Grosse Lisse tomatoes

[metromix]

I may be in the wrong forum if so sorry about that. I have about 10 Grosse Lisse plants growing being in Australia they are our most popular breed of tomatoes
In one row the two end plants have not performed well at all with their size I was going to pull them out bit noticed they had set fruit they have both produced perfect fruit but several weeks earlier than all of the others the only thing they are more than a quarter the size of what you would expect from a Grosse Lisse
My question is if I save the seeds from the best and most perfect do you think that next year I will have miniature Grosse Lisse which would complement some of the other tomatoes that I have such as the minateur black cherry
for those who have not come across Grosse Lisse they are Australia's favourite tomato ..thanking you

[Antipodean]

g'day metromix,

grosse lisse is an open pollinated variety (non-hybrid) which means that its seed will grow true to its parent. so in theory, it doesn't matter from which fruit you save seed, they will all be genetically identical.

so why are the end ones small, well maybe they are not grosse lisse (plants tagged incorrectly or stray seeds) or environmental factors have stunted them.

[AlittleSalt]

I was thinking they may be stunted too. Many things can stunt tomatoes including too much rain, pesticide, insects, viruses, cold temperature at the wrong time, nematodes, storm and/or wind damage, etc...

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by metromix

I may be in the wrong forum if so sorry about that. I have about 10 Grosse Lisse plants growing being in Australia they are our most popular breed of tomatoes
In one row the two end plants have not performed well at all with their size I was going to pull them out bit noticed they had set fruit they have both produced perfect fruit but several weeks earlier than all of the others the only thing they are more than a quarter the size of what you would expect from a Grosse Lisse
My question is if I save the seeds from the best and most perfect do you think that next year I will have miniature Grosse Lisse which would complement some of the other tomatoes that I have such as the minateur black cherry
for those who have not come across Grosse Lisse they are Australia's favourite tomato ..thanking you

And here's some information you may not know, and that the origin of what is called Grosse Lisse in Australia is known and was developed in the US as Trophy and seeds are still available for Trophy

http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Grosse_Lisse

http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/T...b=General_Info

Carolyn, who has grown both. Not thrilled with the taste but of historical importance of Trophy IMO.

[metromix]

I checked the stunted plants and the leaves are the same but only smaller
Their is no chance of any outside influences as I have 16 odd plants of various strains and sizes and this is about my 50th year of growing tomatoes 48 of them growing grosse lisse

[nicollas]

It is maybe a genetic mutation so anyway save the seeds and sow a few next year.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by metromix

I checked the stunted plants and the leaves are the same but only smaller
Their is no chance of any outside influences as I have 16 odd plants of various strains and sizes and this is about my 50th year of growing tomatoes 48 of them growing grosse lisse

I would imagine that stunted plants might have smaller leaves, but the size of leaves is not the best way IMO to decide if a variety is what it should be, just too many variables.

Since Trophy was first introduced in 1860 and was spread to Europe, England ans beyond, as were many varieties in the mid to late 1800's it all makes sense.

I'm 76 now and started helping out at our farm when I was about 5, so I've been growing tomatoes for about 70 years now, in one place or another where I was at the time.

Carolyn