Central American Varieties ?
 

New to Tomatoville so I hope this is the correct Forum..

Are there any varieties that are native, originate and/or common to Central America ? Particulary interested in indeterminates. If so, are any available in US ?

Thanks

Jack

[URL="http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/pi_books/scans/pi135.pdf"]www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/pi_books/scans/pi135.pdf[/URL] pages 45 -49 shows some of the collection history of many of the tomatoes collected in Central America/South America during 1938. Most of these tomatoes were collected by H. L. Blood of Utah. I picked up dozens of these accessions when they were being grown out for seed increase near Ames, Iowa beginning in the 1950's onward

[URL]http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/cno_acc.pl?52988[/URL] shows a more useable site to request some of these old tomatoes.

I rarely maintain seed inventory to disperse from my requests but convert them into complicated hybrids....say an OP of the cross (Guatemala x Panama) x (Peru x Argentina)...however even these have been crossed into even more complicated pedigrees. I collected...by myself..several semi wild tomatoes in Costa Rica when I was there nearly 40 years ago, but I doubt if I saved any viable seed.

The problem I saw with Central American tomatoes is that they were unimproved cultivars...seedy...rough shapes...cherries...possessing only a few disease resistance traits but little else. I must grow out these crosses of yesteryear just to offer viable seed of odd pedigrees.

[QUOTE=texasjack;289124]New to Tomatoville so I hope this is the correct Forum..

Are there any varieties that are native, originate and/or common to Central America ? Particulary interested in indeterminates. If so, are any available in US ?

Thanks

Jack[/QUOTE]
As Tom alluded to, most of them don't get much bigger than a grape.

I looked my Guatemala tomato history....hmmm...PI 112835 collected 1935 in Huehuetenango. I have this one in many pedigrees and some are direct maternal progenies. It made me think of posters like the one below.
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/RPlH7.png[/IMG]

Here is one I've grown a few times ...... very prolific

[URL]http://t.tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Tegucigalpa[/URL]

To: Tom Wagner,Feldon30 and PNW D

Thanks so much for your replies. Collectively you have opened a whole new diminsion to my tomato hobby/obsession. My right brain grows old heirlooms because I'm trying to recapture a childhood memory, but my left brain compels me into the science and challenge of doing the less ordinary. Since your replies I've spent hours reading on the USDA site.

A special thanks for leading me to the SETTfest site and the very regional focus on my little slice of the world.

Tom: By coincidence I know someone who does assistance work to the Maya in Guatemala and knows the Juan Diego described in the article. I may receive seeds from there in the Fall.

Thanks Again

Jack