Anyone growing any mystery varieties for Spring 2013?

[checkerkitty]

Originally Posted by tedln

"I think I'm going to add Fred Limbaugh and Fourth of July to my "need to find seeds" list. Love the productivity of both, especially considering our growing conditions are similar."

Christy,

PM me. I have enough Limbaughs to last a life time. It will probably have a few bonus RL Limbaughs Firecracker f1 in the mix as well. I think I have enough FoJ to send a few also. It seems a little late in the season to germinate the Limbaughs since they are a late season producer. While the Firecracker grew and produced well in the fall, I don't think the Limbaughs will. I did plant some fall FoJ's a couple of years ago and they grew and produced so well until frost, I grew to hate them as fall tomatoes. I was working constantly to improve my support to keep them from crashing to the ground.

Ted

Thanks, Ted! That's very generous of you. PM coming your way....

Christy

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Redbaron

I have a few "Mysteries to solve"

1 is the 20 foot cherry plant I saved seeds from last year. I will also be growing 2 other mystery cherries I got in trade. I will be comparing at least 5 or 6 strains of Rutgers, searching for a long lost mystery strain (at least to me). I will also be growing "snickers" side by side with black pepper to see if snickers really is black pepper or not. And of course I am also helping with 2 growouts for the dwarf project as many others here. Last but not least I will try to resurrect the old Red Baron strain from old seeds for Carolyn. That should be fun considering my nickname here.

Actually I found those old seeds of Red Baron and asked you if you wanted to try them, You said you did, I sent them and only asked if you got them going that I'd appreciate some seeds back.

So you're growing them for you, not me, and I hope it works out OK for you since my user name is not Red Baron.

Finally, Red Baron, is not a strain as you wrote above, it's a variety that has no strains.

Carolyn

[sprtsguy76]

Growing out mystery's is so much fun. I have a few this year that I will be growing out. Green Doctors Mystery Cross is in the F4 stage and gets keeps getting better every year. Found a mystery cross in Green Giant last year that was terrific as an F1 that had dull pointy bottoms (could have crossed with Orange Strawberry or Kosovo). Last but not least Japanese Black T. x Brandywine. Several awsome leads in this one but have narrowed it down to 2 this year. Both pink one bomb/plum shaped and the other a pink pear.

Damon

[kilroyscarnival]

My "mystery" is more or less intentional. I bought Totally Tomatoes' "Rainbow Beefsteak Blend" of "various large, indeterminate, 77-115 days" seeds.

It says they contain "10% each Amana Orange, Aunt Ruby's German Green, Black from Tula, Cuore de Toro, Dixie Golden Giant Tomato, German Red Strawberry, Keutucky Beefsteak, Ponderosa Pink, Red Brandywine, and White Potato Leaf." No guarantees of exact proportion. I planted eight seeds about two months ago and am planting them in containers. I made myself the homework project of gathering some pictures and details of each type so that I can spot them. No potato leaf in my eight so I guess I can rule out the white.

I'm excited to learn (by searching the web and mostly Tatiana's TomatoBase) that the German Red Strawberry is a beautiful red heart! Hope I get one of those. I am not sure how I'll tell whether the German Green is ripe... or German Green at all.

--Ann

[RobinB]

I have more "mysteries" than I thought I would from 2012. I got a really great tasting black plum from a packet of Paul Robeson seeds. I got a golf-ball sized red with just a dusting of blue from a pack of J & L Select Blue, which tasted way better than the darker solid indigo fruit from the "normal" plant. I've got one really cool looking and great tasting selection from Tom Wagner's Shadow Boxing to grow out, plus there is the stuff I'm growing for the Dwarf Tomato Project, but that is intentional! I do love a good mystery... speaking of which, there is the matter of the Mini Yellow vs Russian Mini Yellow that Patty B mentioned. My Mini Yellow is stable, but is is the same tomato as Russian Mini Yellow? Thanks to Patty, a side by side comparison is in the works for this coming season. This is going to be a fun season!

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by checkerkitty

20 feet! Wow! I'll bet you were eating tomatoes from that plant nonstop. I don't think I've ever heard of a tomato plant getting that big. Also, Red Baron grown by Redbaron sounds pretty cool!

Christy

The interesting thing about that plant was it had very few suckers naturally. Long skinny plant that grew viney almost like ivy! I didn't even know how long it was until I pulled it after first frost because it was tangled up in the rest of the tomatoes!

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

Actually I found those old seeds of Red Baron and asked you if you wanted to try them, You said you did, I sent them and only asked if you got them going that I'd appreciate some seeds back.

So you're growing them for you, not me, and I hope it works out OK for you since my user name is not Red Baron.

Finally, Red Baron, is not a strain as you wrote above, it's a variety that has no strains.

Carolyn

Sorry Carolyn. All that is true. I guess my command of the English language is not as good as yours. I didn't intend to mislead and don't worry. I'll do my best to get some fresh seeds back to you.

[sio2rocks]

This year I have a couple that should be fun:

A line of F6 Brandy Boys that may turn out any color/shape/size according to the woman who sent them to me

A tomato called Trip-L-Crop one of my co-workers gave to me that is supposedly a climber tomato that can reach 25 ft.

Last I have a couple potato-leaf starts that came up in supposedly regular-leaf heirloom varieties from a reputable supplier so not sure what I can expect from them

All in all should expect some good surprises.

