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Old October 18, 2015   #1
joseph
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Default HX-9 Tomato Clade

HX-9 tomato thrilled me more than any other among the 62 F2 hybrid tomatoes that I grew this year. It has many traits that are expected to be stable because they are due to recessive genes. I'm expecting to share seed later this fall as part of the Open Source Seed Initiative. I'm creating this thread as a public place to discuss the variety and it's evolution.

Breeding Goal

The primary goal of the breeding project that created HX-9 Tomato, was to obtain short-season promiscuously-pollinating determinate bicolor tomatoes that can ripen in Cache Valley.

Origin of Material

The tomato variety Jagoka was identified during a frost/cold tolerance trial as being a variety that grows very well and is highly productive in Cache Valley. Its flowers were highly attractive to bumblebees. It is determinate and bears very early red saladette sized fruits. Jagodka was originally developed in Russia. It is currently my main market tomato.

The heirloom tomato variety Hillbilly (or Virginia Sweets) is a super-long season indeterminate beefsteak that has bicolor (red/yellow) fruits and an open flower structure, making it in theory more susceptible to promiscuous pollination.

A Hillbilly flower was manually pollinated with pollen from Jagoka. The F1 was selfed.

Description and Selection Process

HX-9 Tomato originated from one F2 plant. This plant was selected from the F2 offspring because it combined a whole string of recessive traits that the project was hoping to achieve: Determinate growth habit, bicolor fruits, open flowers, and exerted stigma (all fixed recessive traits). Additionally, the plant was the earliest to produce fruit, and the most productive overall. The fruits were large. It had a showy floral display, and big flower petals. Days To Maturity, fruit size, and productivity are QTL traits, so ongoing segregation in those traits is possible.

HX-9 Tomato
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Old October 19, 2015   #2
nicollas
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Great news !

I dont want to hijack your thread so feel free to answer by PM or new thread if it is the case, but, if the OSSI fits well with your ethic, it seems contradictory to your sense of giving priority to genetic over labels (be it variety labelling or paperwork burden). If your seeds are OSSI, you'll have to share seeds with the OSSI pledge, as all others creating varieties or sharing seeds from it. As an IT guy i'm a big advocate of OS software and standards, but sticking on seeds and genetic material makes me feel uncomfortable.
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Old October 19, 2015   #3
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I'll be paying close attention to how cumbersome the OSSI pledge is to me.

I feel perfectly fine about donating my varieties to the public domain. I don't like the part of the OSSI pledge that purports to bind the recipients of seed to the pledge... OSSI asked me to donate some varieties. I have had close ties with some of the members of the board for years, and I respect the members I know immensely. Others on the board are legends in the seed breeding culture: The kind of people that I like to associate with. As far as I can tell, the pledge is not legally binding. It's more of an ethics statement made by seed breeders and by the seed companies that collaborate with them. It provides a simple mechanism to share varieties and royalties.
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Old October 20, 2015   #4
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Joseph, the HX-9 is a great find. I'm wondering if it is fully determinate, ie the same leaf-cluster-leaf pattern and number as Jagodka parent, or whether it is 'semi-determinate' ie having terminal buds (sp/sp) but longer stems with 6 or more clusters on the main before termination.

I'm asking because my determinate X indeterminate crosses produced semi-determinate offspring in F2 and the F3 I grew this year was also continuing to segregate for growth habit - each plant having a unique cluster/leaf pattern. I haven't seen any F2 or F3 that were simply determinate. However I didn't have a large number of F2's as you did.
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Old October 21, 2015   #5
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In this clade, I had 2 plants out of 18 which I classified as determinate. There were 3 plants which, for lack of a better name I called "Compact Indeterminate". They had indeterminate growth habit, but very short internodal distances.

Next time I'm in the garden I'll try to compare/contrast the growth pattern of the F2 with Jagodka.
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Old October 22, 2015   #6
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The inflorescence pattern on HX-9 Tomato at the end of a stem is Fruit-Cluster, Leaf, Leaf, Terminal-Fruit-Cluster.

Another plant from this clade has a less clear pattern. The above pattern exists on some branches, but one branch also has a pattern of Fruit-cluster, Leaf, Fruit-Cluster, Leaf, 2 Fruit-Clusters and a Leaf.

Jagodka also has a mixed pattern, with 2 to 4 fruit clusters per stem, with leaves in between the fruit clusters, terminating with a fruit cluster. But then many of the leaf nodes sent out shoots, and those shoots had 2 to 3 fruit clusters on them following a Fruit-Cluster, Leaf, Terminal-Fruit-Cluster pattern. It's like it's lacking apical dominance... No wonder it is so productive!!!

Last edited by joseph; October 22, 2015 at 11:24 AM.
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Old November 26, 2015   #7
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I have seed available for sharing of HX-9 tomato. Send me a SASE to obtain seeds. Send me a personal message to get my address if you don't have it already.

