StrongPlant-Breeding for the future

[Scooty]

With respect to vigor, productivity and hardiness, have you considered trying JBT?

As far as 2 recessive traits that you're looking for, have you thought about using any of the DTP 'matos?

[StrongPlant]

Originally Posted by Scooty

have you thought about using any of the DTP 'matos?

I'm sorry I don't know what do you mean by DTP

As for JBT it is on my to-get list,but I failed at obtaining the seeds this year,next one I'll get it for sure.

[Scooty]

Originally Posted by StrongPlant

I'm sorry I don't know what do you mean by DTP

As for JBT it is on my to-get list,but I failed at obtaining the seeds this year,next one I'll get it for sure.

JBT is what I'd consider a high vigor and production OP. Enough so that several times it's been recommended as a rootstock. Send me a PM. I can send you some seed.

By, DTP - I mean the dwarf tomato project. A lot of the varieties that Craig and others released have several of the characteristics you're look looking for.

[Fusion_power]

Black Sea Man suffers from extreme susceptibility to foliage disease in my climate. I only grow it to maintain seed.

I recommend Black From Tula, Bear Creek, and J.D.'s Special C-Tex as much better blacks to use in a breeding program.

[Scooty]

Originally Posted by Fusion_power

Black Sea Man suffers from extreme susceptibility to foliage disease in my climate. I only grow it to maintain seed.

I recommend Black From Tula, Bear Creek, and J.D.'s Special C-Tex as much better blacks to use in a breeding program.

Just curious, how does JBT fare in your climate relative to the latter three?

[StrongPlant]

Originally Posted by Scooty

Send me a PM. I can send you some seed.

Thanks for the offer,but I think I can find some seeds in my area,and it would not be very economical or time-efficient for me to get seeds from across another continent.

[StrongPlant]

Oh boy.The genetic diversity is about to explode in my collection.I've been in touch with a man who has over 2000 varieties of tomatoes,and in a couple of days I should get a package that has about 30 different varieties among which there should be a couple of wild species,S.cheesmanii,S.neoricki and a few different strains of S.pimpinellifolium.It's not guaranteed that I will get all of them but it would be so awesome to have actual wild tomatoes to do breeding work.

One species of tomato come recently to my attention,S.Hirsutum,subspecies glabratum.This tomato apparently has multiple pest resistances.It has sticky hairs all over it in which tiny pests such as mites get entangled.It also has some serious chemical weapons againsts aphids and cutworms.Can you imagine? A tomato that is pest-free...I must get my hands on this one.

Just make sure that "pest-free" doesn't mean potentially toxic to humans.

[StrongPlant]

Originally Posted by LDiane

Just make sure that "pest-free" doesn't mean potentially toxic to humans.

Well,it uses sticky substance to disable tiny pests like mites,which would be super-useful in my yard since I have russet mite infestation.I don't think any of the toxic chemicals it uses are found in ripe fruit,just like the common tomato.

[StrongPlant]

The seedlings are growing well,there are several cultivars that I want to grow for crossing during winter so I can evaluate F1 preformances during the growing season.I can't grow large number of plants for selection during winter but I can certanly grow a couple just for making crosses.Some of these seedlings will be transfered to a heated room with artificial lights when temperatures go too low.For now it's still hot here,and actually,this has been the hottest september I ever experienced in my life,as temps have been over 30C up until now.

Tomatoes are sprouting all over greenhouse as there has been a lot of dropped fruit during harvesting.I found this PL one,and I thought it was really pretty so I took a pic


I am super excited because I got the seeds of 30 different cultivars of tomatoes,and in there are S.neorickii and S.cheesmanii.I got 5 seeds of each,and I could not resist planting some of them.I planted 2 from neorickii and 1 from cheesmanii.Today I was happy to see that 1 seed of neorickii has sprouted! The main goal for now is to get more seeds from these wild tomatoes so I can have a secure stock of them whenever I need them.

[StrongPlant]

I got 5 seeds of S.Neorickii and I planted 2.Both sprouted! They are now plantlets,I hope I can get them to maturity and harvest more seeds.


They look more or less like S.Esculentum,but are smaller.For me the most surprising thing about it was that it is sticky on touch,and has a completely different smell then you'd expect from a tomato plant.The smell is somewhat citrus-like,but a bit on the unpleasant side,the message is clear: "don't eat me".
This might mean that it posseses some bug-resistance,which would be incredibly useful to me since I had major problems with mites and stinkbugs this year.
I also managed to sprout 1 seed from S.Cheesmaniae,I'll post a picture once it's big enough so I can be 100% sure it's the right species.

