Member discussion regarding the methods, varieties and merits of growing tomatoes.
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June 2, 2012 | #1 |
Tomatoville® Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Hendersonville, NC zone 7
Posts: 10,385
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So what mysteries are you growing this year?
Meaning - the unexpected, or odd looking, or off looking seedling (not just those that you've not tried before).
Mine - and this is where my future gardening stuff always balloons, because mysteries lead to growouts which leads to surprises and it all can get big in a hurry! The small pot, extreme prune indeterminate thing has allowed me to plant more of the surprises than usual - more room to fit them in! Anyway - these are the plants that I probably should have tossed...but instead, they are growing! Abraham Lincoln - potato leaf (sent by a gardening friend - his original source was USDA seed) Lucky Cross regular leaf (very likely a new F1) - growing two of these (regular leaf plants nearby last year - Cherokee chocolate and Yellow prue) Trader Joe Yellow Cherry (not sure if it was a hybrid or not - all seedlings looked uniform) Green Giant regular leaf (likely a new F1 - flowers are big!) - seed from TGSC, so their issue Large Lucky Red regular leaf (ditto - no buds yet) Casey's Pure Yellow regular leaf - growing two of them (ditto - and the flowers are very big on one, the other looks like cherry sized fruit) (nearby - Kimbery and Pink Berkeley Tie Dye) Lillian's Yellow regular leaf (ditto - just buds, can't tell the size) (nearby plants last year - Vzryv and Dr Carolyn's Pink) Indian Stripe X Purple smudge F1 (from last year) - growing 3 of the F2s - they have different stem color (one was quite purple, and the young foliage had a purplish cast) Summertime Green indeterminate regular leaf - likely an F1 (nearby plants - Cherokee Chocolate and the Indian Stripe cross! Flowers look big) If any of these seem interesting, I may be offering seed for people to play with next spring. The challenging part is that the F1s of accidental crosses are often not all that interesting - it is in the F2 that things can get pretty cool to see.
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Craig |
June 2, 2012 | #2 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Raleigh, NC
Posts: 199
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Fun! Well, I only have 2 interesting surprises. One is a volunteer Mexican midget from my plant acquired as a seedling from you, Craig! Very happy to see it come up as it was my daughters favorite to harvest last year, but hadn't made it onto my list this year. And I saved seed late last year from a green zebra that was tangled up with a sun gold. And it is showing cherry like fruit and is growing much like my sungolds not at all like a green zebra. This was disappointing at first, but my curiosity is piqued. Can't wait to see the outcome.
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June 2, 2012 | #3 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Brooksville, FL
Posts: 1,001
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Craig love them, if my chance you might have a few seeds of Abraham Lincoln I would so love them. My hubby is related to him, even has the same disease, Marfan's.
So this one I've been looking for and have order in the past from several places only to be told at the last minute they were out. So I would really love this one. Jan |
June 2, 2012 | #4 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: California
Posts: 269
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I have two mysteries.
First, I have two examples of the released dwarf Summertime Gold. One is regular leaf and the other potato leaf. Second, I have a Fish Lake Oxheart (not a dwarf) that has stopped growing at about 1.5 feet tall and has taken the form of a Medusa sporting nothing but flower stalks and fruit. It looks other-worldly. The plant has so little foliage that I've surrounded it in sheer drapery fabric to prevent sun scald - I hope. Last edited by dinca; June 4, 2012 at 12:52 AM. Reason: Spelling |
June 2, 2012 | #5 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Northern Minnesota - zone 3
Posts: 3,231
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My mysteries:
Five dwarfs from last year's project - flicked out all black seeds when saving seeds one day last season, and dumped them together to see what would germinate. About 20% did. I had planned to discard them, because it was December, but took pity and potted them up instead for window sill growing. There are four RL and one PL dwarf, so I'll have a good guess which ones when the fruit gets ripe - but they'll likely only be for eating. also - one RL Spudakee - one RL Terhune
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Dee ************** |
June 2, 2012 | #6 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Raleigh, NC
Posts: 1,448
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I got some unexpected segregation in the F4 Chocolate Lightning Dwarf Vial 3368. 50% were PL and appear to not be dwarf. I planted one of them just for fun.
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June 2, 2012 | #7 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: San Antonio, TX
Posts: 239
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I bought a small pot with two transplants in it. They were both supposed to be Black Krim. One is certainly NOT Black Krim. Just waiting for ripening.
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June 2, 2012 | #8 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Alabama
Posts: 7,068
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I ordered some V.B. Russia seeds and the plant is now producing fruit but instead of the small plum shaped tomatoes I am getting very large thick beefsteaks that don't look like anything else I have grown. If it tastes good I will save the seed and see if it repeats.
The main one I am experimenting with is a plant that was supposed to be Indian Stripe but was instead a small to medium red tomato with excellent favor and fantastic production. I have planted 3 or 4 to see if any of them repeat. I am also growing out a few of the volunteers from last year to see if they repeat. The ones I am growing were excellent tasting and quite productive. I have also allowed a few of the healthiest volunteers to keep growing to see what they make. I am also hoping for a little more fusarium resistance from some of them. I really like the anticipation of seeing what I'll get with these experiments. |
June 2, 2012 | #9 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: North Charleston,South Carolina, USA
Posts: 1,803
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Grew a ground cherry in a huge pot in my garden corner. I got the names mixed up, Aunt Molly , Sarah Galapagos whatever it was very tiny red cherries. Tiny stems last year, Now i have volunteers popping up all over the leaves look the same.
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June 2, 2012 | #10 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Northeast Wisconsin, Zone 5a
Posts: 1,109
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I started 5 plants from the "Searching for the Blue Zebra" seeds Tom Wagner sent with one of my orders of his new blues. I think there are also going to be some surprises in several of the 50+ blues I planted, some are f3 and f4 and I am seeing differences in the plants of some of the same varieties.
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June 2, 2012 | #11 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Rhode Island
Posts: 444
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I've got what is supposed to be Mr. Hawkins. By all accounts I've read, they should be PL but all 20 of mine are RL.
Then there's some seeds a friend gave me. He simply calls them Large Italian Cherry because the original seeds came from Italy, the fruit is larger than a cherry but not very large. He says the best tomatos he's ever tasted. Well about 17 of the seedlings are RL but 3 were PL. Of course I planted both varieties. The outcome remains to be seen. |
June 2, 2012 | #12 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Posts: 707
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I'm trying a few Kumato's from seed I saved from tomatoes I bought in the supermarket this past February. They were such a pleasure to eat during the winter months I just had to see what if anything they'll produce. After all, they claim they're not a hybrid. We'll see.
Camo |
June 2, 2012 | #13 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: NW Indiana
Posts: 1,150
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Pale Perfect Purple (RL) for me. It should be PL, but among five or six seedlings one came up RL. The PL was one of our favorites last year so I thought I'd see what the RL might turn out to be.
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June 2, 2012 | #14 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: NW Wisconsin
Posts: 910
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Not a mystery, but yesterday I grafted 3 different colored and sized tomato plants to a single rootstock. If the graft takes, I should have some very interesting pictures to share this summer.
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Mike |
June 2, 2012 | #15 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Ontario
Posts: 24
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I have a couple. One of the Bella Rosa (RL) seedlings came up PL and the other mystery is an Italian oxheart variety, I was given at a seed exchange. The name on the envelope said "Lancia oxheart" and so far I haven't been able to find any other info about it so it's a mystery to me
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