Solanum pennellii - Page 2

joseph · April 29, 2018

Tomatoes tend towards being desert adapted species.

My understanding of the way California tomatoes are being grown, is that they are being grown in areas with a high water table, and they are tapping into the existing groundwater. Which is a different scenario than how we do dry-farming here in the mountain valleys, where there is no ground-water within reach, just residual moisture from the winter snows.

One time, I saw a volunteer tomato growing in the Nevada desert, in an area that gets around 9" of rain per year. It was growing near a juniper, which I'd expect to vigorously compete for water. There were ripe fruits on the plant.

Domestic tomato has been selected to do best when pampered with things like irrigation, so it has big lush leaves that require lots of water... Some of the wild species have traits that are more suitable for desert environments. For example, S galapagense, and S chilense have small leaves, a typical strategy of desert adapted plants. Some of the wild species have grayish leaves. Another typical adaptation to growing in the desert.

S pennellii, is a desert adapted plant, but adapted to a foggy desert, so it readily absorbs dew from it's leaves. Therefore, it tends to have a weak root system.

When I eventually start breeding for desert adapted tomatoes, my strategy is likely to include:

Select for frost tolerance, in order to extend the growing season in the spring when there is more winter-water in the soil.
Select for good growth and productivity in spite of the cold nights typical of deserts. Some of my tomatoes fold their leaves up at night. I suspect that protects against radiant cooling which it typical in deserts.
Select for self-incompatibility and promiscuous pollination, so that the genetics can rapidly reorganize themselves to adapt to desert conditions.
Select for weediness, and the ability to volunteer.
I suspect that they will self select for small, thick, compound leaves and gray looking foliage. Traits that are common in desert adapted plants.
I wonder if they will end up with really funky smelling foliage? Perhaps as a predator deterrent?

I thought that the most interesting line in the article was, "We [...] found increased mesophyll cell size and leaf ploidy levels, suggesting that endoreduplication underpins leaf thickness in tomato." Wow! Wow! Wow! So the thick leaves could be tetraploid, while the flower structure remains diploid. Wow! Wow! Wow!

Solanum pennellii

joseph · April 2, 2019

To follow up on this thread... During 2018 I grew S pennellii again. They were planted into one gallon pots, in the variety of compost that they grew best in during early season trials. They did better than every before, and produced a good amount of seeds.

One plant had larger fruits than typical. I saved seed from that separately.

One plant was isolated from the rest of the S pennellii plants, and grown in an area with interspecies hybrids. Since S pennellii is self-incompatible and requires a pollinator, I'm looking forward to growing these out to see if they were pollinated by the interspecies hybrids.

loeb · April 4, 2019

This all is very interesting.. Flower diploid and leaf tetraploid? Exotic.. Which crosses with wild toms are most interesting in taste to you?

joseph · April 4, 2019

The offspring of the interspecies hybrids with S habrochaites are more consistently good tasting to me than the hybrids with S pennellii. The S pennellii crosses have produced some real spitters, and also some that are ambrosia. The S habrochaites crosses have produced some amazing flavors, but tend towards more middling. This year I'm expecting crosses that are [domestic X S pennellii] X [domestic X S habrochaites]. Mmmm mmmm mmmm!

loeb · April 4, 2019

I'm starting to be jelous..

Fingers crossed for some extra tasty toms Joseph, I will watch your threads here

joseph · April 4, 2019

Based on reports of disease resistance in these crosses, I distributed about 90 packets of seeds into areas where untreated tomatoes generally die of blights and diseases. We're expecting to find great blight-tolerance among the interspecies hybrids.

We are selecting for sweet, fruity, high ummami, tropical flavors. Nothing like the taste profile of domestic tomatoes. My personal intention is to cull anything that is red-fruited... Though I might spin the red-fruited off into another project.

Here's a flower from the cross of [domestic X S pennellii]. Woot! That is super promiscuous!!!! The anthers are arranged in a star, instead of a cone. The stigma is very exposed.

Another type of promiscuous flower from the S pennellii crosses: An anther cylinder, and the stigma very exposed.

joseph · May 31, 2019

This spring, I planted several hundred seeds of S pennellii or it's inter-species hybrids with domestic tomatoes (50% wild genes). So far they are growing great.

