ESL or LSL hybrids in a breeding program

Boutique Tomatoes · October 20, 2012

Reading various other breeders posts I've come to think that incorporating some of the genetics of commercial hybrids in a breeding program to get a good base of disease resistance and tolerance factors, resistance to skin splits, etc. is a good idea.

One of the things I noticed in my grow out of a large number of heirloom and OP varieties this year was that some varieties had much better hang time and shelf life. A home gardener with a few plants would likely not be looking at this as a factor when choosing a variety, but even for the few hundred plants I had this year dealing with the harvest every day became a headache after a while. As I'm looking at partnering with a local charity next year to grow a much larger number of plants I've been considering this factor a lot, and want to incorporate these characteristics into my breeding plans.

What genes are involved in the ESL or LSL hybrids? I'm assuming it involves rin, and as far as I can tell that one doesn't work well in a subsequent generations, you get things like Tom Wagner's Gold Keeper where 25% of the plants fully ripen fruit, 25% will have hard/extra firm fruit and 50% have firm fruit. (this variety and it's percentages used only for example.)

If this is the case, is rin really only useful in F1 hybrids? Are there other genes at work in the ESL or LSL hybrids that might be useful? Or would I be better off looking at OP varieties that exhibit better hang time and shelf life and encorporating them?

October 20, 2012	#1
Boutique Tomatoes Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Northeast Wisconsin, Zone 5a Posts: 1,109	ESL or LSL hybrids in a breeding program Reading various other breeders posts I've come to think that incorporating some of the genetics of commercial hybrids in a breeding program to get a good base of disease resistance and tolerance factors, resistance to skin splits, etc. is a good idea. One of the things I noticed in my grow out of a large number of heirloom and OP varieties this year was that some varieties had much better hang time and shelf life. A home gardener with a few plants would likely not be looking at this as a factor when choosing a variety, but even for the few hundred plants I had this year dealing with the harvest every day became a headache after a while. As I'm looking at partnering with a local charity next year to grow a much larger number of plants I've been considering this factor a lot, and want to incorporate these characteristics into my breeding plans. What genes are involved in the ESL or LSL hybrids? I'm assuming it involves rin, and as far as I can tell that one doesn't work well in a subsequent generations, you get things like Tom Wagner's Gold Keeper where 25% of the plants fully ripen fruit, 25% will have hard/extra firm fruit and 50% have firm fruit. (this variety and it's percentages used only for example.) If this is the case, is rin really only useful in F1 hybrids? Are there other genes at work in the ESL or LSL hybrids that might be useful? Or would I be better off looking at OP varieties that exhibit better hang time and shelf life and encorporating them? Last edited by Boutique Tomatoes; October 20, 2012 at 04:48 PM.