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-   -   Interested in Growing a Multiflora Dwarf? (http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=39520)

clkingtx March 29, 2016 01:11 PM

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I wondered if it was something along those lines, thanks! The plants are all doing really well, acclimating well to outside.

jmsieglaff April 2, 2016 08:55 PM

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My 5 11xF3 are happily growing under the lights in my basement. I'll update after I plant them into their final containers.

dfollett April 2, 2016 11:27 PM

[QUOTE=jmsieglaff;548132]My 5 11xF3 are happily growing under the lights in my basement. I'll update after I plant them into their final containers.[/QUOTE]

I'm hoping we can get a black (maybe a large black) on a <18" plant. Its daddy is an F1 of Brandywine Cowlick's X Margaret Curtain. The potential for color, fruit size and flavor should be there.

disneynut1977 April 3, 2016 09:16 AM

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Heres what I am growing from seed you sent, 6 plants of each cross. I started all the seed, ended up with getting 2 indeterminates that a I pulled. The remaining are all dwarves, with maybe a few micros?

Photo taken a week ago. Pulled them from my lights and put in front of my windows. Should be be enough sun for them as my little cacti are starting to flower in front of this window.

dfollett April 3, 2016 04:52 PM

[QUOTE=disneynut1977;548231]Heres what I am growing from seed you sent, 6 plants of each cross. I started all the seed, ended up with getting 2 indeterminates that a I pulled. The remaining are all dwarves, with maybe a few micros?

Photo taken a week ago. Pulled them from my lights and put in front of my windows. Should be be enough sun for them as my little cacti are starting to flower in front of this window.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for posting. I wish I knew more about the genes that influence these things. If I understand the genetics correctly, we should be able to learn something from these. We should learn if there are two recessive genes that control the size of their mother – micro multiflora plants from the Red Robin X Rose Quartz multiflora family I am growing out for ChrisK. They are all from one of those crossed with different papas.

They certainly carry the ‘Dwarf’ gene. If there is another recessive gene keeping them extra small, all those I sent you should be fixed for both of those genes. Everything I sent to you came from plants that were 20” or less in size and all were multiflora. I’m looking forward to what you get from them.

Are they going into pots, containers or into the ground somewhere?

disneynut1977 April 3, 2016 05:47 PM

[QUOTE=dfollett;548324]Are they going into pots, containers or into the ground somewhere?[/QUOTE]

Hi Dan
Since we are coming into my summer time, most I will put out into my garden beds. I will keep back 1 of each cross and put them in nursery standard 2 gallon pots, I think technically those are 1.66 gallon? I want to see what they will do for me being indoors. Thankfully, I have tons of sun at this window, so I'm positive those will do just as good as the inground ones, maybe just a little smaller, because they will be limited from the pot size.

I wish I hadn't culled as much though and kept 10 plants of each cross. I know 6 is good, but I keep thinking what if I culled that 1 perfect winner.

Other than the 2 rogue indeterminates, all the leaves types were right on except for the cross, 11xf3x1 pl. I got an even mix of rl and pl, I kept going with the pl though and it looks like 1 of those may be a micro compared to the siblings.

Half of the cross 14xf3x1 rl also seem to be noticeably shorter.

I check the trays each morning when rotating for equal sun exposure hoping for the start of flower clusters.

dfollett April 3, 2016 10:44 PM

[QUOTE=disneynut1977;548336]Hi Dan
Since we are coming into my summer time, most I will put out into my garden beds. I will keep back 1 of each cross and put them in nursery standard 2 gallon pots, I think technically those are 1.66 gallon? I want to see what they will do for me being indoors. Thankfully, I have tons of sun at this window, so I'm positive those will do just as good as the inground ones, maybe just a little smaller, because they will be limited from the pot size.

I wish I hadn't culled as much though and kept 10 plants of each cross. I know 6 is good, but I keep thinking what if I culled that 1 perfect winner.

Other than the 2 rogue indeterminates, all the leaves types were right on except for the cross, 11xf3x1 pl. I got an even mix of rl and pl, I kept going with the pl though and it looks like 1 of those may be a micro compared to the siblings.

Half of the cross 14xf3x1 rl also seem to be noticeably shorter.

I check the trays each morning when rotating for equal sun exposure hoping for the start of flower clusters.[/QUOTE]

There was a tremendous amount of variability in the growth habit of the F2s of most of the crosses. I don't know how quickly that variability stabilizes. It will be interesting to see the F3s.

i'd be happy to send you more seed of these or others anytime you want.

Barb_FL April 4, 2016 11:26 PM

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Here's the most current picture taken of the largest 13X-F3-1 and 13x-F3-2.

