2020 Tomato's

[clumsy]

I've sown the tomato's couple of days ago one has come out very quickly. The varieties I've never grown but had seeds lying around. I was looking through the seed packets stored away I thought I might as well grow these in the greenhouse at home. Reused the jiffy pellets that had none show chillis.

The varieties are:
Crimson Cushion,
Sweet Japanese,
Britians Breakfast

[jayb]

Ta, a good idea to use up those jiffy's. Britain's Breakfast are good tomatoes, not very sweet I think but productive, the other two I've not grown. Your emerging seedlings look good, I recently sowed some more toms and left them a day or so too long in the airing cupboard, Long, lanky ugly seedlings!!!!!

[clumsy]

Thanks for the information Britain's breakfast tomato's. Seed companies are struggling to cope lucky we've been growing vegs for a long time you end up collecting seeds.

[Galina]

Mine are long and lanky and pale too, the shelf against the balcony door is not as bright as would be ideal. But the tomatoes that are moved up and planted deeper which are now going out on the balcony during the day and coming back in at night are looking a lot better. Apart from a few that perished in the bright light and wind one day which I had to resow. Seed compost is this year's scarcity. I moved one 70 l bag but that is getting depleted. Anything that gets moved into bigger pots now gets fine garden soil and seems to do ok with it. Very much a year of alternative gardening. Hope your seeds all come up quickly, good idea to reuse the jiffies. Tomato seeds do store and stay viable for a long time fortunately.

[clumsy]

With tomato's you can plant them deep and they do make more roots.

[Galina]

Thank you Clumsy and I have taken your advice and also planted the peppers deeper.

[jayb]

I'll be popping mine in quite deep when I pot my tom seedlings on too.

[jayb]

I'm trying to grow out some varieties for seed this year, mainly ones where the seed is older and I'd be sorry to lose the variety. So I may grow them in pots and probably restrict their height to save on space. Or that's what I thinking of doing, whether it happens is another thing!

[Galina]

I have just potted Mydwa up. They are growing fast. 5 plants should hopefully give plenty of seeds if you would like some fresh.

[jayb]

I think I have some growing although which generation or line I'm not sure without checking, I think I went backwards to look for a green or white striped I liked very much. I'm interested to hear how yours do, look and taste later on. What colour fruits are you expecting?

[Galina]

Red and the ones with antho leaves with a bit of antho. These are almost two lines and last time growing I separated them into antho and non antho. 3 are smaller plants, 2 of which antho, 2 larger (but still very tiny) without antho. We will see whether that evens out. I do not remember different plant height last time I grew them. Will definitely make better notes or take photos of the ripe fruit. Hope the green and striped shows itself.

[jayb]

Medovaya Kaplya
Tomatoberry
DWS -Dancing with Smurfs
Orange Santa
Sungold
Floridity
Suncherry Premium
Honeycomb
B&BB - Black and Brown Boar

The above varieties are all growing in the greenhouse border and are either in flower or bud.

My later sowings are in the poly-tunnel quite small but they seem to be thriving.

[jayb]

Jang, they can vary depending on conditions, just looked at mine and no anthocyanin showing really at the moment, though may change as the season progresses. I noticed purply blue when they were small seedlings. The main stem where it is most sunned looks quite black. I'll try and post a picture later. What is quite noticeable with DWS are the leaves, which do tend to get leaf curl quite a bit. My Seed stock came from Tom Wagner and I've been growing them for a number of years and have I hope managed to share them about. I have a little rooted side shoot I could send you or fresh seeds later in the year if you'd like some to be sure.

[Jang]

Did I read that Dancing with Smurfs has pink roots? I have just found one plant, which for some reason I’d rejected, which has very dark foliage - perhaps through neglect? I’ve rescued it. But certainly no pink roots, and no leaf curl as yet.

Thank you for your very kind offer. If they turn out to be imposters, I would be very grateful for next year.

Carolyn Male’s book sounds like one to look for.

[jayb]

The roots can indeed appear purple sometimes it's quite bizarre when you see it first, the same can happen with some sweet corn varieties and potatoes too.
It's a lovely book, the pictures are a delight too. worth thinking about if you do come across a copy.
Tomato leaf curl tends to be more prominent with ups and downs of temperature.

