Anybody recognize this tomato type?

[kevrow73]

This tomato plant grew from some seedlings I supplied to my father in law. He didn’t like the taste but I love them (so I took the plant back). I didn’t order seeds to produce this and it’s a mystery to me what they are. The trusses take on a shape similar to a Mille fleur, but these fruit are red not orange and as you can see, the fruit are slightly flattened in shape. To me, they are the best tasting tomatoes I’ve tried so far this year, not overly sweet but they have a very deep complex tomato taste. Does anyone have any idea what type they are?

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by kevrow73

This tomato plant grew from some seedlings I supplied to my father in law. He didn’t like the taste but I love them (so I took the plant back). I didn’t order seeds to produce this and it’s a mystery to me what they are. The trusses take on a shape similar to a Mille fleur, but these fruit are red not orange and as you can see, the fruit are slightly flattened in shape. To me, they are the best tasting tomatoes I’ve tried so far this year, not overly sweet but they have a very deep complex tomato taste. Does anyone have any idea what type they are?

Yes,it certainly looks like a multiflora.

First question. You said it grew from some seedlings you had that you didn't buy seeds.Where did you get the seedlings from and was it just one of those seedlings that had red fruits.

Multifloras come in all different colors,not just ripe orange Sun Gold F1's,there are pink and black and red and yellow ones as well.

first some pictures

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...k1.CBlc-V8A8BE

And now the links

https://www.google.com/#q=Red+Multifora+tomatoes&hl=en

Carolyn

[TC_Manhattan]

I have one that sounds and looks very similar.

It's called Petit Moineau. I got seeds from Tania's.

http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Petit_Moineau

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by TC_Manhattan

I have one that sounds and looks very similar.

It's called Petit Moineau. I got seeds from Tania's.

http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Petit_Moineau

I forgot that I had grown that one as well.

And when trying to double check that it was a multiflora I found another one I'd like to grow called Red Cluster Pear at Solana seeds, but I don't think they send to the US so one of my Canadian friends would have to buy it for me.

https://solanaseeds.netfirms.com/TomatoesM-R.html

And there are many multifloras discussed here in back posts from Tville

https://www.google.com/#q=Multiflora+tomatoes&hl=en

Carolyn

[TC_Manhattan]

Carolyn, I got seeds from Solana Seeds late spring. They were one of the few who carried seeds for Prue and St. Pierre. They send to US without a hitch, and their shipping fee is very reasonable at $3.00 for orders less than $30.00, if you buy via PayPal.

And...you get the discount for using US vs. Canadian funds.

They have lots of interesting seeds that are less common, for instance they carry seeds for Earl of Edgecombe, and a brand new Corno di Toro ORANGE pepper, which is fantastic for a sweet!

Here's the link to their ordering info page:https://solanaseeds.netfirms.com/instructions.html

[kevrow73]

Hello Carolyn and TC Manhattan,
Sorry what I meant to say was that none of the seeds I had purchased should have produced a multiflora type and I did grow the seedlings myself from seed. If my father in law ‘s marker pen had been a bit more permanent then this might be a bit easier, off the top of my head I gave him Sandpoint, Maskotka and Dr Carolyn. I’ve looked on the internet prior to this and the most promising link was for a Santorini cherry as they are also slightly flat but I haven’t been able to find many pictures of those. Those originate from Greece and the Dr Carolyn seeds also came from Greece so I contacted the supplier in case they had been mixed in but she isn’t sure what they are.
Thanks for supplying the links, I can’t identify it from any of the pictures, so I’ll try to give some more information. The plant is now about 6ft tall and consists of mostly huge trusses of flowers and small fruit. The weird thing is that compared to amount trusses there are hardly any leaves. As for the taste, they aren’t sweet so I doubt it’s the Petit Moineau and also my tomatoes look bigger. As I bite in I get an acidic taste then a deep tomato taste reminiscent to me of a nice pasta sauce. A friend of mine thought that they had a hint of herbs to their taste. The skin of the tomato is shiny and quite thick compared to other cherry tomatoes I have tried.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by TC_Manhattan

Carolyn, I got seeds from Solana Seeds late spring. They were one of the few who carried seeds for Prue and St. Pierre. They send to US without a hitch, and their shipping fee is very reasonable at $3.00 for orders less than $30.00, if you buy via PayPal.

