Quirky Miniature Breeding Line

[jayb]

This F1 dwarf is showing elements from both parents, Woolly Blue (F?) x Tigerette (stable?). It's got hairy stems and leaves of a lighter than usual colour.
This cross should give a selection of dwarf and mini dwarf segregates from F2 with a range of foliage types, between chartreuse and regular green with differing woollyness and the possibility of some anthocyanin. Fruit should be striped, with a possible range of colours. The Woolly Blues have very good flavour and link back to Tom Wagner's lines in their breeding.

[Galina]

I believe Tigrette is a stable variety. But I found that the paler leaves make it quite vulnerable as does their small size. Well I managed to kill them off, a combination of perhaps planting out too early as they did not take kindly to the cold and being swamped by faster growing plants overshadowing them. I did not think you could kill off young tomato plants short of actually freezing them, but these should have had extra pampering. I got a few seeds from a swap which just never thrived but they were sent as true breeding.

Well there is certainly scope for a lot of leaf colours and woolly vs plain and good flavour on pretty fruits too. This cross could yield very different combinations. A lot of potential. The paler leaf is a dominant characteristic? That is surprising. This is going to be an interesting line to follow.

[jayb]

From memory (which is dodgy at times) I think I traced Tigerette back to a F1 variety (possibly Canadian). Though spelling does vary and it is always possible it is more than one variety. Plants from the seeds I received give both red and yellow fruited types although the description was for red-fruited. As they remain a short growing dwarf with lighter foliage it is I think unlikely the result from a cross and more akin to it being from unstable grow outs?

I've got a little Tigerette plant growing at the moment, I think yellow fruited. I find they make nice little plants and thankfully haven't really noticed many issues with them. But this might be because I've been more growing them as a crossing parent and haven't paid enough attention to growing and cropping. If I can tempt you to have another go with them I'll hopefully have some fresh seed this year to share.

This is a cross I made a few years back, I think the F1 reflects using unstable parents, the Wooly Blue was possibly F4 or 5. Apologies for not going and checking notes. It is interesting to note the gene for chartreuse colour, ch is recessive.