VHS Cherry

[AlittleSalt]

We gathered three baskets of tomatoes this morning that we are going to drop off at our psychologist friend's place of business to share with the less fortunate.

I gathered the VHS Cherry (Valentines Heart Shaped Cherry) tomatoes separately. They are in the pictures below. These are the ones I am going to try to save seeds from to share with those who want to try to grow this F2 cross.

I am almost certain that one of the parents is Riesentraube. I got the seeds from the MMMM and the clear bag was marked, "Riesentraube 2013" It is a Multiflora with a point on the end. The largest VHS Cherries were about the size of a golf ball. - however, in our Texas garden, as the heat of summer gets hotter - the cherry tomatoes grow smaller. This is happening with Juliet F1 and several others. Eventually they will start dying off if we get typical hot weather here.

[pauldavid]

Love the look of them Salt!

[Deborah]

That was a fun idea-to arrange the heart tomatoes in the shape of a heart!

[Bipetual]

Salt, those are so pretty! And you say they taste good, too. I sure hope you can reproduce them. I am a few weeks from having early cherries here in Illinois...envious!

[AlittleSalt]

It has an old fashion type taste, well balanced, thin - easy to eat skin, and they didn't get mushy when it was raining almost every day.

EDIT: I missed your last post (about the taste). So, have any vendors taken an interest in it, yet?

[AlittleSalt]

In 2016, the F3s no longer had the point and were smaller in size. The taste was still good. The RKN infestation in the garden most likely played a part in their growth and production. I'm growing F2 seeds for VHS Cherry again this year. Only time will tell.

[JLJ_]

Salt, what's your current feeling about VHS? Saw this and thought it was new, then realized that most of it was from June of year before last.

I grew VHS in a row with original and yellow Riesentraube in 2016 and it was OK -- I didn't really pay a lot of attention because I thought I'd seen a comment from you that you'd decided not to pursue VHS . . . and, here, all the Riesentraubes were very late last year, so by the time they had fruit I was frantically getting ready for winter. My general impression of the three of them was that they made very healthy plants, but that it took them longer than other cherries to get into serious bloom -- though when they finally did, they turned into masses of yellow.

PS: (Looks as if we were posting simultaneously)

[AlittleSalt]

JLJ, I'm trying them again this year just to see if it was the RKN. I don't expect them to be stable, but there's room to give them a chance.

[JLJ_]

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

JLJ, I'm trying them again this year just to see if it was the RKN. I don't expect them to be stable, but there's room to give them a chance.

Was there something specific about them that discouraged you last year (that might have been RKN or other)? If so, I'll watch for whatever it is. I thought I remembered your saying you weren't happy with them last year, but don't remember why.

[AlittleSalt]

My disappointment was in the shape and size of the tomatoes. The taste was still good. The plants were way smaller than the year before.

They were planted in a different part of the garden along with some Riesentraube plants. That part of the garden must have had more RKN in it, because they were the first plants to die off. That was also before knew it was RKN that infected them. After researching RKN, I understood why there had been such changes from year to year.

I found a tomato that looks kind of like your VHS Cherry. Maybe it's one of the parents: Tarasenko 2.

[AlittleSalt]

Tarasenko 2 http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Tarasenko_2