Could Lush Queen be parthenocarpics?

[maxfromaustralia]

Hi all
I cut a Lush Queen tomato this morning. It had grown on a sunny balcony all winter. (Southern Hemisphere) It had no seeds. I grew other parthenocarpics tomatoes last year and the first tomatoes of the season also had no seeds.
if it is parthenocarpics it could prove to be useful in very hot or very cold weather when no pollen is shed. cheers Max

[KarenO]

I have found some ripe fruits with no seeds at all. Brad's black heart for example this year. the ones with no seeds were always the earliest ripe on the plant and subsequent fruits from the same plant did have seeds so I am thinking that it must be weather related but I don't know for certain.
KO

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by maxfromaustralia

Hi all
I cut a Lush Queen tomato this morning. It had grown on a sunny balcony all winter. (Southern Hemisphere) It had no seeds. I grew other parthenocarpics tomatoes last year and the first tomatoes of the season also had no seeds.
if it is parthenocarpics it could prove to be useful in very hot or very cold weather when no pollen is shed. cheers Max

Max, almost all varieties that are parthenocarpic that I know of are Ided as being such when sold.

Here in the US on the est Coast there's a well known breeder who has introduced many of them, primarily to be used in our Pacfic NW where Springs are too cool for decent fertilization and fruit set.

There's another condition that can also cause fruits to have no seeds and it's called puffiness.

Here's a Google search, with some pictures, about puffiness:

https://www.google.com/#q=tomato+puffiness

Hope that helps,

Carolyn

[maxfromaustralia]

thanks Karen and Carolyn. I checked puffiness but it was not that.
Karen interestingly Lush Queen and Brad's Black Heart are both Brad Gates WBF tomatoes so maybe there is some link to potential parthenocarpy.
It is weather related. My parthenocarpic tomatoes last season produced seeds when the weather warmed up. I used them as a way to getting an earlier start to production. I will try BBh next year as an early to see if it sets in colder conditions. Cheers Max