Florida Everglades Tomato

[mensplace]

Does anyone know the history of the old Florida Everglades Tomato. I have read that it was the original Florida tomato?I am just seeking some background to some of the "history" I have read. Supposed to be very disease resistant, thrives in high heat and humidity, small cherry variety.

[happydog]

I used to grow it when I lived in Fl. I don't know the history, but I planted it once and then it came up all by itself for years.

Yes, I'd definitely say it is disease resistant, heat resistant, drought resistant, hurricane resistant, probably even nuclear resistant. It survived several years of having a toddler climb all over it every day, picking tomatoes. She loved it so much I finally quit trying to "manage" it and just let it take over the bed.

I liked it because it has a terrific, real tomato flavor, not insipidly sweet or bland like a lot of cherry tomatoes.

[carolyn137]

http://www.mgonlinestore.com/WFETomato/

Above is all the information you need b.c this guy has been selling these online almost forever and there have been many threads about his website. And he upped the price again last year, which is ridiculous since currant tomatoes are jsut a wonderful bag of seeds anyway, meaning he can process the tomatoes off one plant and have thousands up thousands of seeds/

The Spanish spread currant tomatoes (S. Pimpinellifolium) from Mexico along the Gulf Coast and into FL hundreds of years ago, and that's what this is, a simple currant tomato which can be found wild growing in ALL of those states, One doesn't speak of species varieties as heirlooms.

Yes, I know some folks who have grown it, and yes, like almost all currant varieties it is more tolerant of foliage diseases, but NOT systemic diseases and yes they all have great production, and yes, there are differences in tastes amongst some of them depending on whether it's Texas Wild, or one from MExico, etc.

Look at the price at the bottom and tell me if you really want to pay $8 for seeds when you can buy a pack of Red Currant seeds for much less.

If my post sounds a bit harsh it's b'c I hate to see folks online misrepresenting something and making money off that misrepresentation.

[travis]

Think I saw Florida Wild Everglades tomato listed in the Seed Savers Exhange 2010 Yearbook which would mean members could get seed for 2.00 or 3.00 rather than $8 from the online source.

[gardenfrog]

My experience with currant tomatoes ("Spoon") is that they grow good just about anywhere, including the heat of Texas or the humidity of Florida. : )

[fantoma]

Sounds like a tomato even i could grow successfully

[korney19]

I have to check my seed source if it was that guy or someone else but mine look more pink than red:

[matilda'skid]

How big do the plants get?

[korney19]

I can't really give you a fair answer on plant size because I usually crowd my cherries and grow sometimes as many as a dozen in less than 25 square feet, not to mention in 4 gallon buckets about 3/4 full, usually on drip fertigation. But most of them get about 6ft tall or so, I'd guess this one was similar--I haven't grown it in 4-5 years...

[carolyn137]

I guess my question is.......why all the interest in a red currant of which there are many available. Is it the name?

Do all red currants that I've grown taste the same? Nope. Have I grown this charmingly named Everglades Wild one that has brought money to the person who first started selling it with that name online and has done so for years?

Have I grown the Everglades one at the same time I'm growing, for instance Sara's Galapagos, which is my fave wee fruited one? Nope, I haven't done that either.

Is it all about marketing?

As I mentioned in my post above, red currants grow wild from FL all along the Gulf Coast.

Only those of you who have grown it or are interested in growing it can answer that question.

[travis]

I've grown the Wild Florida Everglades from the person selling the seeds online for an outrageous price per pack. They live up to everything he said regarding vine vigor, invasive self-seeding, red color, fruit size, everything but flavor. Very unnoteworthy. As I said in another discussion on the same topic, you can obtain seeds for WFE via SSE Yearbook for a fraction of the online price - I mean if you're really all that interested in growing it.

Personally, the tomato shown in Korney's picture looks much more appetizing and pretty in pink. The one I grew from the online vendor was an ordinary, round, red currant with average cherry tomato flavor.

[Keiththibodeaux]

I grew it this year with free seeds from a friend in Miami. Good taste, productive, and absolutely refused to grow vertically. Took over an easy 40 square feet of garden in less than two months.

[roper2008]

You might as well grow matt's wild cherry. At least it taste good, to
me anyway.

[Muslickz]

Does anyone in Florida have experience growing these? I'm looking for something that will withstand most of the Floridian foliage diseases.

I lost dozens of plants in the past two years to early blight and septoria and leaf spot. I was hoping that being native to Florida these may not be so susceptible to these issues?

-Mike

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Muslickz

Does anyone in Florida have experience growing these? I'm looking for something that will withstand most of the Floridian foliage diseases.

I lost dozens of plants in the past two years to early blight and septoria and leaf spot. I was hoping that being native to Florida these may not be so susceptible to these issues?

-Mike

You've just posted in a thread where many who have grown it have discussed it.

There are few of us who have had seasons with no Early Blight or Septoria Leaf Spot, but I sure wouldn't turn to growing a wee fruited Wild Everglades plant just b'c of that.

And breaking news, as they, in my last annual seed offer here in jan I listed a couple of SPECIAL ones where I didn't have enough seeds to either SSE list or offer in my seed offer, and four folks, the limit I set, signed up to grow what I called pink currant, not the real name, that has yet to be decided by the person who provided the seeds.

His name is Ted, and he's from FL and picked up a plant at a nursery that was just labelled Everglades, and when the fruits appeared he thought they looked pink. I was excited by that sine I knew of only one other pink currant, and that bred by Tim Peters, which is no longer available.

Ted didn't know how to save seeds so I told him to just take some fruits and smush them up, put them in a strong baggie, and send them and he did, they arrived and I set them up for fermentation.

TWo folks who got the seeds from me have alreday confirmed that they also got pink ones, which one has to check by checking the epidermis color, and I have to check with the other two. They're supposed to be sending me back seeds so I can offer it here for 2013 and if enough seeds to SSE lsit as well.

Ted sent fruits to another person whom I know and we're in contact as well, and she also confirmed that they were pink currants.

So I'm happy, to date, about the current, pun intended, situation.