Big Zac Pink

[Tomatovator]

I have picked 7 or 8 Big Zacs so far from 2 plants. One is putting out big reds but the other is putting out big pinks. Side by side the difference is obvious. The 3 big tomatoes on the right side are Big Zacs. Hopefully you can see the top one is pink and the other 2 below it are red. Anyone else getting pink Big Zacs? Any reason to save the seeds? It is supposed to be a hybrid.

[bcday]

If it's big and it tastes good, definitely save the seeds.

It won't be Big Zac, but it's worth keeping if you like it.

[BigdaddyJ]

Could the top one in your pic be less ripe than the other two? I am sort of color blind. I don't see much difference among the 3 BZ's.

I have grown BZ many years now and have never had a pink one. Your mystery tom is either not as ripe as the other two or NOT a BZ plant is my best analysis...

[Tomatovator]

Bigdaddy
I'll have some totally ripe ones by the end of the week and post another pic or 2. In person it is easier to tell that the one plant has all pink toms. I'm wondering if it could be one of the parent plants for Big Zac???

[BigdaddyJ]

OK, then you do indeed NOT have a BZ plant if the tomato is definitely pink. BTW, I am not a good color identifier as my eyes are a little color blind.

I guess it is possible you have one of the BZ parents. No way to know for sure. Nobody knows who BZ's parents were except Minnie Z.

It could be a seed mix-up from your supplier. You get them from Totally Tomatoes?

Like I mentioned, I have ALWAYS gotten real deal BZ plants and never a pink. I guess I am lucky.

It is listed as a hybrid but I have read that saved seeds produce very close to the original. I have never saved BZ seed so that is just ancedotal evidence.

Anyway, hope the pink is as productive and tasty as the real Red BZ. I love BZ tomatoes!

If you are after HUGE tomatoes I have discovered another variety that gives BZ a run for the money size wise. The new Portehouse from Burpee. I have two plants loaded with big beefstakes. Most over a pound and some over 2 pounds and I don't prune. I will taste my first PH tomorrow or Wednesday. Hope they are tasty cause I love seeing big bushy plants full of monster size tomatoes!

[nctomatoman]

That was my thought as well. If you are purchasing a hybrid and set something unexpected, there is always the chance that the particular seed you planted did not get pollinated by the crossing variety - so yes, one of the parents is possible (and I suspect that one of the parents is a big pink tomato!).

[barkeater]

And of course, it easily could be mislabeling on the growers part. I don't care how careful you are, invariably, if you start all your own tomatoes, you're going to mix one up sooner than later.

[Tomatovator]

Barkeater
I'm pretty sure I labeled it OK. It is putting out big tomatoes like the other BZ I'm growing. In fact a little bigger. As of this evening I've picked 6 pink ones so far with the average size being 17.75 oz. I've picked 5 red ones averaging 16.11 oz. None of my other pinks are quite this big although I did get some large MP early on. All of the pink varieties I'm growing are PL. The pink BZ has RL and the plant is very similar in size and shape as the other BZ I'm growing.

[BigdaddyJ]

OK, lesse, the pink BZ's are bigger than the true red ones. The seed wasn't mis-labeled. If they taste the same or better than the red BZ's there's you're answer as to whether or not to save seed:

YES SAVE SEED!!!!!

And remember me down here in DE when you get to mailing a few of those seed out...LOL

[barkeater]

Since you only started potato leaf pinks, then it can't be a mix up on your end. So, if this is one of the parents of Big Zac, I wonder which extra large, regular leaf pink Minnie could be using to create BZ??

Looking at the TGS catalog, these look like possible candidates to me:

1884
Florida Pink
Giant Belgium
German Johnson
Ponderosa Pink
Tidwell German

[carolyn137]

Big Zac being a hybrid it's possible that in making the hybrid seeds that there was lack of artificial pollination of a blossom or two on a pink parent which could have given rise to the pink one via self pollenization of those blossoms. Stray seed? Who knows for sure.

IN any case save the pink seeds and regrow to see if there's any genetic segregation.

As I recall the two parents that are used to make the hybrid are two that are not available commercially. I know one is Minnie's own family heirloom and I thought the other one was something similar. I don't think she ever said what color her own family heirloom is, so no way of knowing where the red came in, which is dominant, genetically.

Since I assume Minnie is Italian and knowing that there are darn few Italian pinks, I guess I'd assume that her heirloom is red crossed with ????? pink.

[Tomatovator]

I am very anxious to taste one of the pink ones. I gave most of them away but have 2 that should be ready to eat today or tomorrow. If it tastes good I'll try to bag some blossoms. I never did it before but my plants are so close together I think there is a very good chance that the open blossoms were cross pollinated. I have noticed a lot of very small bees flying around in the plants as well. I did get to taste one of the red BZ's (I gave most of them away too) and it was a very good tomato for me. My favorite for the year however is Polish (Ellis). I think it has a great texture, the right amount of seeds to flesh and tastes like what a tomato should taste like (for me). I only grew 2 this year. Next year I'll grow at least 4.

[nctomatoman]

I doubt that it would be Tidwell German - that variety surfaced only a few years ago as a family heirloom, and Big Zac was released well before that. German Johnson, Winsall, Ponderosa are all well known regular leaf large pinks that can get quite large, so who knows?! (not sure how long Florida Pink has been out there, but I've heard it can produce monsters). Other possible parents could be Mortgage Lifter, Dutchman, Watermelon Beefsteak, German Head, Giant Belgium - and these have all been listed by Gleckler and commercially available for many years.