HX-9 tomato is the star-child of my attempts to breed a population of promiscuously pollinating tomatoes. The anther cone is open and the anthers are loosely attached to each other. The stigma is exposed. It has a bold floral display, and the flowers are open to the sky and not buried in foliage. It is determinate. The extra-large fruits are bi-colored: red and yellow. Taste is great. One of the parents of the cross from which HX-9 was derived is Jagodka, a Russian variety that took the grand prize a few years ago in my trials of cold tolerant tomatoes. Jagodka is my primary market tomato. HX-9 takes after Jagodka by being early and highly productive. HX-9 is highly susceptible to cross pollination. Promiscuous pollination is what makes this variety unique. Closed flowers are a dominant trait. Therefore any offspring that have closed flowers are off-type and should be culled. Bred by Joseph Lofthouse.



These seeds are pledged to the Open Source Seed Initiative. Only request them if you agree to the pledge. The OSSI Pledge: You have the freedom to use these OSSI-Pledged seeds in any way you choose. In return, you pledge not to restrict others’ use of these seeds or their derivatives by patents or other means, and to include this pledge with any transfer of these seeds or their derivatives.

Last edited by joseph; November 26, 2015 at 06:47 PM.
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Old November 28, 2015   #8
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duplicate post, sorry
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Old November 29, 2015   #9
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Joseph I'd love to grow this tomato of yours, but not yet clear if there's a fit for the plan next year.

I actually have a lot of work to do on the greenhouse this winter, won't really know before february how well along that is and what I'm going to fill my containers with.
I bet my Mom would like to try a promiscuous pollinating tomato in her garden though.
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Old March 10, 2016   #10
Keen101
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Quote:
Originally Posted by joseph View Post
I have seed available for sharing of HX-9 tomato. Send me a SASE to obtain seeds. Send me a personal message to get my address if you don't have it already.

HX-9 tomato is the star-child of my attempts to breed a population of promiscuously pollinating tomatoes. The anther cone is open and the anthers are loosely attached to each other. The stigma is exposed. It has a bold floral display, and the flowers are open to the sky and not buried in foliage. It is determinate. The extra-large fruits are bi-colored: red and yellow. Taste is great. One of the parents of the cross from which HX-9 was derived is Jagodka, a Russian variety that took the grand prize a few years ago in my trials of cold tolerant tomatoes. Jagodka is my primary market tomato. HX-9 takes after Jagodka by being early and highly productive. HX-9 is highly susceptible to cross pollination. Promiscuous pollination is what makes this variety unique. Closed flowers are a dominant trait. Therefore any offspring that have closed flowers are off-type and should be culled. Bred by Joseph Lofthouse.



These seeds are pledged to the Open Source Seed Initiative. Only request them if you agree to the pledge. The OSSI Pledge: You have the freedom to use these OSSI-Pledged seeds in any way you choose. In return, you pledge not to restrict others’ use of these seeds or their derivatives by patents or other means, and to include this pledge with any transfer of these seeds or their derivatives.
Joseph, I understand the intent of this to be promiscuously pollinated and highly attractive to pollinators and i support that goal wholeheartedly. But, since it is meant to be promiscuously pollinating and most tomatoes out there right now are not, then shouldn't closed flower types be a sign that it has naturally crossed to another variety and that those plants should instead of being culled they should be isolated and screened in future generations for something new but that eventually regains the recessive open flower trait?
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Old March 10, 2016   #11
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I have conflicting goals for HX-9 tomato...

If anyone is growing this tomato with the intent of selling seeds from it, then to conform with the plant breeder's intent for the variety, any plant with closed flowers should not be saved under the name HX-9, because open flowers -- leading to more promiscuous pollination -- is a defining characteristic of this variety. Any plant with red or blue fruit is also non-conforming.

However, because I am working on a promiscuous pollination project, and 1/4 of the grandchildren of any crosses are expected to have open flowers, I'd love to receive seeds from any fruits of this variety that have closed flowers, or are red, or blue, because they are natural hybrids and I would love to reselect for open flowers.

Last edited by joseph; March 10, 2016 at 09:47 PM.
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Old August 22, 2016   #12
Gerardo
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Quote:
Originally Posted by joseph View Post
I have conflicting goals for HX-9 tomato...

If anyone is growing this tomato with the intent of selling seeds from it, then to conform with the plant breeder's intent for the variety, any plant with closed flowers should not be saved under the name HX-9, because open flowers -- leading to more promiscuous pollination -- is a defining characteristic of this variety. Any plant with red or blue fruit is also non-conforming.

However, because I am working on a promiscuous pollination project, and 1/4 of the grandchildren of any crosses are expected to have open flowers, I'd love to receive seeds from any fruits of this variety that have closed flowers, or are red, or blue, because they are natural hybrids and I would love to reselect for open flowers.
I've got a lone HX-9 on its first few clusters. Thanks for letting us know what the inclusion/exclusion criteria are.

If I see the natural hybrid you describe I'll save and back it goes!
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Old November 29, 2015   #13
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I have an abundance of seed, so don't be shy. If not this year, then maybe next.
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Old November 29, 2015   #14
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Good to know. I'll send you a PM when I figure it out.
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Old August 22, 2016   #15
joseph
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Gerardo: Thanks.

I'm growing about 14 HX-9 plants this year. One of them is a natural hybrid. And the daddy is obvious from the phenotype. I couldn't have asked for better parents.

Also to further refine the selection criteria.... When I say "red fruit" is non-conforming, I mean the internal color of the fruit. HX-9 should have yellow/red striped fruit on the inside, even if the outer skin coloring tends towards red under some environmental conditions.
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