Delectation of Tomatoes - Taste Test Results

lubadub · November 18, 2011

Please allow me to attempt a clarification of the situation with Big Zac. Big Zac is a hybrid. Repeat, Big Zac is a hybrid. It is a cross made by Minnie Zaccaria (Karolyn, please learn to spell her name....lol.) using two large heirloom varieties as the parents. Minnie went on to win the New Jersey Tomato Contest 6 or 7 times growing BZ. Later Totally Tomatoes was given the exclusive right to make and sell the seeds, which they continue to do. Anyone else offering these seeds is selling BZ F2 or whatever. Several years back, the seeds were apparently being made incorrectly. One of the parents may have been lost. This has been corrected. I grew BZ seeds obtained from TT alongside some gotten directly from and made by Minnie this last season and they were similar in all ways, big plants, big roots and big tasty tomatoes.

Some growers have been growing out Big Zac. Timm Brandt grew a 5.58 pound tomato using a BZ F3 and Nick Harp grew a 7.18 pound tomato using seed he got from the Timm tomato. I have grown these seeds and have gotten plants that were smaller than those from BZ F1 and which tended to wilt in hot weather. The root systems were small. I got one tomato over 5 pounds growing 14 of these plants. I will not be growing them this next season but will be observing how others do.

I hope this clears the air on whether BZ is a hybrid. I will ask Minnie to read this post to make certain I got it right. Marv

November 18, 2011	#11
lubadub Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: PA Posts: 169	BZ, a hybrid Please allow me to attempt a clarification of the situation with Big Zac. Big Zac is a hybrid. Repeat, Big Zac is a hybrid. It is a cross made by Minnie Zaccaria (Karolyn, please learn to spell her name....lol.) using two large heirloom varieties as the parents. Minnie went on to win the New Jersey Tomato Contest 6 or 7 times growing BZ. Later Totally Tomatoes was given the exclusive right to make and sell the seeds, which they continue to do. Anyone else offering these seeds is selling BZ F2 or whatever. Several years back, the seeds were apparently being made incorrectly. One of the parents may have been lost. This has been corrected. I grew BZ seeds obtained from TT alongside some gotten directly from and made by Minnie this last season and they were similar in all ways, big plants, big roots and big tasty tomatoes. Some growers have been growing out Big Zac. Timm Brandt grew a 5.58 pound tomato using a BZ F3 and Nick Harp grew a 7.18 pound tomato using seed he got from the Timm tomato. I have grown these seeds and have gotten plants that were smaller than those from BZ F1 and which tended to wilt in hot weather. The root systems were small. I got one tomato over 5 pounds growing 14 of these plants. I will not be growing them this next season but will be observing how others do. I hope this clears the air on whether BZ is a hybrid. I will ask Minnie to read this post to make certain I got it right. Marv __________________ Bigger is Better!