F1 Micro/mini dwarfs?

[Greatgardens]

I can think of only a single F1 very small dwarf -- and I'm referring to ~12" varieties (+/-). I'm not including cascading basket varieties -- there are several of those such as Terrenzo, etc. Reason being they are not really small plants. Patio Choice F1 is the only "mini-dwarf" I can think of. It's about 16" or so for me in a 12" hanging basket.



My best OP is Aztek. It is reliable and good-flavored. I've found several other OP varieties such as Vilma and Linda that do well for me. Thus far, no really good orange varieties. Pixie was one of the first F1's, but they have been out of production for a long time. Even Orange Pixie Hybrid (still available at Tomato Growers) is a pretty large plant -- too large for an early basket variety (for me).



So, can you think of any? Or can you think of any good OP Orange micro's. Jocholas has been recommended, so I've put it on my list for next season.

[Notostraca]

I've been meaning to grow Aztek, maybe will this winter when I actually have some windowsill space to spare.

The smallest type I've grown is "Micro Tom", some places list this as an F1 but I'm pretty sure its not? I've read that it was created at the University of Florida in 1989. I tried to grow some this year but my old seeds from 2012 never germinated - I'm not too sad about that as I don't remember it tasting especially good when I grew it last tbh (by no means a "spitter", just bland compared to all of my other home grown toms).

[NarnianGarden]

I discovered Lemon Sherbet F1 last year, and am growing it this season again. Very sharp, refreshing taste with enough sweetness to captivate your taste buds. Definitely micro enough. (it is from the seeries 'SweetnNeat')
Out of micros, I have grown Mohamed and Red Robin and Aztec, but they're all OP.

[Notostraca]

Originally Posted by NarnianGarden

I discovered Lemon Sherbet F1 last year, and am growing it this season again. Very sharp, refreshing taste with enough sweetness to captivate your taste buds. Definitely micro enough. (it is from the seeries 'SweetnNeat')
Out of micros, I have grown Mohamed and Red Robin and Aztec, but they're all OP.

Interesting, I'm growing a few "Sweet and Neat Yellow F1" this year, it's doing better than any others outdoors, and is also proving do stay very healthy in lower light levels compared to the other types I'm growing this year. Not tasted it yet but should be able to soon, do you know any other plants in this "series", and how are they related? For me it's grown taller and sturdier than I expected despite keeping it in tiny pots. I've attached a picture of the Sweet and Neat Yellow F1 plant I have growing at the office at work (in less than 700ml of John Innes #2 soil) - given a bigger pot, more light and more regular feeding I imagine this would be much larger! So I don't know if I would call it a "micro", especially not compared the the Micro Tom I grew in 2012. The picture was taken about a week ago, it is even chunkier now and has a couple of small green toms developing.



Actually, looking at the following page, I think "Lemon Sherbet" is just the name used for marketing this in the UK/Europe? Which is strange as I'm in the UK and purchased me seeds in pictorial packaging from Essex based Kings Seeds, who are just calling it "Yellow" instead of "Sherbet" (they have also changed "Sweet'n'Neat" to the more proper sounding "Sweet and Neat" ).



http://vegetalis.com/products/tomato...o-sweet-n-neat



I've had Mohamed in my eBay wish list for a while now, and already have some Red Robin I probably wont be able to resist germinating before the end of the season lol - how did you find the flavour/growth of those two?

[KarenO]

Heartbreaker is an F1 micro.
Pretty, tastes terrible.
I grew out f2’s Again all very pretty, different shapes and sizes , universally awful flavour.
Abandoned this little project.
KarenO

[groovy70s]

KarenO,

Was the Heartbreaker you grew one of these listed at Prudac (shown in my screenshot)? If so, do you know which variety of Heartbreaker it was? I just saved seeds from Heartbreaker Vita F1 and was going to try it in small pots over the winter. Thanks.

Mark

[KarenO]

Vita I think but not sure.
Nobody cares what anything tastes like it seems. My micros will have great flavour or they won’t be pursued
KarenO

[NarnianGarden]

Notostraca: yes, there also is a red in the Sweet 'n' Neat series. never tried that one. Just like the Vegetalis page says, these have different marketing names in the U.S. and Europe.

The Lemon sherbet, yellow one most definitely is a micro: it may grow a long leggy stem if there isn't enoigh light, just like any variety.

Mohamed and RR were both tasty imo and I could not tell lot of difference between them.

[NarnianGarden]

Someone gave me a Heartbreaker Vita plant some years ago. Definitely not my fave, but I know there are people who love the taste and enjoy it..

[zipcode]

The Heartbreaker series is compact, Vita is the most common, Valery is a bit bigger.

There's also an Evita F1 line from Volmary and a few others, I think I had the classic, compact and cute, good taste potential, somewhat similar shape to Vita. https://profi.volmary.com/fileadmin/...pring-2020.pdf

[jtjmartin]

I grew Mohammed this past winter - better than store bought but it does not come close to any of my favorite cherries - Black, Pink Princess, Sungold.

It did make me happy looking at it though because its a tomato!

Jeff

[NarnianGarden]

Originally Posted by jtjmartin

I grew Mohammed this past winter - better than store bought but it does not come close to any of my favorite cherries - Black, Pink Princess, Sungold.

It did make me happy looking at it though because its a tomato!

Jeff

I think sunlight makes all the difference. Mohamed was delicious when grown under a heat wave / sunny period. Maybe not a tropical fruit like SunGold but not tart or acidic at all. Sunlight is needed for sugar content.

[KarenO]

Originally Posted by NarnianGarden

I think sunlight makes all the difference. Mohamed was delicious when grown under a heat wave / sunny period. Maybe not a tropical fruit like SunGold but not tart or acidic at all. Sunlight is needed for sugar content.

I agree that they are much better outdoors. And so much easier to grow. My project is not strictly for indoor tomatoes or even strictly for microdwarf. Any small dwarf that has great flavour will have potential in my short and sweet project, there are some interesting things cropping up and while it began as mainly something to do in winter it has captured my interest in a more serious way now at F3. So who knows.
I do not mean to be rude re the heartbreaker series, I thought they were so cute and I grew them out at F2 to see if there was potential for crossing with but they were grown in good conditions outdoors and were actually inedible to my tomato taste.
Bred strictly for cuteness imo as are so many novelties.

[Labradors2]

Good for you Karen, breeding only for flavor!

I've tried a lot of micro tomatoes and have been disappointed with the nasty acidic taste. Not worth growing IMO.

I think the best tasting is Red Robin, which actually tastes good for a winter tomato.

Linda