[MarlynnMarcks]

Originally Posted by travis

I've grown out many F1 hybrid tomatoes, and even used some of them in direct crosses with my open pollinated lines or even with other F1 hybrid types. In fact, I got the idea from examining North Carolina State University's breeding line program, and pursue it with some successes and other failures.

For example, three of NCSU's best TSWV-resistant breeding lines are direct grow-outs of the Amelia F1 hybrid. In other instances, Texas A&M's Blazer F1 was used by NCSU as a direct parental input for greater hotset capability in other breeding lines.

NCSU's use of F1 hybrids as inputs or to develop open pollinated, true breeding seed lines must be an accepted practice as their results are proven over time in many excellent breeding lines and resultant F1 seed products, particularly in the Mountain Series.

Two of the more recent successes I've had with growing out seed taken from store bought F1 hybrid tomatoes have been with regard to Kumato and Tasti-Lee. In both cases the majority of F2, F3, an F4 plants have done very well and produced excellent fruit in terms of production, appearance, and flavor. In one case, I am now getting some interesting and excellent F2 and F3 results from crossing a particularly good example of Kumato F2 with a smaller, sweeter cherry relative of Sun Gold.

And yes, I have had some rank failures when growing out F2 seeds from other F1 hybrid tomatoes. For example, Brandy Boy and Merced were two such instances where not until the F3 and F4 did I come to the realization that I had wasted a whole lot of time and garden space!

So, I say go for it and enjoy the trip. You might get lucky!

How did Tasti Lee do? I know they are Florida bred but when I buy them at Publix, they still taste like regular grocery store tomatoes. Are home grown ones better tasting?