Cutest dwarf plant....EVER!

[dokutaaguriin]

The tomato gene gods have smiled on me again!
I think this is a world's first- a variegated (sub)dwarf tomato.:
I will of course need to grow out the saved seed to see if stays true to form....fingers crossed.

[ChrisK]

Details, please!

[GunnarSK]

Is it supposed to be stable or is more than your fingers crossed? In that case, do you have a generation number?

[dokutaaguriin]

I have grown out a variety called Venus for a number of years. From my saved seed I planted about 75 seeds earlier this year and to my surprise this popped out!
I am not sure of the genetics involved with variegated foliage and whether this is just a one off or something more permanent. I am looking forward to getting seed and planting them sometime in June.
Jeff

[ChrisK]

I see. Will be interesting to see if it's heritable and if there is any fruit characteristic change.

Here are a couple of journal papers if you are interested:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...4.01190.x/full

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...6.01630.x/full

I used to see occasional spontaneous variegated plants (not tomato) show up during my grad school years, usually in flats containing 1000's of seedlings.

[GunnarSK]

Think that spontaneous variegation must be due to a mutation and hence heritable.

[ddsack]

How exciting for you! I hope future grow outs will continue the trait - I'll be in line waiting for seeds if they do!

The closest I've gotten is to find a bit of variegation on just one high terminal leaf, and it was on one of the dwarf project plants a couple of years ago. No other leaves on that sucker had any white, and no fruit produced on or near it. I assumed it was just a one time leaf mutation on that one branch.

Yours is much more spectacular, and I hope it proves heritable.

[carolyn137]

How exciting for you Jeff. First the Green Doctors Frosted, and now this.

THe only variegated tomato I know of that comes true from seed is Variegata, aka Variegated, but some folks have been using that one to do directed crosses and create other accessions with variegation.

In the good ole days at Garden Web pictures of several presumed varietgated ones woulld show up, all pictures from out side, I think, and no doubt bird poo since saved seeds didn't lead to anything variegated.

WHOA!!!

I just looked up Venus tomato and it's a GMO hybrid and half Vensus Fly Trap and half common red cherry.

http://www.wildmanfarm.com/?p=1098

Then I looked up variegated Venus Fly Trap cultivars and yes, some are variegated and it turns out that some, all? are infected with a plant virus.

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sclient...w=1037&bih=376

I should know better than to go Google searching when I have so many seeds to sort out and distribute to the folks doing seed production for me this eyar.

But I sim[ply can't help it, honest, and Imean the Google searching, not the seed partioning out.

Carolyn, who assumes you bought seed from Thompson and Morgan and there appears to be three colors of it, as to fruit color.

[Heritage]

Congratulations Jeff, I hope it is inherited. A great find!

Funny, Carolyn... Early April Fools?

Steve

[Redbaron]

Carolyn,
You are a week early in posting April fools pranks. It was funny though!

[carolyn137]

Steve and Scott, will you PLEASE read the darn links I gave?

No April Fools at all.

I went a bit overboard in saying half Flytrap and half red cherry b'c I haven't the foggiest idea of how much DNA was inserted and from which parent and where in the final tomato genome the inserted genes ended up.

Do you think I would have have gone agoogling for the variagation of Fly Traps if I didn't read that first link, and that was no April Fools joke at all, look at the date on that first link.

You all are making fun of me.

Carolyn, and that last laugh icon means I don't care if you make fun of me since what's in the links is true.

[Worth1]

So this could turn into a carnivorous man eating tomato plant.

Worth

[dokutaaguriin]

Venus Fly Trap Tomato.....now there is a unique idea to get rid of some nasty tomato pests!

I purchased the Venus seeds from a garden centre in Calgary and they were Thompson and Morgan packet.

I am a fan of the variety- Variegated. I think it is a very tasty medium red!
I will keep try to post more pics as it grows.
I assume the tomato fruit will be orange??
Jeff

[carolyn137]

So sorry, I didn't read far enough in that first link. It is almost April isn't?

%%%%%%%%%%

[Edit: April 2, 2010] This post was just a fun attempt at pulling an April Fools’ prank, did I get you? Just about everything in this post is make-believe; there are no such things as Venus-Tomatoes (at least not yet), Tomato Wasps or Indigo Slugs. For those who asked, the photo above is an unedited photo of a real Venus Flytrap. Now that April 1st has passed, this post has been moved from the ‘Garden’ archive to the ‘Miscellaneous’ archive. I hope to get you again next year!
P.S. A year after writing this joke article, I found that there is a variety of Cherry tomato that is called a Venus Tomato, although it’s just a regular tomato and it is NOT crossed with a Venus Flytrap. If you’re interested in growing this variety, you can buy the ‘Venus’ Orange Cherry Tomato seeds here.)

Carolyn,

Forgot to give another link. I did ask Jeff if his seeds were from Thompson and Morgan but I see they aren't listing it now,and I don't mean the flytrap one when I asked him, so here's Google Images for Venus, the tomato, top row far right is the one from T and M.

When I first googled Venus I did see that T and M was offering it, which is why I asked Jeff if he got his seeds there,

A generic Images as well since Boticelli's Venus on the half shell is also shown. LOL

http://www.google.com/search?q=venus...w=1037&bih=376

[dokutaaguriin]

"How exciting for you Jeff. First the Green Doctors Frosted, and now this."
HI Carolyn,
You could also add in Casey's Pure Yellow (from Green Giant). A customer who grew out my Striped Sweetheart had it mutate into Dark Striped Sweetheart.....it must be the cold,