Unexpected Crosses

Fert1 · July 21, 2015

One year my Amish Gold crossed with what I think was an unknown wild tomato. I had saved seeds from a tomato tasting I attended, which is how I came by the wild one, but I never knew exactly what it was. The result was a red grape tomato that all my family seemed to love, and it was crazy productive and held up pretty well to disease. So I have been saving seeds every year and getting pretty much the same thing.

This year when I planted it, I first noticed the foliage didn't look right. It was very wispy looking, and I thought the plant was not well. Then the fruit grew closer to a Roma type tomato, and I thought maybe it was just a throwback to Amish Gold. T

he tomatoes seemed to be taking forever to ripen, and finally I noticed a slight yellowish tint, which I thought was odd. I kept waiting and waiting with no obviously ripe fruit. Finally I noticed the color was very reminiscent of Green Zebra, which I had also grown the previous year. Turns out it I now have a green when ripe variety.

I am surprised that the green coloring was dominant. Is that normal?

I looked to see if there was anything out there like it, and Green sausage is similar, but this one is shorter and fatter. It has a very sweet flavor, and unfortunately, the birds seem to love it. It is quite productive, and I am considering trying to keep it going as well. To me, it tastes a lot better than Green Grape. I really wanted to like Green Grape, but in my yard it was just mediocre at best. Aunt Ruby's German Green is my all time favorite.

The skin of this tomato stays pretty green even when ripe. Some develop a yellowish tint, while others just have varying shades of green. It's quite pretty.

Fert1 · July 21, 2015

I included pictures above with my hand, so you can get a size reference. Has anyone here ever grown Green Sausage? If so, how did it taste?

IronPete · July 21, 2015

Next year will be my first growing green when ripe tomatoes. That said, yours looks pretty cool! Kind of like a baby watermelon. Pete

PhilaGardener · July 21, 2015

Nope, but if you hadn't included the scale I might have thought at first glance it looked like a watermelon.

(IronPete just beat me to that comment!)

Fert1 · July 21, 2015

It does look like a little mini-watermelon. Or a little green egg..

AlittleSalt · July 22, 2015

Fert, I think that tomato looks very nice. I would be proud to have grown this.

The rest is me going on about what I think Unexpected crosses might bring:

I will be growing five F2s this fall. Two are already planted back around June 1. Sungold F2 and Juliet F2. Those two varieties are well established as F1s. An intended cross. I've read many times that Sungold F2 does not taste the same, and that they can grow red fruit too. If they grow red fruit for me - I'll be growing red Sungold F3 next spring.

The three that I am going to pant in the first week of August are Unexpected crosses - I think. (I'm not sure because I got the seeds in trades/swaps) I grew a Zapotec cross that one plant produced two different looking tomatoes. It grew large cherry sized tomatoes that when cut - looked like a cherry tomato with a lot of seeds. It also produced a Zapotec looking tomato that was a little larger but had empty spaces like a Zapotec tomato has and way fewer seeds. I saved seeds separately from both tomato shapes - and have 3 of each growing in solo cups. I have no idea how they will grow out?

The last variety may not be a cross at all. I'm growing saved seeds from the spring crop and completely separate seeds from 2007 that came from Worth1. I am hoping there is enough growing time to see any differences.

I am very interested in crosses, especially those that are not intentional or are unexpected.

bower · July 23, 2015

Hi Holly,

That's a beautiful fruit.

The green colour is not dominant. "green flesh" is recessive, and would not appear in the first generation (F1). It would be expected to show up in one of four 1/4 of the following generation F2. If you've been saving these seeds for year after year, it seems llikely the cross happened not last year but the year before.

A cross between a black fruit and a yellow could produce the 'green when ripe' combination in F2 (odds are 1/16), even if you had no gwr's in the garden. But one of those parents also had stripes... I don't know whether they are dominant or recessive, but sure are pretty.

NarnianGarden · July 23, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fert1

I included pictures above with my hand, so you can get a size reference. Has anyone here ever grown Green Sausage? If so, how did it taste?

Yes, and nothing special taste-wise. An OK sauce tomato, that's it. I much more enjoyed Green Zebra, GMG and an experimental green when ripe hybrid from the Frogsleap farm.

Fert1 · August 3, 2015

Well, I've only grown the Green Zebra once with the original parent variety. I'm not sure what would have happened genetically speaking, but it seems to be a winner. The flavor is quite good. I would rate it as good as Green Zebra, but sweeter. It's insanely productive, having wild tomato in its DNA, and it also seems to hold up well to diseases It is by far my largest and healthiest plant this year. Most productive by far too.