OzoneNY April 5, 2016 05:06 PM

I searched but I didnt find a description or much leading to a clue. Maybe I missed it, but can someone tell me... what exactly is a multiflora tomato plant?

habitat_gardener April 5, 2016 05:52 PM

So far the 21x seedlings germinated fastest and are the most vigorous. I started 6-12 seeds of each variety (6)...no true leaves yet. Now that they are growing, I'm thinking about where I can put a whole bunch of 1-2 gallon pots!

carolyn137 April 5, 2016 05:56 PM

[QUOTE=OzoneNY;548885]I searched but I didnt find a description or much leading to a clue. Maybe I missed it, but can someone tell me... what exactly is a multiflora tomato plant?[/QUOTE]

Multi means many and flora means flowers, aka blossoms, and it refers to a variety that has many blossoms on a single stalk and there can be up to several 100's of blossoms on that stalk,but usually only about 40-100 set fruits.

Here's a picture of one of my favorite multifloras

[url]http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/wiki/Zluta_Kytice[/url]

I've grown quite a few multiflora's and love them

This thread is all about finding dwarf ones,ones that are not indeterminate in nature,aka short, and that's why seeds were sent out to those who requested them and then those folks are making selections from the plants to get the best ones that they can,and I also assume ones that might do much better for container growing. And these days there is a large interest in containergrowing.

Hope that helps,

Carolyn

OzoneNY April 5, 2016 10:57 PM

[QUOTE=carolyn137;548898]Multi means many and flora means flowers, aka blossoms, and it refers to a variety that has many blossoms on a single stalk and there can be up to several 100's of blossoms on that stalk,but usually only about 40-100 set fruits.

Here's a picture of one of my favorite multifloras

[URL]http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/wiki/Zluta_Kytice[/URL]

Hope that helps,

Carolyn[/QUOTE]

Most certainly does! Thanks

clkingtx April 6, 2016 07:03 PM

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I had to transplant mine into larger pots, one per variety. The cups and small pots just didn't hold enough soil to keep them from drying out. It is getting hot enough here that if they dried out in the middle of the day, they would die. So I put all plants of each variety in my large planters. They are probably near 5 gallon size. There are 9 of one variety, 4 of another, 5 of another, and 6 of the last. The pots with 4, 5, and 6 I might leave together, unless they get too crowded. Any that get too crowded, along with the pot with 9 plants, will get transplanted to their own 1 gallon pot. The groupings are marked, I know which cross is which, I just don't remember which is which right now. You might be able to read the plant labels in the pictures. Every plant is doing well!

jmsieglaff April 10, 2016 08:47 PM

[QUOTE=dfollett;548182]I'm hoping we can get a black (maybe a large black) on a <18" plant. Its daddy is an F1 of Brandywine Cowlick's X Margaret Curtain. The potential for color, fruit size and flavor should be there.[/QUOTE]

Dan, I'm excited for these. The plants continue to grow nicely under the lights. I'm thinking I'll grow these on my deck, with the high sun angle in late spring and early summer, I don't know if they'll get enough direct sunlight up by the patio door indoors. I have some 12" outdoor circular planters (tapered) so I they are about 0.50 cubic feet. I'm thinking I'll do 3 in one planter and 2 in another. 5 would be way too tight I think--both from a soil point of view and an airflow point of view.

Do you care if these are bagged or not? If you do I may rig up something to 'bag' the entire pot.

As far as plant supports I think I'll just do this on fly with garden support sticks and twine. (Especially since I think the amount of support needed will be directly related to the weight of fruit set, which seems to be a rather big unknown yet with these.)

clkingtx April 10, 2016 09:34 PM

My plants are also doing well, all are dark green and healthy. All are outside, acclimated to full sun, and seem to be thriving. I am starting to see flower buds, and one plant of the 11x cross looks like it will have its first fully open blossom tomorrow.

Carrie

dfollett April 10, 2016 10:09 PM

[QUOTE=jmsieglaff;550450]Dan, I'm excited for these. The plants continue to grow nicely under the lights. I'm thinking I'll grow these on my deck, with the high sun angle in late spring and early summer, I don't know if they'll get enough direct sunlight up by the patio door indoors. I have some 12" outdoor circular planters (tapered) so I they are about 0.50 cubic feet. I'm thinking I'll do 3 in one planter and 2 in another. 5 would be way too tight I think--both from a soil point of view and an airflow point of view.

Do you care if these are bagged or not? If you do I may rig up something to 'bag' the entire pot.

As far as plant supports I think I'll just do this on fly with garden support sticks and twine. (Especially since I think the amount of support needed will be directly related to the weight of fruit set, which seems to be a rather big unknown yet with these.)[/QUOTE]

Grow them any way you want. I only know how they do the way I've grown them. Actually, I don't know how they grow at all. I haven't grown this generation. :surprised: The more we try different methods, the more we learn.....

heirloomtomaguy April 11, 2016 09:37 AM

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A couple flats of your babies

jmsieglaff April 24, 2016 07:48 PM

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Placed them into their pots today. Too early to be left out permanently yet so they will shuffle between the kitchen by the patio door and the deck for a couple weeks. First plant opened a flower today, looks to be a nice sized infloremsense as well. A couple yellow leaves but I'm not worried about that, just we're getting impatient, very nice root structures.

