i'm confused and it ain't the first time , cross polination

cdg · September 11, 2019

o.k. I have a few questions cause I don't understand a lot about natural crosses . Situation is : I saved seeds from one Dr. Lyle tomato . The plant I have from these seeds are tall and wispy and producing gobs of small tomatoes that are similar to porters I used to grow in the past ( definitely not Dr. Lyle ) also taste great . First question is : will all the seeds I saved from this one tomato produce this type plant . Second question ; if I save some seeds from these small tomatoes that I am producing this year , will they make the same kind of small tomatoes or is it just a crapshoot as what I will get . Third question ; I know the tomato I saved seed from was Dr. lyle , and had some sungold near this plant and wondering if sungold has any Porter parents .

I am going to plant the few seeds I have left next year as this is a very good tomato even tho it is some sort of cross , and just wondering about seeds from these small tomatoes .

THANKS MUCH
CDG

imp · September 11, 2019

Answer to both questions is a crapshoot. You miht get some like what you saved seed from, and you might get a variety of different plants that produce differing tomatoes. That is why, to be really short, people select and breed to stabilize something they like anyheres from 6 to 9 generations, or until stable- i.e producing everytime the product they want.

There are much more detailed answers to your questions and hopefully some one will post further on this for you.

KarenO · September 11, 2019

The tomato you are growing now is most likely an F1 hybrid of your Dr Lyle and any other tomato nearby.
If you grow seeds saved from these fruit they will be F2 and show a lot of segregation with no way of knowing what they will be until you grow them.
KarenO

cdg · September 11, 2019

Thank you both . They are good tomatoes and produce very well it Texas heat , BUT I am too old and do not have the room to start the stabilize process mentioned . I appreciate your responses , so I think I'll just use the seeds I saved that produced this plant and plant a couple plants a year . Will be interesting to see if the seeds deplete first or I deplete first .

zipcode · September 12, 2019

If you stumble a very good tomato which was cross pollinated, and you think you can identify the second parent (doable if you know a bit about what is dominant and not and you don't grow too many varieties), the logical thing to do is to make that cross on purpose, and you have from one tomato usually enough F1 seed to last you a few years. This is what I have been doing, you always lose something when you stabilize it, especially vigour at like F4-F5.

rxkeith · September 12, 2019

some thoughts,

if the tomato is a cross, you will get a variety of tomatoes from saved seeds.
if by chance, it was a stray uncrossed seed, then you would get the same type tomato
you did this year. only way to find out is save some seeds from that tomato, and grow
them out. you won't know, till you go.
the other thing is, you can always take cuttings of the plant, and winter them over in doors. i did that one year with alston everlasting, a cherry tomato that i was out of seeds for. mice had eaten any tomatoes of size and i was unable to save seeds.
when the plant in doors becomes too big, just take another cutting, and start again.
you want to begin with a healthy cutting, and watch for hitch hiking pests while growing in doors.

keith

JRinPA · September 12, 2019

Quote:

I saved seeds from one Dr. Lyle tomato . The plant I have from these seeds are tall and wispy and producing gobs of small tomatoes that are similar to porters I used to grow in the past ( definitely not Dr. Lyle ) also taste great . First question is : will all the seeds I saved from this one tomato produce this type plant .

This is the question I have asked before and never gotten a solid answer. Are all the seeds from that ONE SINGLE tomato the same genetics?

cdg · September 12, 2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by JRinPA

This is the question I have asked before and never gotten a solid answer. Are all the seeds from that ONE SINGLE tomato the same genetics?

Yep . NOW that is my main question . I now understand if I save seeds from these small tomatoes I am enjoying this year that there is no guarantee of anything . I am not interested in a grow out to stabilize . I am too old . But I still have some seeds from the single tomato I saved seeds from last year that produced these plants Will these saved seeds from this single tomato all produce the same type plant ? Thanks for your patience .

rxkeith · September 12, 2019

if the tomato is indeed a cross, then it is an f1 hybrid.
all the f1 seeds will give you the same tomato that you currently have.

keith

zipcode · September 13, 2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by JRinPA

This is the question I have asked before and never gotten a solid answer. Are all the seeds from that ONE SINGLE tomato the same genetics?