**carolyn137** · August 3, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fert1

Well, I've only grown the Green Zebra once with the original parent variety. I'm not sure what would have happened genetically speaking, but it seems to be a winner. The flavor is quite good. I would rate it as good as Green Zebra, but sweeter. It's insanely productive, having wild tomato in its DNA, and it also seems to hold up well to diseases It is by far my largest and healthiest plant this year. Most productive by far too.

In your first post you referred to a wild tomato and again just now. But to me a wild tomato would be a currant type that's Solanum Pimpinellifoium.

Or by wild do you mean you don't know what it crossed with, as in an unknown variety?

Just trying to figure this out.

Carolyn, who notes that Green Zebra does not have a currant in its parentage.

Fert1 · August 5, 2015

Yes, I grew an unknown current tomato variety one year. I got the seeds at a tomato tasting, where the labels got blown around.

July 21, 2015	#2
Fert1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Upstate SC, Zone 7 Posts: 543	I included pictures above with my hand, so you can get a size reference. Has anyone here ever grown Green Sausage? If so, how did it taste? __________________ Holly

July 21, 2015	#3
IronPete Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Charlottetown, PEI, Canada Posts: 302	Next year will be my first growing green when ripe tomatoes. That said, yours looks pretty cool! Kind of like a baby watermelon. Pete __________________ Thanks; Iron Pete "We can agree to disagree."

July 21, 2015	#5
Fert1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Upstate SC, Zone 7 Posts: 543	It does look like a little mini-watermelon. Or a little green egg.. __________________ Holly

August 3, 2015	#9
Fert1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Upstate SC, Zone 7 Posts: 543	Thinking ov saving seeds Well, I've only grown the Green Zebra once with the original parent variety. I'm not sure what would have happened genetically speaking, but it seems to be a winner. The flavor is quite good. I would rate it as good as Green Zebra, but sweeter. It's insanely productive, having wild tomato in its DNA, and it also seems to hold up well to diseases It is by far my largest and healthiest plant this year. Most productive by far too. __________________ Holly

August 5, 2015	#11
Fert1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Upstate SC, Zone 7 Posts: 543	Yes, I grew an unknown current tomato variety one year. I got the seeds at a tomato tasting, where the labels got blown around. __________________ Holly

July 21, 2015	#4
PhilaGardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Near Philadelphia, PA Posts: 1,940	Nope, but if you hadn't included the scale I might have thought at first glance it looked like a watermelon. (IronPete just beat me to that comment!)

July 22, 2015	#6
AlittleSalt BANNED FOR LIFE Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 13,333	Fert, I think that tomato looks very nice. I would be proud to have grown this. The rest is me going on about what I think Unexpected crosses might bring: I will be growing five F2s this fall. Two are already planted back around June 1. Sungold F2 and Juliet F2. Those two varieties are well established as F1s. An intended cross. I've read many times that Sungold F2 does not taste the same, and that they can grow red fruit too. If they grow red fruit for me - I'll be growing red Sungold F3 next spring. The three that I am going to pant in the first week of August are Unexpected crosses - I think. (I'm not sure because I got the seeds in trades/swaps) I grew a Zapotec cross that one plant produced two different looking tomatoes. It grew large cherry sized tomatoes that when cut - looked like a cherry tomato with a lot of seeds. It also produced a Zapotec looking tomato that was a little larger but had empty spaces like a Zapotec tomato has and way fewer seeds. I saved seeds separately from both tomato shapes - and have 3 of each growing in solo cups. I have no idea how they will grow out? The last variety may not be a cross at all. I'm growing saved seeds from the spring crop and completely separate seeds from 2007 that came from Worth1. I am hoping there is enough growing time to see any differences. I am very interested in crosses, especially those that are not intentional or are unexpected.

July 23, 2015	#7
bower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Newfoundland, Canada Posts: 6,794	Hi Holly, That's a beautiful fruit. The green colour is not dominant. "green flesh" is recessive, and would not appear in the first generation (F1). It would be expected to show up in one of four 1/4 of the following generation F2. If you've been saving these seeds for year after year, it seems llikely the cross happened not last year but the year before. A cross between a black fruit and a yellow could produce the 'green when ripe' combination in F2 (odds are 1/16), even if you had no gwr's in the garden. But one of those parents also had stripes... I don't know whether they are dominant or recessive, but sure are pretty.