2014 was (mostly) a slam-dunk in terms of breeding success for me.
2015 - not so much. I only have one definite cross when I was aiming for 9. It was overly dry, then overly wet, and now overly hot. So it's an overly year
Here's what I believe I've learned:
6) 3 foot between rows and 2 between plants gets very tight late in the season.
5) Dwarf tomato as female parents are a pain in the #&#*@. The foliage is tight, the blossoms seem more delicate or have less 'stem' to play with, and seem very brittle. I've broken way too many pistils.
4) Plant out earlier -- risk a chance of frost is better that being delayed (after a year where my plants get killed by frost I'll probably retract this
)
3) Last year I had two of every breeding parent, this year to squeeze all my tomatoes in (57) I only have one of each parent. Stick with two (particularly on the female side to give me more choices of blossom).
2) Even if I'd prefer breeding in one direction, I should probably try breeding in both directions (both parents as female and male), to increase my odds of a cross.
1) My breeding methods are not perfection themselves [i.e. I still have much to learn.]