And...you get the discount for using US vs. Canadian funds.

They have lots of interesting seeds that are less common, for instance they carry seeds for Earl of Edgecombe, and a brand new Corno di Toro ORANGE pepper, which is fantastic for a sweet!

Here's the link to their ordering info page:https://solanaseeds.netfirms.com/instructions.html

As soon as I clicked submit I remembered it was Heritage Seeds in Canada who don't ship to the US and they have many more varieties than does Solana.

https://www.heritageharvestseed.com/

As for Earl of Edgecombe,it's one that I intrduced

http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/E...b=General_Info

And I was in on Prue as well

http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/P...b=General_Info

When ever you are looking for a variety,maybe check Tania's listings first,she hasn't kept up to date for averygood reason,but most of the places listed probably still have it.

Another great place is Sandhill Preservation where Glenn Drowns lists over 400 varieties and sells no tomato seed over two years old which is possible since he does all his own seed production and is one of few that do that..Each year I send him lots of new ones to trial,this past Spring over 40.

http://www.sandhillpreservation.com/

Please notice when and how to obtain seeds from Sandhill.

Hope that helps,

Carolyn

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by kevrow73

Hello Carolyn and TC Manhattan,
Sorry what I meant to say was that none of the seeds I had purchased should have produced a multiflora type and I did grow the seedlings myself from seed. If my father in law ‘s marker pen had been a bit more permanent then this might be a bit easier, off the top of my head I gave him Sandpoint, Maskotka and Dr Carolyn. I’ve looked on the internet prior to this and the most promising link was for a Santorini cherry as they are also slightly flat but I haven’t been able to find many pictures of those. Those originate from Greece and the Dr Carolyn seeds also came from Greece so I contacted the supplier in case they had been mixed in but she isn’t sure what they are.
Thanks for supplying the links, I can’t identify it from any of the pictures, so I’ll try to give some more information. The plant is now about 6ft tall and consists of mostly huge trusses of flowers and small fruit. The weird thing is that compared to amount trusses there are hardly any leaves. As for the taste, they aren’t sweet so I doubt it’s the Petit Moineau and also my tomatoes look bigger. As I bite in I get an acidic taste then a deep tomato taste reminiscent to me of a nice pasta sauce. A friend of mine thought that they had a hint of herbs to their taste. The skin of the tomato is shiny and quite thick compared to other cherry tomatoes I have tried.

Sandpoint, bred by Dr.Boe is not a multiflora, I know it well and too strong tasting for me..

The variety Dr.Carolyn is not from Greece,the variety was named for me, not a multiflora, and has great taste genes from Galina.

http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/D...b=General_Info


Here's some pictures of Santorini

http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Santorini

Maskota I haven't grown

http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/M...b=General_Info

And it tends to possibly,maybe,look like a multiflora but I'd have to do a Google search to see what I can find.

https://www.google.com/#q=Maskota+cherry+tomato&hl=en


Looks like a flat truss commercial hybrid variety to me,not a multiflora

Which leaves us maybe with the possibilty of a low flying bird distributing seeds.How far do you live from others growing tomatoes?

Carolyn

[Scooty]

Originally Posted by kevrow73

Hello Carolyn and TC Manhattan,
Sorry what I meant to say was that none of the seeds I had purchased should have produced a multiflora type and I did grow the seedlings myself from seed. If my father in law ‘s marker pen had been a bit more permanent then this might be a bit easier, off the top of my head I gave him Sandpoint, Maskotka and Dr Carolyn. I’ve looked on the internet prior to this and the most promising link was for a Santorini cherry as they are also slightly flat but I haven’t been able to find many pictures of those. Those originate from Greece and the Dr Carolyn seeds also came from Greece so I contacted the supplier in case they had been mixed in but she isn’t sure what they are.
Thanks for supplying the links, I can’t identify it from any of the pictures, so I’ll try to give some more information. The plant is now about 6ft tall and consists of mostly huge trusses of flowers and small fruit. The weird thing is that compared to amount trusses there are hardly any leaves. As for the taste, they aren’t sweet so I doubt it’s the Petit Moineau and also my tomatoes look bigger. As I bite in I get an acidic taste then a deep tomato taste reminiscent to me of a nice pasta sauce. A friend of mine thought that they had a hint of herbs to their taste. The skin of the tomato is shiny and quite thick compared to other cherry tomatoes I have tried.

