Starting my own seeds problem
 

I saved seeds from last years crop. I saved Cherokee Purple, and Stump of the World seeds. I did not bag the blossoms because I thought I had enough distance between the plants. I don't have many bees to preform the pollinating duties. I depend on the steady winds that have served me in the past. I planted a few of the seeds early to make sure they would pollinate. The plants are up, and my Cherokee Purple plants popped up as potato leaf plants even though the plants I grew last year were regular leaf. Is there any possibility that these plants are indeed Cherokee Purple even though the mother plants were regular leaf?

I think you probably mixed your seeds. If you only had these two varieties, then at least it's pretty clear what you got.
Cherokee Purple has normal leaf, and even crossed with potato leaf would still be normal in first generation, so those seeds got labeled wrong and they are SotW.

Now another possibility is that the ones you thought were CP last year were already crossed, so now you are at the second generation from a cross between CP and a potato leaf black. But in that case only some seedlings should be potato leaf, certainly not all.

[QUOTE=hornstrider;726393]I saved seeds from last years crop. I saved Cherokee Purple, and Stump of the World seeds. I did not bag the blossoms because I thought I had enough distance between the plants. I don't have many bees to preform the pollinating duties. I depend on the steady winds that have served me in the past. I planted a few of the seeds early to make sure they would pollinate. The plants are up, and my Cherokee Purple plants popped up as potato leaf plants even though the plants I grew last year were regular leaf. Is there any possibility that these plants are indeed Cherokee Purple even though the mother plants were regular leaf?[/QUOTE]

I'd say either you mixed up the saved seeds and what you tested is in fact the Stump seeds or you got some cross pollination. Did you by chance test the germination on the other saved seeds? Cherokee Purple should always be regular leaf and Stump should always be Potato leaf.

The Cherokee Purple seeds from last year were purchased from Tomato Growers Supply.

And, there is a variety named "Spudakee". It's a potato leaf version of Cherokee Purple. Same colors, same taste, same size fruits, and some say slightly higher production. I grew it several times and found a couple of Regular Leaf plants during germination time. I quit growing it because I felt like I had a cross. Maybe it's in the DNA. Anyhow, I always want the ones that taste good. That means I don't care too much about leafs, etc when it comes to my own eating. I care a lot when it comes to the seeds I offer for sale. My "Spudakee" results just wouldn't make the cut.

Beyond the "Spudakee" possibility or unstable seeds from TGS, I would have to agree that you may have inadvertently had a mix up on your end.

BTW, let us know how they taste. You know, the important data. :)

I guess you were a little stumped when the seeds sprouted and they weren't Cherokee after all.

[QUOTE=Hunt-Grow-Cook;726395]I'd say either you mixed up the saved seeds and what you tested is in fact the Stump seeds or you got some cross pollination. Did you by chance test the germination on the other saved seeds? Cherokee Purple should always be regular leaf and Stump should always be Potato leaf.[/QUOTE]



I'm not certain Stump should always be Potato Leaf. I'll try to find the thread that will explain why.

Maybe this one?


[url]http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=22444[/url]

Tomato cross pollination is rare. Reason being that every flower,s own pollins are the closets and can beat whatever might come from elsewhere. My own experience has shown no cross, for year after year , ... even though I used to plan very closely. But they say there is maybe 10 percent chance of crossing. So I guess I got the 90 percent.

I stared 12 plants early from seeds I mentioned above to make sure the seeds would germinate. ..well they all germinated and some cp's are potato leaf, and some stumps are reg. Leaf...I am certain seeds came from the same container for each variety. ...I obviously have a problem, and I started purchased seeds a bit later, and I don't plan to use these plants...I do have a question...do hybrid plants come up as potato leaf?

F1 hybrids can be potato-leaved (Brandy Boy is an example) but, since that is a recessive trait, both parents must be potato-leaved.