Over winter, we made back-cross hybrids that are 3/4 domestic, and 1/4 S pennellii. I also planted several hundred of these. We did careful screening of the pollen donors for promiscuous flowers, and self-incompatibility. I'm really looking forward to tasting those.

April 29, 2018	#16
joseph Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: Cache Valley, N/E of The Great Salt Lake Posts: 1,244	Tomatoes tend towards being desert adapted species. My understanding of the way California tomatoes are being grown, is that they are being grown in areas with a high water table, and they are tapping into the existing groundwater. Which is a different scenario than how we do dry-farming here in the mountain valleys, where there is no ground-water within reach, just residual moisture from the winter snows. One time, I saw a volunteer tomato growing in the Nevada desert, in an area that gets around 9" of rain per year. It was growing near a juniper, which I'd expect to vigorously compete for water. There were ripe fruits on the plant. Domestic tomato has been selected to do best when pampered with things like irrigation, so it has big lush leaves that require lots of water... Some of the wild species have traits that are more suitable for desert environments. For example, S galapagense, and S chilense have small leaves, a typical strategy of desert adapted plants. Some of the wild species have grayish leaves. Another typical adaptation to growing in the desert. S pennellii, is a desert adapted plant, but adapted to a foggy desert, so it readily absorbs dew from it's leaves. Therefore, it tends to have a weak root system. When I eventually start breeding for desert adapted tomatoes, my strategy is likely to include: Select for frost tolerance, in order to extend the growing season in the spring when there is more winter-water in the soil. Select for good growth and productivity in spite of the cold nights typical of deserts. Some of my tomatoes fold their leaves up at night. I suspect that protects against radiant cooling which it typical in deserts. Select for self-incompatibility and promiscuous pollination, so that the genetics can rapidly reorganize themselves to adapt to desert conditions. Select for weediness, and the ability to volunteer. I suspect that they will self select for small, thick, compound leaves and gray looking foliage. Traits that are common in desert adapted plants. I wonder if they will end up with really funky smelling foliage? Perhaps as a predator deterrent? I thought that the most interesting line in the article was, "We [...] found increased mesophyll cell size and leaf ploidy levels, suggesting that endoreduplication underpins leaf thickness in tomato." Wow! Wow! Wow! So the thick leaves could be tetraploid, while the flower structure remains diploid. Wow! Wow! Wow! Solanum pennellii Last edited by joseph; April 29, 2018 at 04:07 PM.

April 4, 2019	#19
joseph Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: Cache Valley, N/E of The Great Salt Lake Posts: 1,244	The offspring of the interspecies hybrids with S habrochaites are more consistently good tasting to me than the hybrids with S pennellii. The S pennellii crosses have produced some real spitters, and also some that are ambrosia. The S habrochaites crosses have produced some amazing flavors, but tend towards more middling. This year I'm expecting crosses that are [domestic X S pennellii] X [domestic X S habrochaites]. Mmmm mmmm mmmm! Last edited by joseph; April 4, 2019 at 05:51 PM.

April 2, 2019	#17
joseph Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: Cache Valley, N/E of The Great Salt Lake Posts: 1,244	To follow up on this thread... During 2018 I grew S pennellii again. They were planted into one gallon pots, in the variety of compost that they grew best in during early season trials. They did better than every before, and produced a good amount of seeds. One plant had larger fruits than typical. I saved seed from that separately. One plant was isolated from the rest of the S pennellii plants, and grown in an area with interspecies hybrids. Since S pennellii is self-incompatible and requires a pollinator, I'm looking forward to growing these out to see if they were pollinated by the interspecies hybrids.

April 4, 2019	#18
loeb Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Poland Posts: 251	This all is very interesting.. Flower diploid and leaf tetraploid? Exotic.. Which crosses with wild toms are most interesting in taste to you?

April 4, 2019	#20
loeb Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Poland Posts: 251	I'm starting to be jelous.. Fingers crossed for some extra tasty toms Joseph, I will watch your threads here

May 31, 2019	#22
joseph Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: Cache Valley, N/E of The Great Salt Lake Posts: 1,244	This spring, I planted several hundred seeds of S pennellii or it's inter-species hybrids with domestic tomatoes (50% wild genes). So far they are growing great. Over winter, we made back-cross hybrids that are 3/4 domestic, and 1/4 S pennellii. I also planted several hundred of these. We did careful screening of the pollen donors for promiscuous flowers, and self-incompatibility. I'm really looking forward to tasting those.