Tomatoville® Gardening Forums


Notices

Forum area for discussing hybridizing tomatoes in technical terms and information pertinent to trait/variety specific long-term (1+ years) growout projects.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old August 14, 2007   #1
velikipop
Tomatovillian™
 
velikipop's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Langley, BC
Posts: 768
Default Accidental Cross Possibility

I have a Rutgers plant growing beside a Redorte and this morning spoted a few tomatoes on the Rutgers that were plum shaped like the Redorte on the same truss as the round Rutgers. Is it possble that these plum shaped tomatoes are the products of cross fertilization? If it is should I save the seeds from them to see if they can be stabilized. I am not very experienced with this aspect of growing tomatoes and would appreciate any advice.

Thanks,

Alex
__________________
I'll plant and I'll harvest what the earth brings forth
The hammer's on the table, the pitchfork's on the shelf

Bob Dylan
velikipop is offline   Reply With Quote
Old August 14, 2007   #2
Tom Wagner
Crosstalk™ Forum Moderator
 
Tom Wagner's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: 8407 18th Ave West 7-203 Everett, Washington 98204
Posts: 1,157
Default

First of all the spelling: San Marzano Redorta, not Redorte!

It looks like you have the OP version (select) and not the hybrid. Note:
TOMATO SAN MARZANO REDORTA F1 by seeds of italy


Named for the local mountain in Bergamo, the home of Franchi seeds. Fruits of upto 350g near 12 0z.

The rest of the trade carries the OP line. Such as this....

Pomodoro
San Marzano
”Redorta”
Selezione Speciale near 300 g. a bit smaller than the hybrid version

Quote:
I have a Rutgers plant growing beside a Redorte and this morning spoted a few tomatoes on the Rutgers that were plum shaped like the Redorte on the same truss as the round Rutgers. Is it possble that these plum shaped tomatoes are the products of cross fertilization?
Tomatoes growing next to each other should not be affected by cross pollination as to fruit shape. Making sure you don't have a branch of San Marzano Redorta select positioning itself over the branch of Rutgers, you just don't get that extreme Marzano shape in the clustering of Rutger fruits. It is possible to get a deep globe to near roma shape in Rutgers but not the San Marzano type.

Quote:
If it is should I save the seeds from them to see if they can be stabilized?
Did you grow both varieties side by side last year? Even if you have crossed seed, why not let those who make purposeful crosses and recombinants do this work?

Quote:
I am not very experienced with this aspect of growing tomatoes and would appreciate any advice.
I know all too well the temptation to save seed from unusual things. By all means do the saving if you have the time for opportunities and mistakes. Many crosses that I have made of San Marzano tomatoes and slicing tomatoes like Rutgers that I made in the 1950's turned out to be less than favorable. Either too mealy, too firm, wrong shapes, large locules, poor internal colorings, etc. were the common drawbacks.

Tom Wagner CrossTalk Moderator
Tom Wagner is offline   Reply With Quote
Old August 15, 2007   #3
velikipop
Tomatovillian™
 
velikipop's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Langley, BC
Posts: 768
Default

Tom,

Thanks for the info. It helps. Yes the shape of the fruit in question is not as elongated as the one on the Redorta. Rest assured I have no intention of attempting crosses. I have my hands full with a plethora new varieties to keep me busy for a while.

Alex
__________________
I'll plant and I'll harvest what the earth brings forth
The hammer's on the table, the pitchfork's on the shelf

Bob Dylan
velikipop is offline   Reply With Quote
Old August 15, 2007   #4
Tom Wagner
Crosstalk™ Forum Moderator
 
Tom Wagner's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: 8407 18th Ave West 7-203 Everett, Washington 98204
Posts: 1,157
Default

Most folks get their new varieties from accidental crosses, or as I like to say, illegitimate crosses. I much rather be the minister of the tomato patch, legally administering the marriage of one variety to the next, with the thought of how the seedlings or children turn out. The crosses I've made this year were heavy with Green Zebra hybrids to other man made crosses. Kind of like All American tomato seedlings where no two siblings we be alike next year..

Tom
Tom Wagner is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 07:38 PM.


★ Tomatoville® is a registered trademark of Commerce Holdings, LLC ★ All Content ©2022 Commerce Holdings, LLC ★