Big SunGold Select

[Wi-sunflower]

I have some Big Sungold Select plants from Carolyns seed. I'm also growing a few of the Sun Sugar F-1, Sun Sugar F-3 or 4 I saved myself, and some Sun Gold OP that someone sent me last year and I re-saved. I also have 2 store bought orange grape varieties that have the Sun Gold color. The 1 I planted last year had as close to the Sun Gold taste I've tasted in something else. At least when it was quite ripe.

Hopefully I will have all at the same time sometime this season so I can compare the taste of them all.

I just got the Big Sun Gold Selects planted about a week ago and the F-1s planted this week. i'm finally finished planting. Way behind due to my back problems back in April. Many of the plants got potted up way late and we had to wait on them to root up before putting them in the field. But the summer has been more like summer this year so I still should have time to get some decent fruit.

Carol

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by matertoo

Carolyn-When I posted earlier rgarding BSS, I hadn't noticed the two fruit shapes/sizes, as I had a lot going on with the recent death of my mother and related things.

I have some pictures that may help explain things. First photo shows the two fruits. The real difference is size, as the shape is basically the same, except that the larger fruit has a small taper at the blossom end.

I have one plant that has the larger fruit, while the other five have the smaller fruit that is completely round. Wish me luck in posting these pictures.

Happy Matering,

Paul

I would have wished you luck posting the pictures but you posted them before I could do that.

I've had the same thing happen with the variety Dr. Carolyn's Pink, seeds sent to me by an SSE member.

As long as the two sizes aren't on the same plant then I don't think it's a problem. Just save seeds from the smaller ones, but honestly I couldn't quite tell if the large ones were the correct ones and the smaller ones too small, , but good sense and probability says to me that the smaller ones are correct, so save seeds only from those.

As for feedback so far I don't think anyone has mentioned two different sizes, but if all are orange, well then, that's also good.

[amideutch]

Some pictures I took last year of my BSS. Ami

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by amideutch

Some pictures I took last year of my BSS. Ami

I think I remember you posting those pictures before. So I see you got different sizes as well and I know you were the seed source to Tania as I think she says at her site.

Did you have a uniform size all on one plant or a range of sizes on one plant?

Heck, I can get different sized fruits on any one plant of almost any variety I grow so it doesn't bother me, as I said above, and I had only one plant and the person who did my seed production for me had several, and all we got was a uniform size from all plants.

my seeds were directly from Reinhard and I know that your seeds and Clara's were from Manfred. Mandfred probably grew out plants for seed production from ones that Reinhard sent him, so I don't know if that makes a difference either.

[sprtsguy76]

I was just looking at the first few ripe fruit off BSS and I noticed two things right away. My fruit are not orange like Ami shows in here pictures and they are not as round as Ami's either, mine are more red in color and blocky roundish.

Damon

[goodwin]

I have 1 plant, the fruit is red-gold and and it is a fine cherry tomato, though I can't tell you if it is stable. The flavor is different from SunGold - sharper, but I don't know if the original intent was to reproduce the taste of the hybrid. However, that's possible if you select for an associated trait as has been discussed.

Lee

[Lee]

Here's my Big Sungold Selects along side some Sungold F1s.
They are larger, fairly uniform in size and shape, and a lighter
color of orange than the Sungolds.

Taste test and comparison will be forth coming.

Lee

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by goodwin

I have 1 plant, the fruit is red-gold and and it is a fine cherry tomato, though I can't tell you if it is stable. The flavor is different from SunGold - sharper, but I don't know if the original intent was to reproduce the taste of the hybrid. However, that's possible if you select for an associated trait as has been discussed.

Lee

The original intent was to develop something that was as close to the taste of the F1 hybrid and Reinhard has released the following:

Sungold Select
Sungold Select II
Big Sungold
Big Sungold Select

.......in succeeding years and all were genetically stable as released by him. And last I knew he was still working on it, so who knows what might come next.

I know there's been talk about trying to select for taste and wondering if the smell of the foliage might be linked to some of the taste genes, and I know that Keith has crossed Little Lucky with Sungold F1 and I know that at least an F2 selection had the foliage scent, I don't know about the taste, but the concern was that further dehybridization might not carry through taste plus foliage scent.

