Exserted tomatoes ocassional out breeding a handy tool

[Garrett Schantz]

I saw the Exserted Tiger on there a day or so ago along with Big Hill.

They also have Payette which has Habrochaites / Peruvianum ancestry - low percentages though.

Was also looking at Sasha's Altai due to the cold hardiness.

I might wait until next year for those - already have moat of my grow light space taken up. Payette and Sasha's Altai would be fun to mix into exserted populations, they are also early enough that I could get a decent harvest from them. Either buying seeds towards the end of the year or beginning of the next.

I have Pruden's Purple started, I will check if this source has exserted plants sometimes.

[William S.]

Yep that's why I grew some of the Payette for them. It's an interesting variety. Very Intermountain adapted. Seems to be a true dwarf like the dwarf project dwarfs with smaller size, sturdy stems, and rugose foliage. All also in the original description. Not exserted though. Resistant to curly top a disease common in the intermountain area spread by leaf hoppers.

[William S.]

Checking out the exsertion on the back steps. Exserted Tiger, it's mother Blue Ambrosia (a strain of it I selected for exsertion), and exserted orange all have good exsertion. The two tressette descendents don't at the moment. Big Hill would but it seems to be done flowering for the moment.

I think exsertion must be strongly and carefully selected for. Though in F2 mixes coming from it I think it's a minor component trait it has a big impact. What would happen in a diverse 100% exserted population? To make such a grex might be possible for me now with just waiting longer to out plant. Then trimming off any contaminated flowers when outplanting. Not 100% convinced I would want to create such a diverse exserted grex. There is perhaps value in exserted tomatoes as more of a continuous intersection with other types. Like a middle row between closed flowered types and promiscuous types.

[William S.]

I have a lot of new tomato flowers today because I was gone at my botany job and it has been days of 90 degree F temps. Also the direct seeded and slow to flower transplants are starting to flower. So amongst promiscuous project tomatoes the majority are not exserted or not much and have no tomatoes yet. Some are exserted and tomato formation is lagging. Those may be truly obligate outcrossing.

However there are two that are beautifully exserted and immediately set fruits. I suspect they are selfers and or maybe even like Siletz and have that sort of seed free early tomato production. If so kind of intriguing.

Also intriguing the first flowers of LA2329 are not exserted. That could mean they crossed last year! Yaay but also grr because not exserted. Note: two days later new flowers from additional plants are exserted.

[Garrett Schantz]

SunSugar has habrochaites-like exsertion. Much better than the slightly exserted pimpnellifoium types.

Probably going to pollinate some flowers with Husky Red Cherry pollen. I quite like the indeterminate dwarf characteristic. The plant seems to support itself - quite nice.
The fruit sizes are basically the same, I have also read that Husky Red Cherry is mostly a stable variety, very little variation.
Basically want a orange exserted dwarf.

Afterwards I will probably cross the best offspring with Weight in Gold. Fuzzy fruit, cold tolerance - high brix.

In the end I ultimately want a fuzzy, sweet - nutritious, disease resistant - early cold tolerant exserted dwarf.

If other hybrids turn out well, I will probably mix them into the group as well.


Tami G Grape is growing right next to SunSugar - probably going to get a bunch of crosses with it. Suppose I could select for exserted grape tomatoes or something.

I will also attempt to pollinate SunSugar with some Wildlings - Habrochaites - Chmielewsky - Purple Smudge - Wild Gem. 

The Chmielewsky - Purple Smudge - Wild Gem crosses would just be to introduce exsertion without using habrochaites. This way I won't need to emasculate the domestics - the exposed stigmas end up getting scorched outdoors anyway. Unsure if Chmielewsky will even hybridize well with SunSugar.

Another goal here - besides exsertion would be to add earliness to some of these varieties.

[Andrew Barney]

I worked on a farm this year that grew lots of Johnnys tomato varieties and I noticed that a lot of them had exserted stigmas. I don't know if the varieties were specifically from the Johnnys breeders but, whatever the source, it seems they used the exserted trait.

The varieties that certainly had exserted stigmas:

- Prudens Purple
- Pink Berkeley Tiedye
- Striped German

These are all rather large, long season varieties but figured I'd list them for later reference.

That's interesting. I believe the last two were bred from Wild Boar Farms? If so, I'm pretty sure most of those really colorful crosses were almost all bee-facilitated crosses. So it would make sense that from that farm those varieties are more promiscuous than most varieties.

[William S.]

Just poked around the net a little Pruden's purple would be your classic heirloom potato leaf and striped german is also an heirloom.

Pink Berkeley tie dye is definitely Brad Gate's.