Tomato *Stick*

[Lilypon]

Is there a commercial vendor for this variety?

It is the most unusual tomato I've seen.....does anyone have a picture of it when it is mature?


Pam

[Lee]

Here's a picture of it from 2005.

Not sure if any commercial sites offer it yet. Very interesting variety.
Pretty decent tasting as well.

Lee

[Worth1]

This stick tomato you all have been talking about, ‘How you keep the tomatoes from sun scalding? It doesn’t seem to have many leaves.

Worth

[Lilypon]

Thank you for posting a picture of it Lee. After seeing young starts of it I was sure curious!

Worth I can now see how sun scald would be a problem with that one in a hot climate. Definitely one for those rare summers here that are more overcast/cooler.

Thanks again everyone!
Pam

[Woodenzoo]

I grew Stick last year. What I found very strange about it was it blossomed then nothing. Looked like the flowers just dried up and died though the stems were still green. I guess I figured they just didn't get pollinated or something as it took a couple of months before they started to develop fruit from that point. Has anyone else experienced this with Stick or any other tomato for that matter?
I'll be growing it again this year, cause it is just too unusual not to grow! Not to mention I'd like to see if it will display this delay again.
Cathy

[michael johnson]

Stick-is a wonderful producer considering what basic sparce materials it has to work with when growing,

The only problem with me was- that it was such a wierd variety- I dare not eat the tomatoes after I had grown them, although they looked perfectly good, very odd variety indeed, a bit tall and spindly and needs support in the form of a cane or stake, otherwise the wind will break the top branches.

[Andrey_BY]

I wonder if anyone had tried to use Stick in crosses? I think Craig has definately had this experience :wink:

[Lee]

Although it does get pretty hot here in NC, I didn't have
any sunscald problems with Stick. It probably helped that
I got afternoon shade on it.

My dad got decent production out of it as well without any sunscald issues.... don't know how it would do in TX.

Lee

[chilhuacle]

I expected the tomatoes to be ‘spit it out’ bad but actually they were pretty good. I wouldn’t grow Stick just for the tomatoes but they are much better than store bought. They have a good tomato flavor, not tart and not overly sweet.

No problem here with sunscald either.

The Plant:
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL160.../222414177.jpg

Tomatoes with an Anna Russian:
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL160.../222417710.jpg

[celticman]

I would be interesed to know if anyone has tried and cross Stick with any thing?

[carolyn137]

I've grown Stick.

I see it as almost the ultimate novelty variety to be grown maybe once to see what I call the Poodle Plant. For me Reisetomate whose fruits look like a cauliflower on steroids is in the same category.

Now if we were talking about the variety Variegated, which I think is really a pretty plant with cream and green leaves and stems and green wedges at the top of the fruits before they ripen up, then that would be different. And that variety does yield a lot and the fruits really are pretty darn good. Again, not to be grown for taste, but semi-novelty with decent tasting fruits.

I won't call Stick a spitout, as I do the variety Sandpoint, but I don't think anyone would grow it for the taste of the fruits. I mean not all that bad, but then why do we all grow tomatoes?

It was said above that Craig was crossing it with something but I don't think Craig has ever done deliberate crosses. He has worked with some natural crosses that have appeared in his garden, but not deliberate crosses. I'm the same way.

The fact is that I didn't even save seeds from Stick when I grew it and maybe that tells someone something.

My question is......why would anyone want to cross Stick with something? Obviously it's the foliage trait that asmuses folks, what would crossing it with something accomplish?

Just curious.

[travis]

I don't know about crossing just yet ... I'm still tryin' to get a Stick with that funny foliage. Last 3 attempts, it expressed long slender regular leaves on erect stems. But I have a fresh batch of seeds for 2007 ... maybe this fourth time's a charm.

If so, then maybe a cross with something like Silvery Fir Tree for a really wacky something.

PV

[Lilypon]

Well I'm going to try growing it this summer. I'll try one out in the open at the rented vegetable patch and will have a couple that get a little more afternoon shade.

I had a FIL that loved wearing baseball hats of a competitors business when he went out (course his collection grew....he *always* came home with the newly visited businesses hat). I'm not that fond of that kind of attention but I'm betting the *Stick* will certainly draw many looks from my fellow gardeners at the patch. Hoping here that I get at least 3 with the curly leaves!

[chilhuacle]

Originally Posted by Carolyn

My question is......why would anyone want to cross Stick with something?

My question too... When I received my 10 seeds only one had the correct leaf type. Talk about a crapshoot! Maybe if you had the garden space and patience you could get a different color tomato...

[Lee]

My question is......why would anyone want to cross Stick with something? Obviously it's the foliage trait that asmuses folks, what would crossing it with something accomplish?

Just curious.

I would guess the key genetic benefit that could be derived from this plant is the extreemly high fruit(by mass) to foliage (by surface area) ratio.
If this trait is manifested due to the plant's increase efficiency at photosynthesis, this could proove to be useful/necessary in low light environments.

Even if that's not the case genetic diversity alone makes it a great addition to any seed collection.

Plus, the ones I grew here in NC were quite tasty!

Lee