Help! I have an invasion of mutant tomatoes
 

[IMG]http://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww169/cytherians/nature/tomato/Mutant-tomatoes_0819.jpg[/IMG]


OK, I did embellish the photo a bit. Couldn't resist. ;)


Here's the original:

[IMG]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NoFb3iuHNT0/UhL0ZX6z6kI/AAAAAAAAAe4/uQRCxWhmrd8/s640/Mutant-tomatoes_0819.jpg[/IMG]

One of them has 12 sepals, as opposed to the usual 7 I've seen on most others. The plant is a Black Krim. What causes this? Is it an aberration with pollination, whereby two conjoined tomatoes try to emerge from one blossom? Should I abort them before they grow into nutrient sucking mutants?

LOL I am now afraid of my garden!!

Whoa, now that's creepy! Like Annoying Orange creepy!

:))

Those Aliens are pretty slick. Hiding as tomatoes to get into our stomachs.

Nice embellishment btw.

Maybe it is two fused blossoms, they might grow into some pretty big Black Krim before the season is over. Would be interesting to see how big those "Aliens" oops i mean Black Krim tomatoes would get I think. ;)

I have plenty of those :D Megablooms make some interesting fruits...

Glad some folks got a kick out of it. ;)

Alfredo, these were single blossoms so no fusing happened in this case (although an interesting idea). I've read about some people aborting weird looking fruits, but I imagine this was mostly due to resale difficulties. I'm hoping that there won't be any negative effect on taste.

I have been using an electric toothbrush to pollinate the flowers, but I wonder... if maybe this weirdness is due to a double pollination. What I mean is that after the flower is initially pollinated, that a rapid hit of the electric toothbrush "forces" more pollen onto the stigma that manages to get down to the ovules. So in essence, a double-pollination takes place.

I found this on [URL="http://www.growtomatoes.com/tomato-fruit-characteristics/"]another website[/URL]:
[QUOTE=growtomatoes]Common abnormalities are pointed fruits with an elongated blossom end, puffy fruit in which air spaces have developed, or lack of round smoothness that may be similar to catfacing. The cause is usually due to low air temperature [less than 55°F (12.7°C)] and cloudy weather that interferes with the growth of the pollen tubes and normal fertilization of the ovary.[/QUOTE]

By any chance, did any of your potting mix contain reprocessed compost from Love Canal???? :twisted: ;)

I agree, nice embellishment.

^ Oh boy, I just make the connection... the positioning of one behind the other. LOL!

I thought it was Jobe's Tomato Food, but I'm now thinking it might be Love's Tomato Verve.
;)


Btw, I have my Black Krim adjacent to a Lemon Boy hybrid. I'm now wondering if pollen might have somehow been exchanged between them... Is it at all possible between a hybrid and an heirloom? The fruits on the BK aren't immediately adjacent to the Lemon Boy, but perhaps the pollen can drift in the air? Or... maybe when I'm using the electric toothbrush from one plant to the other, I'm inadvertently carrying a mix of pollen to them?

[QUOTE=cythaenopsis;372294]^ Oh boy, I just make the connection... the positioning of one behind the other. LOL!


[/QUOTE]

No, I mean like the community that had so much ground pollution by chemicals and such that the entire town had to be abandoned. The chemistry was so bad that a lot of folks talk about it causing changes to the DNA of the former residents and things glowing in the dark.

Sorry, I thought that you being from the Northeast, you would have heard of the community known as "Love Canal".

Really cool pics LMBO!!

[QUOTE=cythaenopsis;372294]^ Oh boy, I just make the connection... the positioning of one behind the other. LOL!

I thought it was Jobe's Tomato Food, but I'm now thinking it might be Love's Tomato Verve.
;)


Btw, I have my Black Krim adjacent to a Lemon Boy hybrid. I'm now wondering if pollen might have somehow been exchanged between them... Is it at all possible between a hybrid and an heirloom? The fruits on the BK aren't immediately adjacent to the Lemon Boy, but perhaps the pollen can drift in the air? Or... maybe when I'm using the electric toothbrush from one plant to the other, I'm inadvertently carrying a mix of pollen to them?[/QUOTE]

Someone more expert than I am, please correct me if I'm wrong but in my understanding...
The tomato on your Black Krim will always be as you'd expect of Black Krim. The only change made by being pollinted by another variety will be in the seeds. A hybrid tomato is just a regular tomato who's characteristics haven't been stabilised yet. Your lemon boy is just as capable of providing pollen to fertilse black krim as any heirloom.

[QUOTE=ContainerTed;372315]No, I mean like the community that had so much ground pollution by chemicals and such that the entire town had to be abandoned. The chemistry was so bad that a lot of folks talk about it causing changes to the DNA of the former residents and things glowing in the dark.

Sorry, I thought that you being from the Northeast, you would have heard of the community known as "Love Canal".[/QUOTE]

I'd long forgotten about it... Niagra Falls community, back in the 1970's. I just read up on it again. Nasty business. Many childbirth defects. And probably mutant vegetation as well. /puke

[QUOTE=ChilliJez;372338]Someone more expert than I am, please correct me if I'm wrong but in my understanding...
The tomato on your Black Krim will always be as you'd expect of Black Krim. The only change made by being pollinted by another variety will be in the seeds. A hybrid tomato is just a regular tomato who's characteristics haven't been stabilised yet. Your lemon boy is just as capable of providing pollen to fertilse black krim as any heirloom.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, I think you're right. I remember reading that now, about it being the seeds. The 3 tomatoes I've harvested from it thus far were all very normal looking, so I wasn't expecting any mutants, or hefty buggers with ribbed shoulders like you see on Brandywine tomatoes. Well it'll be interesting to see how they turn out, that's for sure!