I guess we'll all have to wait a few years to find out.

[goodwin]

Yes, we are in the fourth generation - third season of production, and have made good progress selecting for flavor. They are now our best-selling cherry tomatoes in Santa Fe and Los Alamos. It's great to see the number of people involved in this and other breeding projects. Lee

[frogsleap farm]

There is definitely segregation for foliage scent in dehybridization generations, and in F1, F2 crosses. I'm not sure yet how this relates to taste - but will know more later this summer. The fact that SunSugar F1 and crosses related there-to have a very similar foliage scent/fruit taste make me suspect Sun Gold and Sun Sugar have very closely related pedigrees. Perhaps same breeder, lines marketed by different seed companies. It happens.

[carolyn137]

I'm much more interested in getting an OP version of the F1 that closely approximates the fruitiness taste of the F1 than I am in conserving the foliage scent.

If the two traits are linked, so be it. And I don't care what shade of orange the ripe fruits might be.

So, if and when anyone develops something like I've described, I'd be pleased to trial it in my modest garden here on the NY/VT border and y'all know how to PM me when you're ready to send seeds.

With bated breath I await that PM, but am not sitting by the computer waiting for it to arrive anytime soon.

[rsg2001]

I can't wait till some of my BSS's ripen and I can see the color and compare the taste to Sungold F1 (which just gave us the first two ripe tomatoes of the 2010 season). There is one cluster that looks like it is about to start ripening and they are closer to the size of Black Cherry (just a tad smaller than BC) than they are to Sungold.

[carolyn137]

One person has just reported to me that he got PINK cherries from the BSS seed I sent out and I was wondering if anyone else got "blood-red " cherries that had clear skin so were actually "pink" cherries as he described them. I was going to check what I was offering in that last seed offer to see if I goofed, and will check it again, but I don't remember any pink OR red cherries and he said he got three plants with the same.

I don't have any problem with folks using different words to describe the color as orange, orange red, reddish orange, reddish gold, b'c those are all in the same ballpark and reflect different color perceptions.

But a blood red one with clear skin that looks pink is a concern.

The BSS seeds that I distributed were ones that I had saved from non-bagged blossoms but to date this is the first report from this or other message sites where I post where some got their BSS seeds from me where anything blood red/pink has been reported.

Soon I'm going to put up two threads, one for feedback on the seeds I sent out earlier this year in my general seed offer, and that would include BSS, but I decided to post here since there already was a thread about BSS.

And the second thread I'm going to put up is for feedback on how the NCSU varieties did for those who got seeds from me. Maybe I'll put one up for the PSR-37 seeds but I was sent those late and I don't think that many got them planted this Spring.

I know that some of you southern growers already have ripe fruits , but most of us up here in the tundra don't, myself included.

So any feedback is appreciated on BSS.

[Lee]

Big Sungold Select was a big bust this year. Craig and I
tasted samples from two different gardens, and neither got
good reviews. The first was a 2.5~3.5/10 mealy with an "off flavor".
The second was a 5/10 with no likeness to Sungold other than
the color.

The seed source was fruit I got from Martha at Tomatopalooza[tm].

Neither Craig or I thought much of this one. Got to wonder
if something happened to cause the flavors to go south with
this one. Especially since it was 2 different plants about 100 miles apart!

Lee

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Lee

Big Sungold Select was a big bust this year. Craig and I
tasted samples from two different gardens, and neither got
good reviews. The first was a 2.5~3.5/10 mealy with an "off flavor".
The second was a 5/10 with no likeness to Sungold other than
the color.

The seed source was fruit I got from Martha at Tomatopalooza[tm].

Neither Craig or I thought much of this one. Got to wonder
if something happened to cause the flavors to go south with
this one. Especially since it was 2 different plants about 100 miles apart!

Lee

Thanks for the feedback Lee.

Martha raised all my plants for me last year and I know she planted out some for herself.

In my SSE listing I said "great yield of deep orange cherry tomatoes, about 1-1.5 inches with great taste " b/c that's what I got.

And bcday who did almost all of my seed production for me also listed it and said " 1 oz orange globe shaped cherry, excellent sweet fruity flavor with great yield" b'c that's what she got.

So I'm sorry you didn't experience the same as we did.