More early champs: Kimberley X Zolotye Kupola F2
The segregation for this cross was not as I expected. The precocious flowering trait from Kimberley is recessive, so I expected 1/4 to be precocious. I only grew four plants of it, and three of four were early flowering similar to Kimberley. The fourth was a suspected Goblet mutant which indeed was dwarfed and slow growing, flowering later. Two caveats for this observation: I didn't have Kimberley this year for a side by side for comparison, and I guess with a small number of plants it could be chance. I will have to grow more to see if there's really anything unusual happening with the cross.
The three normal plants also retained a trait I saw in the F1 - short internodes and a nice concentrated set of fruit. Also, like the F1, red fruit ripened yellow first, then orange and finally red. The ripening process is a little slow, and they were at their best when fully ripe. Meanwhile the colours of the fruit ripening on the vine reminded me of Lifesavers - the candy, not the flotation device. It was a lovely sight in our cold and glum spring.
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