Quote:
Originally Posted by Rajun Gardener
Yes, I meant tomatoes bigger than Compari and still maintain the growth habit of a cherry plant. I guess it really doesn't matter as long as it clusters with 7-10 tomatoes and the clusters are close to each other on the plant.
How would I go about selecting for this without having to grow many plants out?
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Much of what I'm going to say is opinion and others should chime in if they have they have better knowledge or experience.
First I believe there is a correlation between tomato fruit size and the number of fruits per fluorescence. I think there's variation within the range, but generally the larger the fruit, the less tomatoes per fluorescence (but prove me wrong!!)
Also how many plants can you reasonably grow? That will determine some of your approach.
You will ideally need to know at least some of the genes you are looking for, and that will help determine what your chances are for finding that gene in a certain number of plants.
One thing (but this makes the process much longer) is to grow only a few plants each year until you see the gene/gene combination you want.
I tried looking up 'George Detsikas' and 'Compari'. I couldn't find a description of 'Compari' . Is it a hybrid? If so, your F1/F2 generations may have more variation than would otherwise be expected.
<clusters are close to each other on the plant. > Well the main thing that determines that is whether the plant is indeterminate or determinate. Determinate clusters are slightly closer (about 1 1/2 leaves per cluster), but most tomatoes of that kind are thought to have less flavor). Indeterminate plants have about 2 1/2 leaves between clusters and can bear all season. 'George Detsiskas' is indeterminate and I'm guessing 'Compari' is likely too as most cherry tomatoes are.