Cross pollination of tomatoes (by hand)

Mark0820 · January 10, 2011

I was reading over the weekend about cross pollinating tomatoes (by hand), and the article indicated a F1 hybrid is USUALLY very similar whether variety A is used as the male/variety B as the female or whether variety B is used as the male/variety A as the female. Here is the exact wording:

“Which plant one chooses for a male and which for the female often has little consequence for what most of us are trying to achieve. [IE Stupice x Brandywine vs Brandywine x Stupice (called a reciprocal cross)]. There is what is called the maternal effect. This is the result of DNA present in the chloroplasts of the mother plant (called cDNA). Cholorplasts from the mother plant are transferred to the developing embryo via the ovary. Embryos do not receive cDNA from the male. This can be utilized by plant breeders but most of us would not be aware of such differences and reciprocal crosses to make F1 hybrids USUALLY are fairly similar. If you have time/room, try both.”

So now I am curious. What plant characteristics are impacted by the maternal effect (in general, not detailed technical terms)?

Before reading this article, I never really thought about tomatoes being self pollinated. I have hand pollinated (not cross pollination) squash, pumpkin and melons, but didn’t stop to think that tomatoes are pollinated in a slightly different way. Now that I understand the process, it seems like the chance a tomato cross pollinates (by nature, not by hand) is a fairly low percentage. Clearly, pollen from its own anther cone is more likely to reach the stigma than pollen from another tomato plant. If I think of bee activity in my own garden, the most activity is centered around cucumbers, followed by beans / peppers, with tomatoes at the bottom of the list. I would be more concerned about cross pollination of peppers than tomatoes. These are just my own thoughts, so I am interested in the opinions of other people.

January 10, 2011	#1
Mark0820 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Cincinnati Posts: 907	Cross pollination of tomatoes (by hand) I was reading over the weekend about cross pollinating tomatoes (by hand), and the article indicated a F1 hybrid is USUALLY very similar whether variety A is used as the male/variety B as the female or whether variety B is used as the male/variety A as the female. Here is the exact wording: “Which plant one chooses for a male and which for the female often has little consequence for what most of us are trying to achieve. [IE Stupice x Brandywine vs Brandywine x Stupice (called a reciprocal cross)]. There is what is called the maternal effect. This is the result of DNA present in the chloroplasts of the mother plant (called cDNA). Cholorplasts from the mother plant are transferred to the developing embryo via the ovary. Embryos do not receive cDNA from the male. This can be utilized by plant breeders but most of us would not be aware of such differences and reciprocal crosses to make F1 hybrids USUALLY are fairly similar. If you have time/room, try both.” So now I am curious. What plant characteristics are impacted by the maternal effect (in general, not detailed technical terms)? Before reading this article, I never really thought about tomatoes being self pollinated. I have hand pollinated (not cross pollination) squash, pumpkin and melons, but didn’t stop to think that tomatoes are pollinated in a slightly different way. Now that I understand the process, it seems like the chance a tomato cross pollinates (by nature, not by hand) is a fairly low percentage. Clearly, pollen from its own anther cone is more likely to reach the stigma than pollen from another tomato plant. If I think of bee activity in my own garden, the most activity is centered around cucumbers, followed by beans / peppers, with tomatoes at the bottom of the list. I would be more concerned about cross pollination of peppers than tomatoes. These are just my own thoughts, so I am interested in the opinions of other people.