Isis Candy.. failing to thrive

[bower]

Just wondering what you folks can tell me about this variety, whether it's usual that it doesn't keep up with the others? My Isis Candy plants have continued to be much smaller than the others, and barely showing a few buds while many of the others are setting fruit. They don't appear to be at all vigorous, and I wondered if this is normal? They were started the same time as Gardener's Delight, which is now huge and blooming, with stem at least twice as thick as the IC and suckering like mad.

The Isis Candy seem to be showing some symptoms of disease as well.. yellowing the tips of leaves. This goes for 'extras' which are still in beer cups, as well as the plants in big tubs.

I'm thinking of yanking them out.

[carolyn137]

Isis Candy was bred by Joe Bratka, who also bred Snow White, Ghost, Rabbit and misrepresented all of the Sarah ones as being heirlooms when they weren't.And he did introduce some authentic heirlooms such as Marizol Gold and Marizol Purple and Eva Purple Ball. Yes,I know Joe well.

I've grown Isis Candy several times and have never had a problem with it at all.

What was your seed source if you feel comfortable sharing that with us, or at least mention if the seeds were from a trade or a well known commercial source.

[bower]

Carolyn, the seeds were from Tradewinds Fruit. The seedlings started off great - they were quick to germinate and fast growing. I expected them to outgrow everything else! Whatever problem they are suffering, it seems to have hit them later on, somewhere between the beer cup and the transplant stage.

Since their present condition doesn't seem to be normal, maybe I'd be best off to pull em out, and try the seed again next year.

Do diseases often come with seeds? I'm wondering because of your question. Thanks.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by bower

Carolyn, the seeds were from Tradewinds Fruit. The seedlings started off great - they were quick to germinate and fast growing. I expected them to outgrow everything else! Whatever problem they are suffering, it seems to have hit them later on, somewhere between the beer cup and the transplant stage.

Since their present condition doesn't seem to be normal, maybe I'd be best off to pull em out, and try the seed again next year.

Do diseases often come with seeds? I'm wondering because of your question. Thanks.

Yes, sometimes diseases can be seedborne, but it depends on two things, whether its a bacterial or viral disease in which case those are in the endosperm of the seed and can't be inactivated with anything other than hot water treatment which is something you wouldn't do at home, and then how were the saved seeds treated by any given commercial site or where they purchased the seeds from, whether by fermentation or an oxidative method, etc.

Looking above all you say is that the leaf tips are yellow and that doesn't jump out at me suggesting it's a disease, perhaps more of an environmental problem of some kind.

And you can't compare one variety against another as to when buds and blossoms and fruit set occurs b'c that's under the control, mainly, by the genetic info, the genes, that each variety has.

I don't think I'd dispose of them right now unless you see more symptoms and maybe after hardening off and out in the sun the situation will improve .

[bower]

Thanks, I don't want to be merciless with a plant that is just a little slow growing and perhaps needs some treat or other to balance its needs. But in this area tomatoes pretty well grow in the greenhouse and not so much outdoors. My greenhouse is quite small and the plants have gotten very large quickly because we've had record breaking weather in April and May. They are all looking great except for Isis, but it's getting crowded.. So I'm a little anxious that I am risking the healthy plants by keeping these two (they're already 'planted out' in the greenhouse and have been since april - in a big fish tub).

It's so early in the year, maybe I could put them outdoors and see how they fare over the summer. I can probably rig up some cover for them, so they get lots of sun without being battered by the gale force winds couple days a week.

[amideutch]

Bower, next season you might want to give Isis Brandy a try. It's a cross between Brandywine yellow and Isis Candy. It really pumps out the fruit with a great taste. Ami

[bower]

Ami,
Thanks for the tip.. I'll definitely put it on my list.

[nctomatoman]

I think Isis may be a bit tempermental/specific with its needs. I tried it right from the start (seed from Carolyn), and it's always been a very shy yielder - fruit clusters have few flowers for a cherry, and some of them abort. It also seems quite disease prone here where I live - I've rarely gotten it to grow well, and even when I do, the yield thing is an issue. Some, not all, of my tomato plant customers report the same - a few love it and it does well for them, most love the fruit but don't get many.