No, they are not. Some seeds can be crossed while the rest are fine.

JRinPA · September 13, 2019

cdg if you really want to keep that exact plant...is it feasible for you to keep suckers alive and just overwinter them in pots, etc? It sounds like the only way to be sure. If it doesn't work out, then roll the dice with the seeds?

September 11, 2019	#1
cdg Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: North/Central Texas Posts: 67	I'm confused and it ain't the first time , cross pollination o.k. I have a few questions cause I don't understand a lot about natural crosses . Situation is : I saved seeds from one Dr. Lyle tomato . The plant I have from these seeds are tall and wispy and producing gobs of small tomatoes that are similar to porters I used to grow in the past ( definitely not Dr. Lyle ) also taste great . First question is : will all the seeds I saved from this one tomato produce this type plant . Second question ; if I save some seeds from these small tomatoes that I am producing this year , will they make the same kind of small tomatoes or is it just a crapshoot as what I will get . Third question ; I know the tomato I saved seed from was Dr. lyle , and had some sungold near this plant and wondering if sungold has any Porter parents . I am going to plant the few seeds I have left next year as this is a very good tomato even tho it is some sort of cross , and just wondering about seeds from these small tomatoes . THANKS MUCH CDG Last edited by cdg; September 11, 2019 at 02:27 PM. Reason: add thanks

September 11, 2019	#2
imp Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Wichita Falls, Texas Posts: 4,832	Answer to both questions is a crapshoot. You miht get some like what you saved seed from, and you might get a variety of different plants that produce differing tomatoes. That is why, to be really short, people select and breed to stabilize something they like anyheres from 6 to 9 generations, or until stable- i.e producing everytime the product they want. There are much more detailed answers to your questions and hopefully some one will post further on this for you. __________________ I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing.

September 12, 2019	#6
rxkeith Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Back in da U.P. Posts: 1,839	some thoughts, if the tomato is a cross, you will get a variety of tomatoes from saved seeds. if by chance, it was a stray uncrossed seed, then you would get the same type tomato you did this year. only way to find out is save some seeds from that tomato, and grow them out. you won't know, till you go. the other thing is, you can always take cuttings of the plant, and winter them over in doors. i did that one year with alston everlasting, a cherry tomato that i was out of seeds for. mice had eaten any tomatoes of size and i was unable to save seeds. when the plant in doors becomes too big, just take another cutting, and start again. you want to begin with a healthy cutting, and watch for hitch hiking pests while growing in doors. keith __________________ don't abort. we'll adopt.

September 12, 2019	#9
rxkeith Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Back in da U.P. Posts: 1,839	if the tomato is indeed a cross, then it is an f1 hybrid. all the f1 seeds will give you the same tomato that you currently have. keith __________________ don't abort. we'll adopt.

September 11, 2019	#3
KarenO Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Vancouver Island Posts: 5,922	The tomato you are growing now is most likely an F1 hybrid of your Dr Lyle and any other tomato nearby. If you grow seeds saved from these fruit they will be F2 and show a lot of segregation with no way of knowing what they will be until you grow them. KarenO

September 12, 2019	#5
zipcode Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Romania/Germany , z 4-6 Posts: 1,582	If you stumble a very good tomato which was cross pollinated, and you think you can identify the second parent (doable if you know a bit about what is dominant and not and you don't grow too many varieties), the logical thing to do is to make that cross on purpose, and you have from one tomato usually enough F1 seed to last you a few years. This is what I have been doing, you always lose something when you stabilize it, especially vigour at like F4-F5.

September 13, 2019	#11
JRinPA Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: SE PA Posts: 963	cdg if you really want to keep that exact plant...is it feasible for you to keep suckers alive and just overwinter them in pots, etc? It sounds like the only way to be sure. If it doesn't work out, then roll the dice with the seeds?