At 1/8 of an ounce, the possibility is all but exclusively limited to currant size tomatoes. We're talking about a tomato less than the weight of the average sungold.

The link that Carolyn supplied Tomatobase has a picture of Petit Moineau in what I presume to be Tatiana's hands, and the size looks to span the diameter of a digit if not a little less. That's pretty close to the size range in the first picture. It's hard to go by taste as an identifying mark. One person's sweet is another person's tart. We all taste flavors a bit differently and to different intensities. Moreover, weather is such a huge factor with flavor, that two people growing the same tomato can come up with totally different taste descriptors if one is getting favorable and the other unfavorable weather.

The other possibility is what Carolyn described - it's something other than what you gave your relative. Did he ever buy his own seed from a vendor? Or get it supplied by a friend? Does he have neighbors who grow tomatoes or anyone in his immediate vicinity?

[kevrow73]

I supply Harold (my father in law) with most of his tomato plants, the only other ones he has were sowed by himself which are Costoluto Fiorentino and Gardner’s Delight but he sowed them at least two months after mine were sown and as these plants are smaller he’s adamant that it’s a plant I gave him. I don’t know of anyone near him or myself growing tomatoes but it’s unlikely that something like this to have spread in the Uk. Most plant/seed suppliers here offer Alicante, moneymaker, Gardener’s Delight and the more expensive F1 types such as Sungold I haven’t seen anything like this available.
This is the first year I’ve gone for varieties of Heirloom tomatoes in a big way none of the seeds I planted were saved by me, instead most were supplied from four vendors, three in the US and one in Greece. None of the ones I purchased were supposed to be a multiflora or current type tomato and I’ve checked their websites for a possible match without success. It’s possible it’s a mix up or cross pollination from one of the vendors they certainly look similar to the Petit Moineau, I don’t know. Whatever the reason I’m not complaining, I’ve got a tomato that tastes great to me and hopefully it’s not a commercial Hybrid and the seed will produce the same tasting tomato next year.
As for the difference in taste of tomatoes, a good example this year for me were the Dr Carolyn’s, the ones I grew produced quite tasteless tomatoes and the ones grown at Harold’s farm were as succulent and sweet as you described them in your book Carolyn. His hoop house is much bigger than mine and his plants get much more sunlight and heat in the summer. I might try growing mine outside next year to see if there is an improvement.

[PhilaGardener]

What a crazy looking plant! Very interesting!

[carolyn137]

How about this?

I've grown Gardener's Delight many times and your father grew it.

http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Gardener%27s_Delight

What if it had a mutation that converted it to a multiflora?

And that has happened but I can't remember the correct name,but something like Sweet Quartz, it will come to me,maybe,but I'll post first.

So be sure to save LOTS of seeds just in case.

Carolyn

[kevrow73]

To be fair, I think the plant is a little bit stressed not crazy:. I don't think a fully grown tomato plant is expecting a trip in the back of my car, then through several doorways of my house and into my hoop house. It's only just getting over it I think.

Seriously though Carolyn, after reading about your thoughts regarding a "truss commercial hybrid" and what you said about a mutation, I read a thread here from a few years ago that links to "Compound Inflorescence". Pictures of this mutation look similar to my plant and would explain why the amount of flowers/fruit has gone out of control. From the article that I read, the lack of foliage is probably going to be problem for it as it won't be able to sustain the energy needed to produce all the fruit.

In any case I've started savings seeds already, even though the fruits are small, there are are plenty of seeds in each one.