Tomato Journal

[Randy Simmons]

MMS x BH F1 in bucket is a little over a foot tall now.  All tomato plants in garden are doing well, Exserted Orange, Start S, and Stupice seem to be doing the best so far.  Exserted Tiger is taking off now, Amana Orange was stalled for weeks but now growing quickly.

[William S.]

I planted a few saved seeds of Bloody Butcher this year I think for the first time since 2017. I've crowded it into very dense planting. I remember it being dark red as advertised and a nice tomato, but it didn't make my top 10 or so list in 2017 for earliness or any other reason. Though it is probably a good idea to grow something more than once or more than one or two plants to get a better idea. With potato leaves it is a good choice for a cross mother because the hybrids would be regular leaf and so you would have proof of a good cross right away.

My MMS x BH F1 plant I started last summer is still going and currently has three different currant tomato crosses that look like they have taken on it. Repeated one of them today but still need to label it. Wanted to do a new cross but no pollen available today from the two plants I was hoping for. The oldest cross currently on it is still not ripe, it is with sweet cherriette and would grow fast, but if I grow it this year it should go in a pot just in case it doesn't quite make it before first fall frost. I previously harvested seeds from the plant for MMS x BH F2 and for MMS x BH F1 x Aztek both of which are out in the garden growing- the Aztek cross is small, but larger than the direct seeded plants! Someday soon the MMS x BH F2 potato leaf plants will start blooming! That will be fun to see.

The MMS x Unk clump besides the MMS x BH F1 plant is getting bigger and a pimpinillifolium has intertwined itself a bit in the MMS x BH F1. It will be fun to see when all the MMS x Unk plants here and out on my main garden land get ripe fruit if there are any red fruits which would most likely be MMS x Exserted Tiger which could lead to a striped form of the MM series in a couple years. Though I have MMS x BH F2 or MMM in crossing blocks with purple zebra F1 and Brad's Atomic Grape + its sister line Atomic Fusion so one way or another I do hope to have a striped form or more of the MM series in a couple years.

Flowering is progressing out on the land with more coming into bloom, but it is still very much early days yet.

The largest Solanum chilense plant in the greenhouse has exceeded all expectations for plant size and has overtopped the greenhouse bench. The smaller two plants which are essential for pollination are also coming along. This is definitely the best Solanum chilense has done for me, I took a break from trying because the first time I didn't get any berries and plants died till I only had one. This success is very encouraging, and I really hope all three plants survive and produce some seed. Maybe even some hybrid offspring! The tomato plants in the greenhouse have likely rooted out into the lawn outside the greenhouse by now. Today which is rainy there is clear evidence that some water has been seeping into the greenhouse from outside, but inside it is dry. I've been watering the Solanum chilense some but also leaving a lot of dry soil around them. I suspect that they really like this situation where their roots can kind of mine for water in different moisture levels but with the crown of the plant nicely dry most of the time. They are also much larger now and I suspect that gives them some resilience they don't have when small.

The Solanum galapagense plant in the greenhouse which died back greatly in the late cold spells has recently really started to take off and is rapidly growing from five or so widely spread growing points. It will be a while before it is a huge plant, but I think it will eventually get there! The many clumps of Solanum galapagense out on the garden land are doing really well. Also, the two or three mysterious possible Solanum galapagense hybrids are doing ok. A side effect of this is I will likely end up producing a large amount of Solanum galapagense seed this year. Though if the two mysterious plants that were in with the S. galapagense seedlings are hybrids with it that means that Solanum galapagense LA1410 does occasionally pick up pollen from nearby tomato plants!

[William S.]

More tomatoes are flowering. Full bloom shouldn't be terribly long from now on the transplanted plants. I am also very curious about when fruit will start to set! I do have a few fruits set still in the greenhouse- mostly crosses I have made. Edit: I found fruit set on a Solanum pimpinillifolium later the same day. It is outside in the backyard. Probably will have ripe fruit very soon though they haven't reached full size. Interesting because I have been stealing flowers for crossing. The plants inside the greenhouse lack wind and bees. I got quite a few fruits from the greenhouse sweet cherriette but I think they set awhile ago. I spent a minute or so when I had the pollinator tool in there looking for crossing opportunities just buzzing some sweet cherriette flowers.

I think a second Promiscuous x LA2329 hybrid will bloom soon.

I may have found a couple yellow tiger with modest exsertion.