[kath]

Originally Posted by nctomatoman

I think Isis may be a bit tempermental/specific with its needs. I tried it right from the start (seed from Carolyn), and it's always been a very shy yielder - fruit clusters have few flowers for a cherry, and some of them abort. It also seems quite disease prone here where I live - I've rarely gotten it to grow well, and even when I do, the yield thing is an issue. Some, not all, of my tomato plant customers report the same - a few love it and it does well for them, most love the fruit but don't get many.

I'm another one who didn't have any luck growing Isis Candy. It was a huge plant but a late and shy producer and I didn't even like the taste of the fruits...only grew it that one year.

kath

[bower]

Thanks, Craig and Kath, your experience is much appreciated.

It's very challenging for tomatoes in the greenhouse here. It can get quite hot when the sun shines - and ventilation may often be an icy breeze; not to mention cold at night, so while I struggle to keep the plants happy and conditions as moderate as possible, some varieties simply can't tolerate the extremes.

They may even do better outdoors, with a little shelter and room to sprawl in the sun.

[carolyn137]

Am I the only one who gets large productive plants with Isis Candy?
Joe offered it in 1992 and I probably got seeds directly from him.

And several years ago the wrong histories for Isis Candy and Snowhite, also bred by Joe, were published in the Territorial Seed catalog, I said so at GW and next thing I know I get contacted by Tom Johns who owns Territorial asking me to grow out seeds for both that he will send me. He did and I did, and both Isis Candy and Snowwhite, the other one, were spot on.

Ami, I see you SSE listed Isis Brandywine in the 2012 Yearbook along with a couple of others but the only one to describe the color was Bill Minkey who said yellow fruits with a pink blush.

There are lots of yellow fruited varieties that have an exterior pink blush, so I don't know why it was listed in the other color section. But no one mentioned anything about interior colors, and in that regard Isis Candy itself is quite different. Its a true bicolor with interior marbling.

And it looks like I'm not the only one who likes it and others must as well if you look at the long list of seed sites selling it for 2012;

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

[amideutch]

This thread shows Isis Brandy outside and inside. Carolyn, I don't remember why I put it in the "Other Colors" section as it should be in the "Yellow/Orange" section. The fruit shown at
Tania's site looks like Isis Candy and not Isis Brandy. Adam Gleckler got his seed from me and the pictures at the Solana site look like Adams and mine. My seed came from Reinhard. Ami

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...ht=Isis+Brandy

[nctomatoman]

Carolyn, I've grown Isis from an additional source other than the original seed I got from you - Tomato Growers Supply. I don't think it is so much a case of not liking it - it is a case of poor performance in my particular climate.

[bower]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

Am I the only one who gets large productive plants with Isis Candy?....
And it looks like I'm not the only one who likes it and others must as well if you look at the long list of seed sites selling it for 2012;

Well the seed vendor certainly reported it was productive.. over 5000 fruit from one plant. Then again, they are in a much warmer place. And the plant must have been a monster... I can only imagine it filling my whole greenhouse, as I no way harvested a thousand anythings last summer from thirty plants.

Anyway, I have to report that Isis Candy is a sentient being, since between the time I posted this morning and going in to tie up plants this evening, both of the 'threatened' IC plants have put out numerous little primordial flower buds all along the stems. Where there was certainly no more than a lone cluster of tiny buds on each plant when I inspected this morning.

I'm curious to know what the successful Isis growers are doing to keep them happy, or what the environments are, where they do best.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by nctomatoman

Carolyn, I've grown Isis from an additional source other than the original seed I got from you - Tomato Growers Supply. I don't think it is so much a case of not liking it - it is a case of poor performance in my particular climate.

Craig, there's Isis , which I think you were possibly the original source of seeds for, and then there's Isis Candy and the two are very very different, so I read.At least Marianne Jones lists you as her source in the 2012 SSE YEarbook, I don't know who you might have gotten the seeds from though.

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