Gold flecks

[Sherry_AK]

Are these the gold flecks people talk about?

[akgardengirl]

What's the name of that tomato?
Sue

[Sherry_AK]

Hi, Sue. It's Moravsky Div. A lot of the fruits had this marking. Did yours?

[akgardengirl]

No, not any but I like the look.
Sue

[kenny_j]

I have MD on my list of possibles. How was the flavor? I have seen it listed as somewhat early and as some what late, how would you rate it.

ken

[carolyn137]

http://www.google.com/search?tbm=isc...1454l2-3.2l5l0

Picture above, click to enlarge.

I can't find my Seminis disease book right now and I know that it's hard to tell the difference betrween Fruit Pox and Gold Fleck, but in doing a general Google search I came across a prior thread from here and had posted about Gold Fleck on about sept 30th in that thread.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/l...312415875.html

I've not seen it when growing Moravly Div nor have I seen it on pictures that folks have shown.

And there are many links via a Google search which come up with different explanations. One from NCSU had lots of data b'c Gold Fleck was a real cosmetic problem for the commercial tomato growers there and they concluded it could be insect damage, not stink bugs, but other insects.

Depp's Pink Firefly is the best example of it that I know where it's definitely inherited, as is known to sometimes occur.

[Tania]

I saw similar golden speckles on one of my Stupice plants in 2009, only they were in greater numbers. I did not save seeds to see if it is a mutation of some sort, and I somewhat regret that now.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by kenny_j

I have MD on my list of possibles. How was the flavor? I have seen it listed as somewhat early and as some what late, how would you rate it.

ken

Very early Kenny. If you look at the Sandhill Preservation catalog/website, I had sent seeds to there and Gleckler's and several other places for trial, you'll see that Glenn said ke had ripe fruits in 40 days from 4 inch transplants. Now being that early may not happen every season, but for sure an early variety.

It's always good to look at Tania's site to see pictures, who sells seeds, what some others thought of it as described at the seed sites and on that page and here's the link to that page:

http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/wiki/Moravsky_Div

When you're through with that page go to the upper left and click on MAIN which takes you back to the home page and there you can see that you can search for varieties via the alphabetical way, which I do most of the time when I know the variety name or by fruit shape or color or leaf form, etc.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Tania

I saw similar golden speckles on one of my Stupice plants in 2009, only they were in greater numbers. I did not save seeds to see if it is a mutation of some sort, and I somewhat regret that now.

And I'm sure you're remembering that wonderful thread on the true origin of Moravsky Div where Stupice________ became the leading contender, so no surprise there.

And if any you o have the time to read thru some of those general Google links when you enter Tomato Gold Fleck, I think you'll find that in very few cases is it inherited.

Tania, just as you regret not saving seeds from that Stupice, I also regret not saving seeds from the only two somatic mutations I ever saw. One was a branch of Green Gage which had red fruits instead of the normal yellow ones and the other one was a branch of Dix Doight de Naples which had one branch of red ones, same as that for the variety, but the fruits on that one branch were a completely different shape.

My learning curve about tomato genetics has gone up since then, as I've aged.

[kenny_j]

Thanx Carolyn, and I see you were the original lister, so I give extra weight to your description. It does say on tatiana's site that some think it was derived from stupice. It is also listed as indet. But at Glecklers it is listed as determinate. I like the idea of indet. better, getting new fruit for a longer period. Which is it? If you remember, I am the guy that had the "not Stupice" with regular leaves, . Thinking about trying MD since many have claimed it superior in flavor. It is agonizing reading about all the varieties one might try, and having to choose a limited number, and then the conflicting descriptions at differnt sites. Is tatianas site generally the most accurate as to descriptions? TIA.
kenny j

PS I read a post on one thread about cherries, and since you weren't asked you didn't offer your favorites. I would love to hear your top 5. I am trying to put together a list of several colors, but all must have great taste. So far blck chrry, and green drs. and Matts wild are on my list. What would you add to that. Thnx again.

