OSU Blue observations

[Sören]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

Oregon State U has released no versions of OSU Blue to the public via seed sites and there are several versions floating around.

They made it available to those who were serious about breeding tomatoes, I don't know if documentation was required, and those folks were supposed to sign off on not distributing it.

And other source was at another message site where I sometimes read/post and someone who works in the lab where it's being worked on offered seeds. When I saw her offer I told her that I thought they weren;t supposed to be distributed and she said no one told her that and proceeded to send seeds to anyone who wanted them.

If you look in the two Tomato Exchange subforums here you'll see threads where folks are offering in trade as well as those who are asking for it.

I was sent two fruits, saved the seeds and never sent them to anyone else b'c if folks who got them for breeding purposes weren't supposed to share them I saw that as meaining that I shouldn't either, so didn't.

So, nobody may distibute OSU blue seeds? But I have the seeds of OSU ..

Sören

[carolyn137]

So, nobody may distibute OSU blue seeds? But I have the seeds of OSU ..

*****

Wrong.

That was the initial undertstanding with those who got it from the breeder, but as I said, seeds were shared and as I said above one lady who worked in the lab where OSU was being worked with distributed seeds to anyone who wanted them.

I chose not to distribute the seeds I saved from the fruits that were sent to me, but that was me and me alone and now hundreds and hundreds of folks have them, so they are being distributed everywhere and I know that's true at the message sites where I sometimes post.

So you got them from someone, so you can grow them out and you can share them. Not a problem at all.

[frogsleap farm]

Originally Posted by frogsleap farm

Getting the thread back on track .... here's a March 2010 photo of sorting segregating P20 F2 progeny for the anthocyanin phenotype in leaves and stems.

Here's the same P20 F2 PL plant, but at flowering. No sign of anthocyanin accumulation in the leaves any more, though the base of the stem is purplish. The genes governing anthocyanin accumulation are activated in various tissues at various stages of development. I'm optimistic the fruit will be blue/black.

[goodwin]

I'm getting my first fruit of the summer. The weather has been really hot the last week which seems to have accelerated the ripening process.
I just hope they continue to set. Anyway, here's a photo.
Lee

[Sören]

Beautifull photo of the OSU blue. I'm waiting for my first riped tomatoes...
¨
I have a question about th OSU blue: Is it a heirloom or not? its a open pollinated fruit, isn't it?


Sören

[dice]

OSU blue: Is it a heirloom or not?

"Heirlooms" are old things. Like if you had a Russian
samovar for making tea ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samovar )
that some grandparent had bought in Instanbul and
that had stayed in the family and been handed down
to you, that would be "an heirloom".

OSU Blue is a fairly recent development from Oregon State
University that just turned up a couple of years ago, so that
would not be an heirloom. It is open-pollenated, though (OP),
not an F1 hybrid. I imagine that most of the seeds in
circulation are at some F? stage short of "stable OP".
A lot of them are people's growouts of crosses between
OSU Blue and something else that someone with an original
OSU Blue plant had in their garden at the same time.

[Sören]

thanks for your answer.

Sören

[travis]

The OSU Blue being distributed throughout the various online tomato boards is unstable in several respects including but not limited to anthocyanin gene recombinations, fruit size, vine growth characteristics, foliage color tendencies, and other more minor details. And that is why its breeders at Oregon State University do not want it distributed to casual backyard gardeners until the variety can be counted on to express within tighter tolerances.

[Frog]

Originally Posted by travis

The OSU Blue being distributed throughout the various online tomato boards is unstable in several respects including but not limited to anthocyanin gene recombinations, fruit size, vine growth characteristics, foliage color tendencies, and other more minor details. And that is why its breeders at Oregon State University do not want it distributed to casual backyard gardeners until the variety can be counted on to express within tighter tolerances.

To me, its lack of stability is appealing.

[dice]

I seem to recall that the flavor of the fruit of the first OSU Blue
seeds distributed to a few people for experimental growouts
was deprecated, hence all of the experimental crossing going
on (people trying to retain the anthocyanin expression and
have it taste good, too).

[frogsleap farm]

Some truth in that. I thought the taste of the original OSU Blue/P20 was just OK, but could be potentially enhanced with crossing to heirloom type parents that were larger, tastier, or somehow adding additional characteristics. For me the mystery is inheritance of the blue/black fruit color in the F2, and to learn how tough it will be to combine the desired fruit color with enhanced flavor, etc. There are several people/groups working and reporting on this, the 2010 season should teach us quite a bit.

[Penny]

Nice colors, and i cant wait to try mine here.

[the999bbq]

hmm, I wish I was better in administration things, I don't know where I got my Blueberry seeds from (labelled Blueberry; it must have been a swap but which one ?).
I don't like the GM stuff I read though, how can I see if I have the (European?) non GM or the GM version ?? (I'm in europe - Belgium - but I get my seeds from all over the world)

Stem was blue at the beginning of the season (but that beginning was very very cold at night), currently they are like this :


if it is the GM version than I should not save any seeds this year ? (that would not make me a happier person).

[geoff1]

Looks to me like an OSU derivative. I would definitely save seeds. I am sure the GM version would not be so readily available.

[travis]

The ironic thing is that the "European version" is in fact the genetically engineered version http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2...ogist-away.ars while the U.S. version (OSU Blue and P20) are traditionally bred.

Not withstanding, I think whoever may have anything called Blueberry must have something other than the "European" GMO because the company who engineered it has not yet released seeds. Probably someone with an active imagination or sense of humor appended that name to a packet of OSU Blue seeds.