What Would be the Ideal Micro?

[Cole_Robbie]

I've sold every one that I took to market. Customers love the dark green color. They are a great product for the greenhouse, because the shelf life of the plant as a saleable product is a long time. I am going to grow out a second crop as soon as these ripen. I'm buying some shade cloth for my greenhouse and plan to try to sell plants over the summer, mostly flowers. But I think the microdwarfs are as pretty as any flower.

[BlackBear]

Does anyone here do crosses with Chibikko ??

they seem to be my earliest micros for the past 2 + years ...I am starting to really
like them ....not sure if it is an inadvertent culture bias ......but they are early and prolific .

[akgardengirl]

Here in Anchorage, where the weather has been horrible so far, I plucked 2 cherry sized "Aztek" from a nice compact plant. Thanks for the seed Cole Robbie! That might be another good one to cross with since it seems early.

[Cole_Robbie]

You're welcome. I really like Aztek as my microdwarf yellow cherry.

[Cole_Robbie]

Here's a planter of Aztek that is growing on my front porch right now.

[dfollett]

It looks like it will keep growing - but it is ripening now at 12" tall. It would be easy to top right now and force it to ripen what it has now. It is being supported by one 15" bamboo stake down the middle.

These don't taste like cherry tomatoes, they taste like real tomatoes. It has the Silvery Fir Tree fine leaf, but not the extra tart taste.

[dfollett]

This is a cousin to the last one. It is not quite as symmetrical or attractive, but it has slightly larger fruit. This one tastes more like a real summer tomato than anything I've ever grown under lights. It still has the attractive Silvery Fir Tree fine leaf.

[oakley]

Nice Cole. I like the window box container. I have a cluster of six, more dwarf than
micro, cascading on my deck just loaded with fruit.

Dan, they look amazing. And 'not too big' at 12 inches. A chop stick support seems fair.
With all that fruit they need support i think. Or they will cascade a bit and that works
for me with such strong stems.

My favorite of 4 is one of yours. And 11 recently potted up F5's. (Saved from the
smallest winter grown). An un-supported winter grown. Stayed squat, a true micro.

All 4 F4's are doing well but this one pictured
has fruit already, and a tuft of leaves above as a canopy.

*not a bug has touched any of these unlike some of their neighboring toms.

[nctomatoman]

Just saw this and don't even know if I commented - but to me, the ideal micro would be multiflora, delicious, and available in a variety of colors - size-wise, probably limited to cherry or large cherry for flavor and ability of the plant to maintain its integrity.

Red Robin - probably the prototypical (at least first well known) micro, to me is a cute plant, useful for what it is - but a flavor disappointment.

I've not really dabbled in the micro area - but am now, a bit, thanks to Dan - finding great variability and interest in one of his SFT X Multiflora crosses.

[dfollett]

If anyone wants to help try to find the Ideal micro or just grow some unstable micros with potential this winter let me know. I have quite a few F4 varieties that show potential, and in a couple of weeks I’ll have some F5 seed. I don’t have anything ideal and stable yet, but several are very interesting.

So far, the potato-leaf have been the most difficult type to get to cooperate. And the fine-leaf are the most intriguing. Red is certainly the easiest color to come up with (given the parents I started with), but I also have some red with stripes, red with antho, yellow and orange. Some are multiflora, most are not. Some stay under 12” while others approach 18+” and I cull them. It will take another few generations before they’re stable and I can assure anyone what they’ll get.

Anyway, PM me if you would like to grow a micro in a pot this winter and we’ll figure out if I have any you’d be interested in. All I ask is that you report back and send me some seed if you find something ideal.

[oakley]

I've already started a full tray, for germination testing and
possible winter grow-out. An F5 red cherry and the F4 large
chocolate cherry. A third plant I'm waiting on fruit. Started the
season with 18 micros, now 13. (I have the seed #'s)
Should have lots of seed saved by the end of the month for the
three best I would like to carry further.

I encourage anyone with a sunny window and a light set-up to
give these a try. No rules. You can start seed any time. Last Fall
I started seed the beginning of November. Beautiful small plants
happy in their 4" potting-up containers for weeks until you find
the time for a small one gallon.

Once Spring and warm days, they exploded on the deck in April,
when my garden seedlings were just wee things.

Pic from last week...lots of fruit on a few small under 12" plants
in one gallon pots.

[oakley]

This is the third plant I want to continue. 11" tall at the top cluster
(may need a chopstick support if any when full fruit set) lots of
small map-pin fruit forming.

[oakley]

Germination test. Row 3 and 4 are the F5 and F4 I saved.
I'll pot up 3-5 of each and see how they do...maybe more, for
Winter growing. Started seed 8-30

[oakley]

Fruit harvested last night. Earlier fruits were larger in the dark
choc cherry. Will have lots of seed from these two plants...

Still planning the Winter growing. Could add two more. Maybe
a stripe and a yellow/orange. Not growing Tom, Tim, or Robin this
year...

[oakley]

The dark chocolate cherry won the taste testing last night.

Dark, rich, full flavored, juicy, thin skinned
tastes almost 'dressed'. (a NewOrleans term for having all the
toppings/dressings on a po'Boy)
savory, salty/sweet
this one plant has been a solid 9 all season
lots of fruit for two solid months

The orange/red cherry is a good compliment to the chocolate
cherry. Fresh and fruity. Good zing. A solid 8
ripens first orange then deepens to an orange/red

These two plants have had the best well balanced form and size.
No staking at all needed. 8-10 inches
*lots of seeds fermenting

Started the season with aprox 18-24 dFollett micros, some were
winter grown and some more dwarf.
I think I'm down to 8 now. These have kept a cherry bowl full all
summer, 6oz to a pound since the end of May. All in small 1 gal
fabric grow bags.