Really?

Worth1 · August 10, 2013

Every year I see more and more tomato varieties being talked about here.
Many I have never heard of.
I am a skeptic to a fault.

With many seed vendors and individuals just naming something that already has a name.
Well you know what I am getting at.

How many of these are real and how many are just re-named?

It bothers me to no end.

Worth

Redbaron · August 10, 2013

Well I have a mystery tomato, ugly wrinkly, but taste good. I think I will name it worth.

brokenbar · August 10, 2013

Just use the SSE catalog as an example...20 listings for the same tomato and all but 1 spelled improperly so it looks like 20 different varieties. Now for most of us, we know which one is correct but a lot of newer heirloom gardeners don't.

I am no longer growing "new" seeds from US. I will buy a tomato at a produce market in other countries to grow out but, as you say, many in US are just re-named. I always ask what the tomato is called and ask the seller to write it down for me and even then, it's no guarantee that it's not another European/Asian etc.variety that the Seller really does not know the name of.

I guess all I am sure of is that the ten varieties I save seed from & grow, always finish as what I know they should look and taste like. Buy new seeds and all bets are off! My Son buys a lot of seed from Burpee's and he had a package of tomato seed that had pepper seeds in it! Reminds me of the movie "Secondhand Lions"
where they buy all kinds of seed and plant it and all that comes up is corn!

August 10, 2013	#1
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	Really? Every year I see more and more tomato varieties being talked about here. Many I have never heard of. I am a skeptic to a fault. With many seed vendors and individuals just naming something that already has a name. Well you know what I am getting at. How many of these are real and how many are just re-named? It bothers me to no end. Worth

August 10, 2013	#2
Redbaron Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 4,488	Well I have a mystery tomato, ugly wrinkly, but taste good. I think I will name it worth. __________________ Scott AKA The Redbaron "Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; & of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system." Bill Mollison co-founder of permaculture

August 10, 2013	#3
brokenbar Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: South Of The Border Posts: 1,169	Just use the SSE catalog as an example...20 listings for the same tomato and all but 1 spelled improperly so it looks like 20 different varieties. Now for most of us, we know which one is correct but a lot of newer heirloom gardeners don't. I am no longer growing "new" seeds from US. I will buy a tomato at a produce market in other countries to grow out but, as you say, many in US are just re-named. I always ask what the tomato is called and ask the seller to write it down for me and even then, it's no guarantee that it's not another European/Asian etc.variety that the Seller really does not know the name of. I guess all I am sure of is that the ten varieties I save seed from & grow, always finish as what I know they should look and taste like. Buy new seeds and all bets are off! My Son buys a lot of seed from Burpee's and he had a package of tomato seed that had pepper seeds in it! Reminds me of the movie "Secondhand Lions" where they buy all kinds of seed and plant it and all that comes up is corn! __________________ "If I'm not getting dirty, I'm not having a good time."