OP or hybrids?

[peppereater]

I grabbed some commercial seed this year thinking I was buying OP's, now I'm not so sure. Aside from my heirlooms, I've got San Marzano, Beefsteak, Delicious, Sugarlump, Super Marmande, and Rutgers. Are any of these open-pollinated? Anyone care to rate them? I get the impression that Rutgers is good tasting but nothing outstanding. I was pretty fond of some Beefsteaks I bought as plants last year. I haven't tried any of the others.

[gardenmama]

Beefsteak, Sugar Lump (aka Gardener's Delight) and Super Marmande are OP as well. Of course the seed companies don't want you to know that.

[peppereater]

That was what I first thought, partly because they've all been around awhile, and partly because none said "hybrid" or F1. I gather those criteria don't always add up, though.
It'll be interesting to see how any of these stack up to the other heirlooms this year! (assuming I get any fruit with this hot weather!)

[feldon30]

I know there are both hybrid AND op versions of San Marzano and Rutgers.

[barkeater]

There is NO hybrid Rutgers varieties. That is fact.

[barkeater]

Sorry, I meant to say "variety" as there is only one variety of Rutgers, with numerous "selections".

[Suze]

Originally Posted by feldon27

I know there are both hybrid AND op versions of San Marzano and Rutgers.

I'm not aware of any hybrid strains of Rutgers, although there are several selections. Probably at least 7-8 listed in SSE yearbook if memory serves.

Agreed on the San Marzano.

[Suze]

Peppereater, care to list seed your seed sources for each one? That might help us to narrow it down.

[peppereater]

Suze...some were Burpee, a name I thought I could trust, as they've been around for some time. Others were cheap, off-the-rack stuff. Until I started reading on this forum, I thought that the big issue was germination rates of seed, not whether seed was reliable as true to it's namesake.
I've had good luck with cheap seed for tomatoes and other crops germinating in years past, and I had 100 percent germination with most of my tomatoes year after year, whether ordered or purchased at Wally World, Lowe's or wherever...I decided not to order seed this year, as I was getting some from growers, and purchasing Burpee's Heirloom and others locally, as well as some I thought were heirlooms like those listed above. I guess there's no point saving seed from a lot of the tom's I'm growing this year! My first year I'm going to try saving seed, so I'll concentrate on "known" varieties. What about the Bonnie's Brand Arkansas Traveler I purchased as a plant? It was labeled as heirloom, but are their plants reliably what they're labeled? I'd hate to do any seed swapping and send off disreputable seed.

[feldon30]

Guess I was mistaken then!

You so rarely see OP varieties mention disease resistance.

[timcunningham]

Pepper Eater,

My website www.tomatoindex.com lists data on these tomatoes, and when you taste one you can be the first to rate it for me.

Thanks,

Tim

[peppereater]

Originally Posted by feldon27

Guess I was mistaken then!

You so rarely see OP varieties mention disease resistance.

I guess Feldon and I are both confused about terminology. Fact is, this site is the first place I've seen that explains a lot of things. So if a named variety is followed by a string of numbers like "#38465" or something, it's still the same variety, but has been selected for disease resistance and other desireable qualities? Is it then well past the F1 stage, and stabilized so as to produce seed of basically the same genetics?
Boy, I could ask lots of questions, but I'll keep exploring the site before I do. Thanks for everyone's input so far, these discussions are great!

[Suze]

Originally Posted by peppereater

What about the Bonnie's Brand Arkansas Traveler I purchased as a plant? It was labeled as heirloom, but are their plants reliably what they're labeled? I'd hate to do any seed swapping and send off disreputable seed.

Arkansas Traveler is OP. As far as how accurate the labeling is, the most potential for problems is in the labels getting switched after they reach point of sale.

Children play with labels, folks pop them out to look at the rootball of the plant, etc.

In general, I think it's a good idea for folks to have an idea beforehand of what to expect from varieties they are growing as to leaf type, fruit color/size/shape, etc.

PlantFiles is a resource I use occasionally. And of course, there are the seed websites.

For example, Arkansas Traveler--
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/568/index.html

(I think you can do ten searches per day as a non-subscriber.)

[Suze]

Originally Posted by feldon27

You so rarely see OP varieties mention disease resistance.

Yep -- because there's not much motivation to get anyone to pay for the testing, unlike for a hybrid variety that a seed company has developed.

Mortgage Lifter VFN is another example of an OP variety with certified tolerances.

There are a handful of others, but I don't recall what they are off of the top of my head.

[Mantis]

Where are you getting all the info for your website Tim. You sure are getting a lot of varieties in there.
I look forward to adding my comments in about 6 months