New "Heirloom Marriage (tm)" Tomato Varieties

[Ozark]

Most of the seed catalogs I've received this season feature three new "Heirloom Marriage (tm)" tomato varieties which come from the PanAmerican Seed Co., a major supplier to retail seed companies. The published descriptions are:

Big Brandy F1 Hybrid: Indeterminate, 12-15 oz., 75-80 days, large pink fruit with outstanding flavour. A cross of Big Dwarf x Brandywine.

Genuwine F1 Hybrid: Indeterminate, 10.5-11.5 oz., 70-75 days, bright red slicer with well-balanced, old-time look and flavour. Ready to harvest 12 to 19 days earlier than Brandywine! A cross of Costoluto Genovese x Brandywine.

Perfect Flame F1 Hybrid: Indeterminate, 3.5-4 oz., 65-70 days, orange saladette tomato with sweet-tart fruitiness. Earliest-ripening Heirloom Marriage variety. A cross of Peron x Flamme.

I like hybrids as well as OP varieties, good ones anyway, and these sound pretty good. I've ordered Big Brandy and Genuwine seeds, and I'll try a couple plants of each this season.

I'm not sure how new these are - has anyone here had a chance to grow them? Are you growing them this year? Your thoughts about these crosses?

[Wi-sunflower]

I haven't tried any or even seen them yet. Haven't really browsed the catalogs this year.

Personally the Perfect Flame sounds like a variety I would like. I like the medium to smaller varieties and I like both of those in the mix.

I don't know if "Big Dwarf" is the same as "New Big Dwarf" or not. I know New Big Dwarf was used in the Dwarf Project and I believe Brandywine was also. But I don't remember if they were crossed with each other for anything.

Carol

[Irv Wiseguy]

If someone would make an indeterminate cross that tasted like New Big Dwarf I would grow it. NBD is the best tasting tomato I've ever had but would like to have them all season long.

Irv

[maf]

There's another one too: Heirloom Marriage Jersey Boy Tomato

[creister]

One I highly recommend is Maya & Sions Airdre Classic. It is a Stupice x Brandywine. Early, productive and very tasty. Red Rose is a Rutgers x Brandywine and has been around for awhile.

[travis]

Originally Posted by Wi-sunflower

I don't know if "Big Dwarf" is the same as "New Big Dwarf" or not. I know New Big Dwarf was used in the Dwarf Project and I believe Brandywine was also. But I don't remember if they were crossed with each other for anything.

Carol

Tatiana's gives a history of New Big Dwarf that includes an excerpt from a 1914 catalog that indicates the company abbreviated the name even within their own release notice:
http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/wiki/New_Big_Dwarf

That history also indicates the same variety was released by other companies under different names, so there may be more than two names out there for the same tomato.

[travis]

I think Perfect Flame may be the most promising of the four "heirloom marriage" varieties mentioned in this thread, especially in terms of high vitamin content and possibly in the beta carotene, vitamin A context.

[Ozark]

As well as some uncertainly about Big Dwarf/ New Big Dwarf, I notice the published blurbs about the Big Brandy and Genuwine hybrids don't indicate which Brandywine was used in those crosses. There are several.

[travis]

Originally Posted by Ozark

As well as some uncertainly about Big Dwarf/ New Big Dwarf, I notice the published blurbs about the Big Brandy and Genuwine hybrids don't indicate which Brandywine was used in those crosses. There are several.

If it's important to know the exact status and correct parental line names in the Big Brandy F1 hybrid's pedigree, maybe you can contact the breeder and ask for that information.

The breeder of the Heirloom Marriage hybrids is listed as "PanAmerican Seed" a trademark owned by Ball Horticultural Company in West Chicago, IL.

Ball Horticultural Company
622 Town Road
West Chicago, Illinois 60185 USA

Or call the Ball switchboard at {630) 231-3600, 8 a.m.- 5 p.m. Central Time Zone (USA).

http://www.ballhort.com/

http://www.ballhort.com/Companies/

Edit: Ball may be the source of the various "Brandywine" varieties that Burpee has sold over the years, or maybe Peto supplied those, including the "Red Brandywine" that was a potato leaf type, and other "Brandywines" that conformed to their own specifications that may have differed from the specifications given elsewhere for Red Brandywine, Landis Strain and Brandywine, Sudduth, etc.

[Ozark]

Thanks for the information, travis. Following the links you provided, I found that one parent of Genuwine F1, at least, is Sudduth Brandywine - so it's likely that the Sudduth variety was used for Big Brandy F1 and Jersey Boy F1 also. I don't know that's important, but it's a question answered anyway.

The various "Brandywine" varieties confuse me - the potato-leafed Red Brandywine doesn't even seem related to the others. Then so far as very large, indeterminate, thin-skinned, late-producing, low-production Pink tomatoes with excellent flavor borne on gigantic sprawling vines - sometimes I think there's just ONE variety with many names. (German Queen run amok - follow the sweat bees to the rotting fruit in late summer. LOL) Thanks again.

[maf]

Originally Posted by travis

I think Perfect Flame may be the most promising of the four "heirloom marriage" varieties mentioned in this thread, especially in terms of high vitamin content and possibly in the beta carotene, vitamin A context.

Are you growing Perfect Flame this year? I agree it sounds the most interesting of the Heirloom Marriage range and would love to hear about your results.

I may even make some of this F1 myself....

[travis]

Yes, MAF, I have seeds for Perfect Flame, and plan to grow it this summer.

[gssgarden]

Growing the same two this year. I believe it's the first year for them.

Greg

[Wi-sunflower]

I wanted to check to see what New Big Dwarf was crossed with for the Dwarf Project. Here is the "family tree" page http://dwarftomatoproject.net/Dwarf-Families.php

NBD and Paul Robeson were crossed to make the Happy family. From that we now have
Boronia
Perth Pride
Sweet Adelaide
Tasmanian Chocolate

NBD and Mortgage Lifter were crossed for the Pesty family.

NBD and Carbon were crossed for the Sleazy A family. From that cross we now have Dwarf Wild Fred

New Big Dwarf X Grozney '91 for the Grizzly family

While not all of the families have a release, some are in the pending stage.

So New Big Dwarf was used for several of the crosses with some nice releases already.

Carol

[gssgarden]

So far, Genuwine and Big Brandy are doing VERY well. They were two of the first four of my plants to set fruit. Only beat out by Early Choice and Anna Russian.
Nice big healthy looking plants!

Still tiny but I am impressed....so far! lol

Greg