Tomato traits

[digitS']

Where do we go for what we had before?

I suppose that it was about 25 years ago that I decided that all tomatoes do not have to be round and red. Some (most) in my garden still are, that's fine. But, I have been on tomato explorations!

One source of information and seed was other gardeners. Good Heavens, there were lots of varieties I knew nothing about! No matter what the source, after finding suitable new-to-me varieties - I was hooked.

One variety that lived up to expectations was Gary O Sena. This isn't such a clear 2014 photo but look how green the shoulders are. The last 2 years, they haven't looked like that. They aren't so dark, no green shoulders ... did they cross with another tomato?

Back to find new seeds, from a source with higher standards ... like they should bag the tomato flowers ... i never have.

Where do we go for tomatoes like that? A stable cross of Brandywine and Cherokee Purple, Gary O was never widely popular. People loved the parents.

Google was almost no help ... wow!

I have looked at so many seed companies over the years, fortunately I had a couple of ideas: Sand Hill & Sample Seed There is also a new outfit Restoration Seeds that has been tempting me with other things .

I wanted to let you know that Google doesn't have all the answers for your searches. I was surprised ...

Steve

 

[RUNuts]

Very interesting and I'm looking for options for tomato. I'm just starting to garden, so experience level is low. I've dabbled a bit, but the tomatoes just never made. I now have bird netting and more space.

The cherry tomatoes usually survived most of the birds. Nothing spectacular, so I'll need easy until for this year. I've planted some cherry tomatoes and they are stunted in the ground. Newer flower bed, so give me time. The container plants, one is doing amazing, the second one is 1/4 the size. We shall see.

What would you recommend for zone 9, coastal Texas for slicing tomatoes?

 

[digitS']

Hi @RUNuts. Welcome to TEG.

That's a good question for @baymule and @w_r_ranch , Texas gardeners. I don't suppose that I could have conditions further from those in coastal, Z9, Texas .

However! My grandmother was a Texan and she grew Porter. That's not a slicing tomato but a saladette. It does just fine here.

There in a Porter Improved that is a slicer. Both can be found at: www.willhiteseed.com , a company in your part of the world. They also carry Big Beef, that I have grown very successfully for many years.

I used to correspond with an experienced TX gardener who also grew Big Beef. He also liked Moreton (link). A few interesting things about Moreton are that it must be one of the first hybrids and it was taken off the market but brought back because of popularity. I have not bought Moreton nor seed from Willhite but buy from Harris every year.

Of course, Texas is a diverse state and a gardener a little closer to you than I am should be able to give you good advice.

Best of Luck!

Steve

 

[RUNuts]

Hello and thank you! Appreciate it very much! The tomato picture looks amazing and I imagine it tasted better than it looks!

I'm wallowing around and looking forward to learning a bit here. Lots to learn. Appreciate the links to seed sources and some names to research. I jumped into the fall planting a little late, but they are predicting a mild winter. Walmart seeds to see if something will take.

I'll look at some of the other posts from your suggestions.

Hello @Ridgerunner ! Good to see a familiar tag. As you can see, I'm jumping feet first again. A lot of time now that the kids are away!

 

[digitS']

Very welcome! I started this thread thinking about finding uncommon varieties, so it helped to recall that Texas seed company and Moreton tomatoes.

You can have lots of fun growing things, @RUNuts . And, have benefit in lots of other ways, as well.

Also - traits! The loss of the green shoulders might be genetic and indicate that the saved seed is no longer right because the plants have crossed. Yet here's something I learned last year about yellow shoulders. That's not genetic. It's from hot, dry growing conditions. Commercial tomato growers have problems with it. Now, I wonder if this tendency for yellow might be a reason for Gary O Sena losing its green ... oh, the world's too complex for me to be obsessing about any of this!

Steve

 

[Ridgerunner]

RUNuts, feet first is the best way to go on this forum. Glad to see you over here.

 

[baymule]

Hi @RUNuts and welcome from the Tyler area. I lived in coastal Texas most of my life, moved here 3 years ago from Livingston. A few of my favorites are Cherokee Purple, German Johnson and Mortgage Lifter. Www.rareseeds.com. A good hybrid is Celebrity and you can find plants at Walmart or Lowes.

Glad to have you here, but even more glad that you have become a gardener!

 

[thejenx]

@digitS'
Your tomatoes don't have to be crossed could be just a small change in genetics. Always save seeds from more than one year, so you can go back in time when the tomatoes bred true to type. Also save your seeds from multiple plants and if you have only one plant, from multiple tomatoes. That way your genetics are stronger and when one flower was crossed, chance are other's were not.

 

[digitS']

I know that you are right, @thejenx .

The genetic change isn't one that I believe to be detrimental. If it is a cross, however, the characteristics of another generation could be really undesirable.

Yes, to having seed from more than one year! It's something that I realized was important the first time a tomato plant showed up beside a marker that didn't have fruit like what I expected. It was a variety that my grandmother had grown many, many years ago.

My immediate thought was to not save any of that plant's seed and to discard what remained of the other seed from that envelope. I felt somewhat confident that going back to the envelope from the year previous would give me what I wanted for the next year.

I've learned that I don't really want to use seed that is very old but 3 years is fine, with no noticed loss of vigor. I will have to check to see if I have any 4 or 5 year old seed, saved from Gary O Sena.

Steve

 

[digitS']

I ordered seed from Restoration Seed .

And, they restored the dark shoulder presence of Gary O Sena in my garden. There were 2 fruits ripe enuf to bring home this week. They are almost ripe enough to eat .

Saving tomato seed is wonderful but some of us are not all that careful about it. Sure, change can be of value - I have a nice cross between Woodle Orange and an unknown. At least, DW thinks so. Remarkably, I wasn't responsible for that accidental crossing.

Sewing little fabric bags and covering some tomato flowers to avoid cross pollination wouldn't be difficult. But, I've never done it. I imagine that some varieties are very inclined to cross. Saving multiple years is the best idea if you aren't bothering with the bags.

It's nice to have friend Gary back and ... !.. notice how early! Right there with the earliest beefsteaks.

Steve