[Sherry_AK]

Tania, interesting that you saw these flecks on Stupice. I've grown that one many times and don't recall ever seeing that before. I grew two Moravsky Div plants this year and both had similar markings on most of the fruits. A few had more flecks than the one in the photos, but not much more.

Carolyn, thanks for the links. I don'tknow what to make of this. Odd that it was on both plants, and no others, but that the flecks haven't appeared for other growers. And it really didn't look at all like insect damage to me.

Originally Posted by kenny_j

I have MD on my list of possibles. How was the flavor? I have seen it listed as somewhat early and as some what late, how would you rate it.

ken

Ken -- It was quite early here in my greenhouse. First ripe fruit was picked on July 2, compared with July 5 for Stupice. Taste was very good. I will definitely grow it again.

Sherry

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Sherry_AK

Tania, interesting that you saw these flecks on Stupice. I've grown that one many times and don't recall ever seeing that before. I grew two Moravsky Div plants this year and both had similar markings on most of the fruits. A few had more flecks than the one in the photos, but not much more.

Carolyn, thanks for the links. I don'tknow what to make of this. Odd that it was on both plants, and no others, but that the flecks haven't appeared for other growers. And it really didn't look at all like insect damage to me.



Ken -- It was quite early here in my greenhouse. First ripe fruit was picked on July 2, compared with July 5 for Stupice. Taste was very good. I will definitely grow it again.

Sherry

Sherry, I wouldn't worry about it at all, it's just a bit of cosmetic damage which is of concern only to commercial growers as far as I can see and that
s why I pointed folks here in the direction of that NC study I referred to above which did suggest some insect damage in that study which had lots of data.

And if you do a Google search on Gold Fleck you'll find that there are other possible explanations as well, and my Seminis disease monograph, wherever it is, also says, as I also indicated above, Gold Fleck and Fruit Pox are NOT well understood.

And if you read along with that GW thread I linked to you would have seen Hoosier Cherokee talking about the variety Glory as well as noting that some breeding lines of Dr. Gardners also are prone to Golf Fleck.

The fact that I haven't seen it on Moravsky Div or Stupice or Matina or indeed any other of the many varieties I've grown, or most other folks who post here have not seen is not really that relevant b/c we are but a small sample of all the tomato growing folks out there, of which there are how many millions?

[dice]

Eva Purple Ball has a gold speckle, but the gold spots are smaller
than what your picture shows, like gold dust sparsely sprinkled
all over it.

It may be more or less prominent depending on light exposure
of fruit on those plants that show the trait.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by dice

Eva Purple Ball has a gold speckle, but the gold spots are smaller
than what your picture shows, like gold dust sparsely sprinkled
all over it.

It may be more or less prominent depending on light exposure
of fruit on those plants that show the trait.

Dice, I co introduced Eva Purple Ball with the original source of Eva Purple Ball, Joe Bratka, in the 1992 SSE YEarbook and I've grown it a lot.

What I saw from the get go was not gold fleck, but small WHITE speckles or dots that cover the whole fruit. Another variety that has those same small white dots is Redfield Beauty and actually those two varieties are very very similar.

In the description of Eva Purple Ball in my book I referred to it as a "fine mottling of white" and also referred to Redfield Beauty in my description of Eva Purple Ball.

Gold Fleck doesn't evenly cover the whole surface of a fruit as can be seen from pictures on the net and in links from a search, just patches and wee streaks here and there, but the white mottling of Eva and Redfield Beauty is uniform and covers the entire fruit.

Off to an MD appt if I get get through the fog.

[kenny_j]

I just read the MD thread from june- july, where talk of det or indet got into great detail. The more I learn here , the more I realize how little I know. Pardon me for hijacking thread, but when I see a recent post about a variety I am interested in, I am eager to get answers quickly. From now on I'll search more. I know it must be tiring hearing the same old questions from every newbie. Genetics and natural selection, or forced selection, complicate things enough. When you toss in human error in seed saving and labeling and such, it is a wonder that all these great varieties don't change more than they do.