Exsertion in MMS in my SW field which is for crossing with The One is not exserted which is interesting because the mother was one of the most exserted MMS of 2021. Must be environmentally induced?! Maybe later? Not a single plant is exserted yet and many are blooming. No, The One are blooming yet though. There is also MMM F2 there and maybe with the Big Hill genes exsertion will follow. My crossing blocks won't work if MMS and MMM don't have exsertion this year. That would be sad. I only need one plant with really good exsertion in each block, part of why I planted so many plants. In the case of the The One! crossing block it is possible that if The One or some of them are capable of accepting pollen that they could be the cross mothers. However, it is also the case that the oldest The One doesn't have exsertion. The mother plant was great being both exserted and open.

I fertilized tomatoes today in the fenced gardens. In the big new fenced garden, the SE garden I used a bag of OMRI listed tomato food, some omri listed organic miracle grow that had formed one giant clump, and some ash from my fireplace. In the older fenced garden, the east central garden, I used the other bag of OMRI listed tomato and vegetable food I bought last year. It is probably not much fertilizer for the size of the areas I spread it in.

Oddly I think my only 2022 Iron Lady F1 has died. I found it today, looked like the stem broke and then rotted. I have a little patch of F2s, and I am not really planning anything special with it. Just not very iron of it. More like ironic. Ok I will stop with the puns.

The late blight resistant tomato I chose for crossing this year was the purple zebra F1, the first flower is kind of interesting, anther tube is kind of splayed open exposing the stigma. Will be interesting to see how it continues the bloom. Very small first flower.

[Adrian]

I have look a stranger tomato plant with twin flowers.
It is about a cross between san marzano lungo and costoluto.i post the photo tomorow.In wait it look like at this:
https://www.reddit.com/r/gardening/comments/4981xo/double_flower_on_a_tomato_plant_will_this_result/

[Adrian]

I have take the photo of the twin flower!
San marzano lungo x costoluto

[Steph S]

I moved 8 plants out to the old wood stacker on Saturday, after finding aphids again in the high density area.  We had two very summer days but since then, several nights with a frost warning, upgraded to frost advisory tonight.  It is sunny and still, but high temperature today around 12 C and about the same yesterday, going low at night with clear skies and temperature inversion.   I have a piece of tattered row cover that I am putting across the front of the shelter for cold nights.  The structure is quite open but since it's not windy that's not a big deal.  I stapled a tarp onto the roof of the structure, which has a big hole in it at this point, due to forecast rain which we didn't get.  There are also water bottles underneath the pots, which are there to help capture some warmth.  So I'm not really worried and the plants are just fine in spite of our several cold days, no worse than what they already endured in the greenhouse.  They won't ripen early but otherwise should be fine.
Greenhouse is still pretty crowded, although for sure it's going to get worse, it's pretty good for now.  I made a row of the indeterminates, mainly the bicolor/DET F2, so I could prune and support them as a group, but I don't have much drive to keep up with suckering until it gets out of hand.  Oh well...

[William S.]

In the backyard where there is a small raised bed with a late blight resistance project and a greenhouse where I've planted my brown rugose project things are looking well.

In the greenhouse the tallest Solanum chilense plant has overtopped the bench. The Solanum pimpinillifolium accession also. The two shorter chilense plants continue to grow and I hope they will follow suite in a few weeks. The tallest chilense has redeveloped tiny buds. I really want seeds back from it.

Outside one of the MMM plants seems to have broken or developed a rot and broken mid stem but looks otherwise healthy. Blooming is picking up a little in the outside bed.

Out on the garden land all 7 gardens are OK but weeding is a challenge right now. I worked on some mowing and cultivating with the rototiller but more wheel hoe, eye hoe, and hand weeding is needed. The direct seeded row in the garden where I plant the most diversity is proving a challenge due to excessive but exciting volunteerism.

[Adrian]

We have a great heatwave in france.
I have speak with someone who i have give plants of canestrino di lucca x andine cornue who grow these tomatos in greenhouse and she has been fruits burned by the sunshine.
The thermometer of the greenhouse was at 55°C 131°F and maybe more.He don't rise above 55°C.
She has say that the most vigorous variety was canestrino di lucca x andine cornue: she is the most tall and strong of the greenhouse and the alone or the fruits are not burned.
It may an idea for the italian climate or they must expand shadow veil for protecded the tomatos of the sunshine.

[Steph S]

That is a really important feature, Adrian.  Heat can easily ruin a tomato crop.
I think there is some really rugged genetics in the Italian tomatoes.

Just adding, the article "Climate change is coming for your ketchup" popped up in the news tonight.
https://phys.org/news/2022-06-climate-ketchup.html

[William S.]