[Hector1]

Real Seeds Irish Gardeners delight ( saved from last year)
Fruity ( dehybridised seed from one of you folks two/ three years ago? -Apologies- memory is atrocious!) Grand tomato.
Think my dwarf seed ( Dwarf Canary and Tiny Tim) dead as a dodo- so not working on min Toms this year.

[Galina]

Could be 'Fruity Yellow' dehybridised by Tim Peters. Some plants are red fruited others yellow. It is a dehybridised Sungold.

[jayb]

Shame about the mini Dwarfs and your project. I've some fresh seed of Baby, Venus or Jochalos I could share

[Hector1]

JayB. We think they have been cooked, as other wee pots in there no shows. We have however found three massive snails lurking in greenhouse.

[Hector1]

Thanks Galina...yes, that's the one- some yellow, some red. So pleased to be able to confirm name. Nice wee Tomato.

Aye, JayB. Strange one that. No germination at all but young seed. Very kind of you. Am I too late, do you think?

[jayb]

If you sowed a couple of fairly fresh varieties then I'd look at your compost, it's possible something was lurking in there to munch on them. If you have seeds left try chitting them on a portion of damp kitchen paper inside a clear bag and put it somewhere warm to germinate.
Yes, worth having a go, I'd say still time though if you have seeds left to hand you will save a week. The small plants mature quite quickly and if you use the mini ones as the mother for your crosses you can always move the plant somewhere sheltered later on if the season is getting late. The slight downside, smaller tomato plants tend to have smaller flowers so they can be a little more fiddly to work with, but tend to have a good amount of seeds in them.

[Hector1]

Realised going off topic, so starting new post

[jayb]

Dancing with Smurfs, not the best pictures

[Galina]

If and when MyDwA makes seeds, I am happy to share, as they are short tomatoes. Also growing this year short Silvery Fir Tree with 'carrot' type foliage and one of the half height types from the Dwarf Tomato Project.

[Jang]

I think the offer of MyDwA seed was generally addressed but I'll step in and say 'yes please'. That would be great

Thanks for the photos, Jayb. I can see what you mean by the black central stalk. The D with S I rescued yesterday interestingly is actually very black. Photo shortly. From what you say above the pink root and the leaf curl phenomena are variable so I'll still keep an open mind

[Galina]

They are looking good. The seed offer did definitely include everybody.

[Hector1]

Growing Fruity Yellow' , the dehybridised Sungold. Getting so e potato leaved amongst the usual. Keep and growon, or has this been deliberately bred out with this strain?

[Galina]

Haven't noticed on mine. Following.

[Hector1]

If ithelps, the only two varieties I grew last season were Irish Gardeners Delight and Fruity

[jayb]

From memory, Gardeners Delight have a regular leaf and if Fruity is from Sungold F1 it too will be Regular leaved.

I think if you get a Potato leaf (PL) seedling from seed saved from a regular leaf (RL) variety then either that plant was not stable and crossed with a PL variety which in turn is segregating, or there has been a seed mix up somewhere along the line. Either from the packet, it came in or from the compost (although unlikely as not many PL tomatoes grown in the UK.

[jayb]

Potato leaf is a recessive trait that can be very helpful if you are starting out making crosses between varieties and you're not sure the cross has taken. As a PL crossed with a pollen parent that has RL will always produce offspring with RL in the first grow out of F1 seeds. It enables you to spot if your cross was successful as soon as the first true leaves are produced. It is then the following f2 generation that you will see both RL and PL seedlings in your mix providing you sow enough they will roughly follow the ratio of 1/4 PL to 3/4 RL.

[Hector1]

I got seed from one of the folks here....it is on my laptop, so will check tomorrow. Sounds intriguing, so will grow them on.

[Galina]

Mydwa - we have a new colour. This year faintly striped yellow on red and in the foreground the wonderfully striped amber pink purple version. Seeds are fermenting as we speak.

[Jang]

Both colour forms are great.
I don't think it's been mentioned - or I don't remember - which the parents were

[Galina]

Bred by Jayb who is very gifted. Maybe she will tell us.