Strange Looking Tomatoes

[recruiterg]

I usually don't buy seedlings, but this year I was forced to buy seedlings due to a coldframe mishap (frozen seedlings). This tomato is a late, but productive variety with an odd shape growing on a huge vine/plant. It has all the other characteristics of a paste tomato. Not super tasty, but good in sauces.

Any idea what it is?

[Worth1]

Zapotec.


Worth

[Boutique Tomatoes]

Agree with Worth, that or Tlacolula but that is much more difficult to find.. Rick Bayless said Zapotec were his favorite variety for making salsa, so there is a little demand for them.

BTW, Beautiful tomatoes!

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by marktutt

Agree with Worth, that or Tlacolula but that is much more difficult to find.. Rick Bayless said Zapotec were his favorite variety for making salsa, so there is a little demand for them.

BTW, Beautiful tomatoes!

The problem I see is that both Zapotec and Tlacolula are pink and what I see are red fruits.

Did you check the epidermis to see if it was clear ( pink) or yellow ( red fruit)?

When you bought the plant was there no label? If not, not good at all.

So if pink, which the epidermis will prove, then the two mentioned are possibilities and if red, then there are other possibilities as well..Just a note to say that when I examine the epidermis I use a known red and a known pink as controls.

[bitterwort]

If it's one you got from me, I'd love to know, Pat, so I can track down and mark the seeds. I got a couple this year that I think may have been crossed. One was supposed to be Pink Sweet, but it was ribbed somewhat like what you show except flattened along the horizontal axis as if someone sat on it. It was pink, not red like yours, but my thought was that the seed provider might have had a Zapotec or other ribbed variety crossing very actively with a bunch of plants.

Glad they're good for cooking, at least. Nothing worse than a prolific variety that shows its best stuff in the compost pile. ;-)

[recruiterg]

Carolyn, it is pink, although it looks red in the picture.

Shelly, I purchased this plant from Tangletown Gardens in Minneapolis. All the plants I got from you grew true to type as far as I can tell.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by recruiterg

Carolyn, it is pink, although it looks red in the picture.

Shelly, I purchased this plant from Tangletown Gardens in Minneapolis. All the plants I got from you grew true to type as far as I can tell.

I googled tangletown gardens, hoping to find a list of the tomato varieties they were selling as plants and while lots of links I couldn't find any list.

The plant whose fruits you show had no label?

Bummer that b'c I can't see how it could be IDed just from a picture, unfortunately.

Any chance you could send them a picture of what you have and let them Id it since they sold the plant?

Just a gentle suggestion.

[Worth1]

Well if you cant get a positive ID on the tomato you can name it Petticoat grown by Granny and Ellie Mae Clampett of the Beverly Hillbillies.

It is said that Mr Drysdale stole the tomato seeds from them and marketed the tomato in Southern California between the years 1968 - 1979.
The seeds were lost for many years and it seems as though you have found a new source for them.
It is said the original tomato was first grown around Branson Missouri around 1866 by Irish immigrants who trades for them with the Seminole Indians.
I has been told that the Seminole found this tomato growing in the Mississippi river valley

From which it most certainly was left there by the Hopewell and Adena peoples (Mound builders) who lived in the area for 1000's of years up till around the 1600's.

This is a very important find.

Worth