Colin

[Tormato]

Originally Posted by checkerkitty

I love mystery plants! I think of them as a treasure hunt and hope I strike it big. I've got a few plants already that are mysteries for now:

1. A volunteer from Fall 2012. It survived a freeze that took out a JDs in the same large bucket. It may be a variety called Orange Blossom that I picked up at Whole Foods last year that I grew in the same bucket. It's covered in baby blooms so I guess I'll find out soonish. Nice determinate plant. This one is going back in a large pot all by its lonesome.

2. A RL plant in a pack of Stump Of The World seeds. All the others came up as PL.

3. A plant I bought today at the nursery because I knew it was wrong. Marked as Black Krim with potato leaves. The seedling is about 5 inches tall and has a bloom spike forming already. I've called the supplier to check on any other PL varieties they are growing and the age of the seedling. I should be getting a call tomorrow.

4. I have some leaf variation in seeds of Brown Sioux. They are all RL but not all the plants are identical in leaf shape. We'll see on this one since I've never grown this before.

Anyone else?

"A RL plant in a pack of Stump Of The World seeds."

This showed up in my garden in about 2004/2005, a year or two before I heard others getting the same. I distributed a few 1,000 saved seeds the winter before getting the RL, so I may be responsible for the off-type SOTW.

My saved seed of RL SOTW produces RL and PL plants, and saved seed of PL SOTW produces PL and RL plants. It's been doing this for years. There's a "variety" floating around called "Perpetual Change". It's your guess as to who named it.

Dr. Lve Apple

[EBHarvey]

Aside from several of Tom Wagner's unfinished creations, my own intentional crosses, and that black cherry with the multiflora-looking trusses I talked about here back in the fall, the only real mystery is a seedling that popped up among some black pear plants at the very end of the season that appeared to be from a very early fruit that dropped, but had regular leaves.

I've kept the little guy alive in a 1 liter soda bottle on a windowsill all winter by cutting off the bottom roots and replanting deeper every few weeks. Aside from have any one of 25 or so potential mystery fathers and my curiosity about what fruit will pop out, it's been a real labor of love and I can't wait to put him back in the ground in 8 weeks or so.

[saltmarsh]

I'm growing F3 Better Boys to get to F4 and hopefully F5 this year. Probably urinating into the wind, but sometimes you just have to.

[FarmerShawn]

I am going to grow out seeds from a volunteer grape tomato that I let go last year. The previous year I grew Smarty, Tami G, and Five Star Grape in or near that location, and they are all hybrids. The grapes I got from that volunteer were quite wonderfully sweet and flavorful - better than Smarty and Five Star, but bigger than Tami G. So I am looking forward to tasting what I get from those seeds.

Originally Posted by saltmarsh

I'm growing F3 Better Boys to get to F4 and hopefully F5 this year. Probably urinating into the wind, but sometimes you just have to.

I've read "Better Boy" would be one of the more difficult hybrids to stabilize due to it's more complicated parentage than most hybrids. I've also read Better Boy is already a stable variety which continues to be sold as a hybrid in order to keep growers from attempting to save seed. I have no idea which belief is correct.

Out of curiosity, did you observe many differences in your F2, and F3 generations?

Ted

[saltmarsh]

Originally Posted by tedln

I've read "Better Boy" would be one of the more difficult hybrids to stabilize due to it's more complicated parentage than most hybrids. I've also read Better Boy is already a stable variety which continues to be sold as a hybrid in order to keep growers from attempting to save seed. I have no idea which belief is correct.

Out of curiosity, did you observe many differences in your F2, and F3 generations?

Ted

Ted, about the only difference I've noticed seems to be in plant vigor. With the F2 plants about half the seedlings were much smaller than the rest growing in the same tray under the same conditions. The more vigorous plants went in the ground and matched Better Boy F1's grown for comparison for growth, production, and taste.

The only difference I'm seeing with the current F3 seedlings is vigor again. About two thirds of the tray are vigorous this time and appear identical to a tray of F1 Better Boys I'm growing for comparison again this year. Claud

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by tedln

I've read "Better Boy" would be one of the more difficult hybrids to stabilize due to it's more complicated parentage than most hybrids. I've also read Better Boy is already a stable variety which continues to be sold as a hybrid in order to keep growers from attempting to save seed. I have no idea which belief is correct.

Out of curiosity, did you observe many differences in your F2, and F3 generations?

Ted

I can help with that.Better Boy is the result of a simple two parent cross. Teddy Jones being one of the parents and I don't know the other parent.

Yes there are thosee who have tried to stabilize it by making selections, we've discussed this before. But I'm convinced that Petoseed is still producing F1 seed and that can be seen if one saves the F2 seed and puts out LOTS of plants and looks for plants with pink fruit, which is what TJ is. Thus seeing genetic segregation.

John Peto used to be at Burpee and left, taking seeds for Teddy Jones with him to CA wher he bred Better Boy F1.

Dr. Oved Schifriss was the one who bred Big Boy F1 at Burpee inPA when Peto was still there and Big Boy F1 has only two parents as well, one being TJ and the other one I know but Dr. Schifriss asked me never to tell, and I haven't.

When I decided I wanted to get as much of Teddy Jones as I could out of Big Boy I put out 10 or 12 plants,can't remember, and two of them were pink fruited.

Dr. Schifriss was my mentor and said that the pinks were too small and keep at it and said I could never get more than 80% of the genes out for TJ.

So that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Carolyn