My Mountain Magic and Smarty f1

[FILMNET]

I have a few growing nice in pots and in the dirt, I now understand they are hybrid seeds, so I cannot have seeds from them this year?

[Gobig_or_Gohome_toms]

You can save seeds but there no telling what the F2 plants will look like some may resemble the F1 but some will not. It would depend on how many F2 plants you grow and the degree of segregating this F1 hybrid would have.

Craig

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by FILMNET

I have a few growing nice in pots and in the dirt, I now understand they are hybrid seeds, so I cannot have seeds from them this year?

I think you got your seeds from me and as I recall I wrote on each seed pack the following:

Mt. Magic F1
Smarty F1
Plum Regal F1

And in my seed offer for these NCSU varieties on the first page I said they were hybrids and gave a couple of links indicating they were hybrids, so yes, they're hybrids.

[FILMNET]

Thanks, Carolyn

[travis]

If they were in my garden, I would save seeds from both Smarty and Mt. Magic and look for the segregations that expressed the compact growth habit and high sugar content from the NC-2 grape tomato parent.

Another thing I would do is cross the F1 x F1 and get a combination of all the compact, high sugar, high late blight resistance, etc. potentials available and then look for segregations that gave both the Campari and typical grape shapes and sizes.

[FILMNET]

WOW Way over my head, this is my first year growing from seeds,

[lefty_logan]

For those growing Plum Regal F1 do be warned that one of the grandparents has the gene for male sterility. If you grow out seeds of that one 1:16 will have the gene for male sterility.

[dustdevil]

FilmNet, are you using some kind of surgical tape to hold the toms to the bamboo stake?

[Gobig_or_Gohome_toms]

Dust it looks like the brand called Velcro which is what I use to tie up my plants it is usually sold in 45 foot rolls and is a green velcro strip. I have found home depot has it for the cheapest in my area.

[FILMNET]

yup, that's the velcro i use, but if you buy Romane lettuce is a supermarket they wrap them with this the same velcro also, so i save it also.

[dustdevil]

Gobig et FN, thanks for the speedy response. Do you wash and reuse it, or just pitch it after the growing season is over?

[Gobig_or_Gohome_toms]

I just toss it as I sterilize all my pots, cages, and stakes at the end of the season with a diluted bleach solution.

Craig

[barkeater]

FILMNET,

Your tomatoes look great, but I am concerned about the small pots they are in. I don't know if you move the pots around. If not, I'm pretty sure you've got roots going into the ground under the pot by now. I've had great success when this happens. Just make sure that pot won't tip over and you can get plants as big as inground plants without having to cage, stake, or have weeds competing with the roots. Also, you will have less watering issues. Good luck!

[Gobig_or_Gohome_toms]

Good advice my plants are reaching 5-6 feet now I need to put some tent stakes in and secure the pots so the do not tip over with storms.

Craig

[FILMNET]

I use heavy rocks in the bottom when i fill them up first, and the center bottom hole i put a pole into the center of the pots, into the the ground 3-4 inchs deep, then fill up the pots, I leave all my poles and velcro outside for the winter cold, i hope this had killed any think nasty.I have 10 plants in ground, but 7 in pots, 1 plant each of my first seed plants, you all send me seeds that winter, i have 1 of each different 16 plants. And plants all around at others homes, this is my first time growing Heirloom seeds.