Barb_FL April 29, 2016 06:15 PM

Fruit set - YEAH
 
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Plant looks huge - it's not; growing in 2 gallon root pouch.

I'm so glad I had fruit set this spring (started so late for Florida). Will be prepared for fall season.

korney19 May 3, 2016 03:44 AM

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[QUOTE=dfollett;529127]I am looking for folks who are interested in helping grow out some multiflora dwarfs. I have several crosses - F2 &F3 - that should be fixed for both the multiflora and Dwarf traits - some micros are also possible. Most will be cherry or saladette size, but some have the potential to be larger - they have Brandywine Cowlick’s and Margaret Curtain in their pedigree. How large a fruit can you get in a multiflora? Maybe we'll learn. They also all have the potential for different colors, including stripes.

I am looking for 1) taste ; 2) color ; 3) size and, 4) obviously, production. I also have several micros if you want to grow something in a small pot or on a shelf. I even have a purple, potato-leaf, saladette-size micro multiflora (under 18") that tasted great in the F2.

If you are interested in growing out some multiflora dwarfs (or micros), PM me your address, let me know how many you want to try and I'll send you some seed. All I would ask that you report results and send me seed of anything that stands out.

Dan[/QUOTE]
What kind of Days to Maturity on yours? It's getting late for starting seeds but I grow 4 or 5 multifloras, only 1 MF dwarf. If you have some MF's you think are really good I'd be interested...

charline May 15, 2016 01:35 PM

the plants from your seeds are doing very well and some of them are doing flowerbuds. I will post pictures when they are blooming.
I have more micros than dwarfs
From 13x F3 6 I have two plants, a micro and a dwarf , but none of them are PL...

habitat_gardener May 16, 2016 12:44 AM

[QUOTE=charline;560328]the plants from your seeds are doing very well and some of them are doing flowerbuds. I will post pictures when they are blooming.
I have more micros than dwarfs
From 13x F3 6 I have two plants, a micro and a dwarf , but none of them are PL...[/QUOTE]

How can you tell the difference between a micro and a dwarf?
Maybe mine aren't big enough to tell the diff yet.

heirloomtomaguy May 16, 2016 01:02 AM

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Alright Dan here are 74 of your babies all potted up. The 38 in the foreground are already begining to flower. Alot of PL's turned out RL and vice versa. All will still be grown out because why not.

amideutch May 16, 2016 04:51 AM

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Dan, Mine are still indoors due to the weather but will be planted out next week.

Ami

disneynut1977 May 16, 2016 10:21 AM

I am also hoping to get mine in the ground next weekend, weather permitting. I do have a plants w/flower clusters.

Allisa May 16, 2016 10:44 AM

Hi! I'm also trying to grow some, but I wasn't lucky enough this season. Some didn't sprout and others grow so slow. I changed a soil and fertilizer hoping for the better results. So far, I'm enjoying all of your pics and looking forward for mine ))) Still trying to figure out what is micro and what dwarf in my pots.

jmsieglaff May 16, 2016 12:30 PM

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Seeing some differences in my 5 plants of 11xF3. The earlier setting plants have trusses with notably fewer flowers than some of the later setting plants, see the differences below.

dfollett May 17, 2016 01:17 AM

[QUOTE=habitat_gardener;560476]How can you tell the difference between a micro and a dwarf?
Maybe mine aren't big enough to tell the diff yet.[/QUOTE]

I'm not convinced there is a clear difference. I think there they come in a continuum from a typical dwarf size to those that stay tiny and folks have arbitrarily defined micros as those that stay 18" or smaller.

When I said they should come micro, I based it on the assumption that there were recessive genes that kept them small. If that were the case, once they came small, the smallness should be fixed and all offspring should stay small. I don't know that to be the case. That is something we'll learn with this experiment.

That's part of what makes this fun.

mashermike May 30, 2016 12:04 PM

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Here are a couple of quick shots of a couple of 11X-F3's.

The regular leaf was the earliest to bloom. It's hard to see but I counted 80+ buds/blooms/tomatoes. We'll see how many turn to fruit soon.

The potato leaf has very different growth characteristics. Both plants are the same age.

dfollett May 31, 2016 02:23 PM

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[QUOTE=mashermike;564551]Here are a couple of quick shots of a couple of 11X-F3's.

The regular leaf was the earliest to bloom. It's hard to see but I counted 80+ buds/blooms/tomatoes. We'll see how many turn to fruit soon.

The potato leaf has very different growth characteristics. Both plants are the same age.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the update.

I have seen some very weird growth characteristics with some of these - especially with the potato leaf ones. I expect there will be lots that just don't pan out to anything worthwhile. It will be interesting to see what it becomes. I have had some that stayed small/weird like that then sent up an umbrella-like canopy of blossoms - see photo below.

I typically plant LOTS of seed and start culling as soon as I see something that I don't like. But then, I have only grown out F2s for 6 of over 50 different crosses I've made with the micro multifloras. I am growing out F1s from 50+ crosses with the micro-multifloras this summer. There is more than enough to keep lots of people busy.

Keep us posted.


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