Since there is very little data about S.Neorickii on the internet I'll try to make as many observations as I can and report here.

*Forgot one thing,I realize now that this thread is better placed in the "crosstalk" subforum,if moderators can move it there that would be great!

[StrongPlant]

I've finally brought the plants inside,since I can really sence that smell of winter in the air,if you know what I mean.


I've grown plenty of plants under artificial lights,in fact 100+ different species.But never tomatoes.They have one main 250w mercury bulb with a color temperature of aprox 4200K,and 4x20w fluorescent bulbs,which have a more cooler color.I don't know if this will be enough,but only time will tell.So far,there seems to be a spike in growth since I brought them in.
The two of S.Neorickii speciments I've managed to grow from seed are doing exelent.The one on the left was grown in worm compost+roughly 20-30% crushed calcium carbonate natural stone(forgot it's name).This is because I know it coms from mountanous regions so I thought it'd enjoy a rocky substrate.However the one on the right grew larger and was in 100% compost,but the smaller one is about to flower,while on the other you can barely see the first buds comming.



I also have a problem.I have managed to regenerate a single plant of S.Cheesmaniae,but it seems to be affected by some disease.I fear it might be the dreaded potato spindle tuber viroid the tgrc had issues with.It started as a few small dot-like growths on the leaves that mostly resemble a scaled-down version of galls that some mites cause on plants.Now some leaves are starting to deform and there is strange moist,powdery growth on some places that is definitely derived from the plant itsef.I can't take a close up right now,but if anyone has a clue on what it migt be please let me know,this speciment is extremely important to me.

[StrongPlant]

Just a small update on the 2 neorickii tomatoes.Check this out:


Same pot size,same soil,same watering.The one on the left is kept with pruning to a single stem,the other one left growing freely.This is why I always prune all my tomatoes to a single stem.Single stem also allows more plants/surface area,useful for any breeder.More fruit/area that way,too.Also,the single-stem one gave me 4 beautiful babies (the other one-none)


They don't seem to be gaining any size anymore,but I'll let them hanging until they drop or the pedicles start to dry just to be sure,since this species has green fruit.

The whiteflies are all over the place,and the russet mite destroyed most of the plants already,but the 2 neorickii plants seem to be unaffected.There seems to be some minor damage from the whiteflies,but they seem completely immune to the russet mite,which is great news for me since I had major problems with this pest.

[StrongPlant]

Things are getting lively in my garden and greenhouse again.Unfortunately last year I made crosses too late,because I wanted to evaluate plant's preformance before I cross them.Lesson learned-cross first,then evaluate.I did manage to cross some though and get interesting F1s and even make an interesting discovery.

The discovery is regarding the multiflora gene (s-compound inflorescence).This gene does not seem to be completely recessive and expresses itself partially in F1 when a multiflora type is crossed with a normal flowering pattern tomato.
Check it out yourselves:


F1 a cross between S.Pimpinellifolium(vigorous hairless strain I've been using as a parent a lot)and a multiflora type yellow tom(Ildi)

Not as many flowers as multiflora but the number is certanly increased(in comparison to crosses with the same pimp while other parent has normal inforescence,those had exclusively a simple raceme-type) .The thing that interested me however is that multifloral types typicaly have 4 to 6 leaves between each inflorescence while normal infloresc. toms have 3 on avarage.Guess how many this F1 has.Yeah,only 3.This might lead to increased yields,but we'll see.

For comparison here is a another F1 with the same pimp parent and another potato-leaved one with normal infloresc.

[StrongPlant]

The monster cross:

Probably the most vigorous F1 with that pimp ever.The plant has surpassed all other varieties in terms of growth and flowering.It's already putting out it's 4th truss(compared to others that are at 1st or second) and it looks like it's going to be the 1st one to ripen.
This is the mother parent,it's an unkown PL variety with messy flowering pattern that I got from my neighbour:

If the hybrid shows good preformance,taste and fruit size I might make this cross again and this would also be the 1st approved(by me ) F1 I developed.

I saved a lot of seeds from the DCS,the resistant spontaneous cross I mentioned last season.I planted some 50 plants and they're showing a lot of variability:
Some like this one,have almost multiflora-level number of flowers:

Others seem to be of determinate habit:


And some produce much less flowers:


Many have glossy,waxy leaves and look quite pretty.It's now clearer that the cherry parent was an F1,and it seems it's parents were a determinate and a multiflora-type,but this is uncertain.I'll probably pull the determinates and grow another stem from the nearest indeterminate as one of the traits I'm selecting for is indeterminate growth.