If you wanted to say make blue roses, you must use two red roses and you have a low chance of getting a blue rose, most often times you can get a white, pink, or black rose which is more likely. The good news is that once you have a blue rose, you can clone them and they can make duplicates of blue roses. They sell for a lot of bells so keep that in mind, Just keep watering them ever day. Its RNG because even if you wait a whole day sometimes they may not grow. I heard that if you enable the Beautiful Island Ordinance from Isabelle its suppose to increase your chances of getting a hybrid. I am not sure if thats true but you can give it a try.

 

[FraudulentDimetrodon]

Yeah, I'm sorry if that was a lot. You don't really have to understand everything behind the mechanics as long as you can follow the instructions; it's just helpful because otherwise everything looks arbitrary and random. "Ah, yes, these Yellow flowers are the right ones. Those Yellow flowers, though? The wrong ones."

That guide I linked earlier explains the basic principles pretty well, I think, and it also gives the simplest breeding paths to take for all the hybrids. The only thing I'd add is this guide on garden layouts. Or if that's too much, you can just use either a diamond layout when breeding flowers that aren't the same color or a 2x2 layout when breeding flowers that are the same.

But if you want to just put flowers in pretty patterns and see whatever happens, I recommend starting with Lilies. They have the fewest hybrid varieties, all the hybrids have high chances to spawn, and requires no micromanaging of genes. You don't even have to breed hybrids with each other; everything can be done from seed flowers. After that, Cosmos/Hyacinth/Tulips have harder-to-spawn hybrids and require multiple-step breeding paths, but I don't believe they require any special managing of genes. It's the specific Windflowers/Pansies/Roses/Mums that are the hardest and require specific patterns and micromanaging to make sure you don't mix anything up, so it's easier to just make sure you're doing everything right from the start.

I'm happy to help more if you want or explain something if you're not sure about anything in that guide. Like if you really want those Green Mums, I typed a whole thing for someone else earlier that I can copy and paste if you'd like?

Edit: Ended up copying and pasting it for someone else down below. It's there if you're interested~

 

[Radiant Dreamer]

@FraudulentDimetrodon

i'd certainly be interested in the detailed green mum explanation!

 

[FraudulentDimetrodon]

@FraudulentDimetrodon

i'd certainly be interested in the detailed green mum explanation!

Sure! Have an explanation. This is copied and pasted from another post I made to help someone who had been trying to get Green Mums for months, so pardon any specific references I made.

1. Start from scratch. Buy Red Mum and Yellow Mum seeds from Nooks/Leif and plant them. Do not use any existing flowers.
2. Breed Red (Seed) x Yellow (Seed) to make Yellow (110). 110 refers to the new Yellow's genes. You don't have to worry about what that means, I'm just using it as a name to distinguish them from seed Yellows. 110s are special Yellow Mums with a different set of genes to regular seed Yellows. Do not mix 110s with the seed Yellows or breed them together. Keep them separate. At this stage, use a paired layout or a diamond layout. Never ever use a X or checkerboard layout.
3. Breed Yellow (110) with Yellow (110). These special Yellow Mums already give you a 6.25% chance to get Green Mums! But to improve the odds, you'll also get two kinds of special Purple Mums with a unique set of genes. I'll call them 120 and 210. There's two different gene sets, but that doesn't matter; they function the same for getting Greens. Keep the 120/210 Purples, and do not mix the 120/210 Purples with any other Purples. Discard any non-Purples. At this stage, use a 2x2 layout.
4. Breed all special Purples (120/210) with each other. These will give you a 25% chance of Greens. At this stage, if you get more Purples, add them back to the plot and breed them all together. Discard Reds/Yellows. Same as last stage, use a 2x2 layout to keep things simple (though you can technically use other layouts under the Breeding Layouts [same parents] category in the Garden Layouts link I gave).
5. Just a few additional, optional notes, in case you didn't know. Flowers keep track of how many days you water them (the more days you water, the higher the chance of breeding/cloning), but this count is reset when you dig up flowers, so make sure you're not moving your plots around too much. You can enact the Beautiful Island Ordinance to increase the chance of flower breeding. You can also have visitors to your island water your flowers to increase the chance of breeding as well. The maximum number of visitors you need is 5, which gives you a 75% bonus.

You don't need to understand all the underlying mechanics as long as you follow the outline to a tee. If you do want to try understanding the mechanics a bit more, I recommend the two guides I posted above. And you're welcome to ask me any more questions on hybrids if this wasn't clear~ ☺

 

[Radiant Dreamer]

@FraudulentDimetrodon

Thanks! that actually simplifies things quite a bit, i really appreciate it.