I have fruit setting on blue strawberry, sweet cherriette, Mexico midget, and the Solanum pimpinillifolium accession with late blight resistance.

[Tim DH]

Lots of discussion across these threads about early tomatoes. …

Here is my earliest this year. Latah.

I’ve never got red fruit before the Solstice before!

Latah has outpaced Moskvich, Stupice, Bloody Butcher and even Imur Prior Beta, in my unheated greenhouse. Shame its such an unruly plant! It currently has NO growing points, they have all terminated in flower trusses! (Last year once it had no more toms to fatten it did produce a second flush.)

[William S.]

It is interesting to me that Latah which is an Idaho bred tomato in the state right next to me is performing so well for folks far away. I haven't tried it- yet. I did pick up a packet of Sandpoint though for the first-time last winter and have a plant crowded in somewhere. Payette, I have grown a whole seed grow out of and think highly of as potential breeding stock.

I've occasionally had the thought that I should be crossing Idaho bred tomatoes with North Dakota bred tomatoes to produce Montana bred tomatoes just out of regionality. Montana has very few tomatoes to its name. I wonder if any of the Canadian tomatoes originate from British Columbia, Alberta, or Saskatchewan the three provinces to Montana's north? Edit: to answer my own question I googled and found this: https://prairiegardenseeds.ca/collections/tomatoes/canadian (so yes there are and Early Alberta is one of them and it has North Dakota parentage). I have several tomatoes from Utah mostly thanks to Joseph.

My attempted cross of the weekend is (MMS x BH F1) x The One! (Fruity from the promiscuous project). I need to pop out to the greenhouse and see if I can reapply pollen.

[Joseph Lofthouse]

My strain of Jagodka came to me by way of Dan McMurray's garden in British Columbia. The one I call Brad also came through the same garden (where it lost it's original name). They are tied as my earliest tomatoes. Both are ancestors of the Beautifully Promiscuous and Tasty Tomato Project.

I expect that any potato-leaved tomato from my seeds is a descendant of Brad.

[Steph S]

Overcast today with a promise of rain that didn't materialize, but still supposed to be coming and rainy all day tomorrow.  So I took advantage of a 'non scorching' moment to start the couple of crosses I had planned for the year.  Will repeat tomorrow.
Pervaya Lyubov is the only OP in the greenhouse, pollen donor to one Rodney F6 for a determinate early pink beef.
Skipper Brown with the longest truss trait got a cross from the indeterminate pink Skipper selected at the farm.

Although I never found the 'dozen' a lucky number, at least some recessive traits or combinations seem to be following the ratios in my F2.  The fas + locule number type fruit which stand to be the largest, well there are three at least good looking fruit, maybe a fourth that isn't self pollinating so well and more misshapen.   I have 4 determinates, which is very cool!  Two, possibly 3 of the indeterminates look to be black fruited by the flower color.   And then, only one PL out of a dozen.   And just one plant has notably light green foliage, it is one of the determinates with the earliest ruffly fas-beef fruit and I'm wondering if there's any link between leaf color and bicolor fruit, as I think the bi parent has lighter foliage.   Anyway, all about luck isn't it, with a small number.   Colors won't be in until mid July I reckon.

[William S.]

I've long thought Brad a likely candidate for or ancestor of the direct seeded potato leaf from the Lofthouse landrace version I direct seeded in 2017 that was the mother to Mission Mountain Sunrise.

I went out and checked for more fruit on things and found it but not much more. Altogether the list includes Cheesemanii type 2 from HRseeds, golden current from HRseeds, Mexico Midget, Sweet Cherriette, Lizzano F1, and Black Strawberry. Most of which I think had some advantages in transplanting as well. In the greenhouse of course Sweet Cherriette, Aztek, MMS x BH F1, and a current with supposed resistance to the brown rugose fruit virus all have fruit but many of these plants in the greenhouse were my winter grow out and have been sporadically producing fruit for months. In the backyard their is one other currant one with supposed resistance to late blight that also has fruit already. Still I think the evidence points well to currant tomatoes producing very early in a cold early part of the growing season and it speaks rather highly of Lizzano F1 and Black Strawberry as possible candidates for breeding with given that so many varieties haven't yet set.

Quite a bit is blooming now but it definitely is not yet full steam ahead on blooming! MMS and maybe some MMM are blooming earlier than most of what I have planted them with in hopes of crossing- but then they aren't exserted enough so far this year, at least not on any plant I've checked, to hope for a really great natural outcrossing rate like I got last year on their mother or grandmother.