L. cheesmanii crosses?

johno · January 25, 2007

Hi, I'm new here at Tomatoville, and enjoying it. I did a search on Cheesman's tomato and didn't come up with much, other than an apparently low opinion of it... Anyway, apologies if this subject has already been discussed and I missed it.

I like the flavor of L. cheesmanii - at least the one that I have. Seems "old-timey" to me. The question is, have any of you made any crosses with this tomato? What were they like? I've never intentionally created a hybrid tomato before, mostly because of space concerns, but I think I'd like to try it with this one and ... the possibilities are endless...

**Tom Wagner** · January 26, 2007

Initial crosses of L. cheesmanii with L. esculentum and back crosses to esculentum have been done to eliminate much of the cheesmannii characteristics. However, I had chances to select types that more closely resemble cheesmanii (tiny leaves, smaller fruit, growth habit, etc.) and to use them in crosses to heirloom type tomatoes.

Two lines that I have perpetuated through stable lines are TASMANIAN GOLD and CHEESMANIAN GOLD. Both of these have the gold flesh of cheesmanii and the small leaves, but with the addition of woolly foliage. Both of these were used in hybrids this past season.

This is but a few of the breeding projects that are in my 'library' of germplasm.

Tom Wagner

**Patrina_Pepperina** · February 5, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom Wagner

Two lines that I have perpetuated through stable lines are TASMANIAN GOLD and CHEESMANIAN GOLD. Both of these have the gold flesh of cheesmanii and the small leaves, but with the addition of woolly foliage.

Tom, do you keep a photo record of these results, and if so, would it be possible to post a couple here? It would be so interesting to see how small woolly foliage looks

Is it dense or sparse foliage, or somewhere in between?

Patrina

**Tom Wagner** · February 5, 2007

Navigate on these sites; click on the cheesmanii links for some idea of the foliage of my woolly cheesmanii types of tomato lines. Add the fuzz and I think you will get the gist. I think the many tiny leaves with their rather lacy pattern is attractive. The fuzzy (woolly) leaves remind me of Dusty Millers.

http://tgrc.ucdavis.edu/Data/Acc/tax....%20cheesmanii

http://www.kdcomm.net/~tomato/Tomato/ecomplx.html#3tom

I have not taken a lot of pictures of my breeding work over the years. Mostly prints and a few slides from my now 40 yr. old Pentax. Never used much, due to lack of batteries. The wife recently bought an inexpensive digital camera, but refuses to allow me to use it; afraid I'll get the case dirty or something! She is afraid I'll take a picture of her also. I wouldn't know how to upload images anyway.

Tom

**Patrina_Pepperina** · February 5, 2007

Thanks for those links Tom - very interesting to see woolly fruit!!

I followed some of the links on the pages and found this:
http://tgrc.ucdavis.edu/images/1238-...4-Loja-low.jpg

Do these fruits have thin husks that are splitting, or am I seeing things? It looks like they are shedding the woolly outer skin because the darker patches look smooth and shiny.

Patrina

**Tom Wagner** · February 5, 2007

Quote:

Do these fruits have thin husks that are splitting, or am I seeing things? It looks like they are shedding the woolly outer skin because the darker patches look smooth and shiny.

That's not cracking, it is just the dapple/stripes that you might see on some of the wild species.

I added woolly genes such as carried by my Elberta Girl to the Cheesmanii-esculentum backcrosses. So if I could get a good resolution photo of my lines, you would see very woolly gold fruits and silver leaves and stems. The lines I have would look similar to the LA0258 collection as Keith points out.

**Patrina_Pepperina** · February 5, 2007

Tom, is there such a thing as woolly blossoms too?

I would love to be able to deter thrips! My season has been ruined this year because of the TSWV they spread

Keith, that woolly dwarf is really neat! It would be great to get that woolly gene into the dwarf project somewhere.

Patrina

korney19 · April 19, 2007

Cheesmanii, in the tests I've seen, were high in Brix, much more Brix than many of the popular varieties we all know & grow & love.

I posted this in another thread but here's something from cheesmanii, "Nipples" that I tried working with:

Some of you can probably tell what the male parent is, it's also often very high Brix but not to everyone's liking.

January 25, 2007	#1
johno Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Arkansas zone 6b Posts: 441	L. cheesmanii crosses? Hi, I'm new here at Tomatoville, and enjoying it. I did a search on Cheesman's tomato and didn't come up with much, other than an apparently low opinion of it... Anyway, apologies if this subject has already been discussed and I missed it. I like the flavor of L. cheesmanii - at least the one that I have. Seems "old-timey" to me. The question is, have any of you made any crosses with this tomato? What were they like? I've never intentionally created a hybrid tomato before, mostly because of space concerns, but I think I'd like to try it with this one and ... the possibilities are endless...

February 5, 2007	#5
Patrina_Pepperina Cross Hemisphere Dwarf Project™ Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: New South Wales, Australia Posts: 3,094	Thanks for those links Tom - very interesting to see woolly fruit!! I followed some of the links on the pages and found this: http://tgrc.ucdavis.edu/images/1238-...4-Loja-low.jpg Do these fruits have thin husks that are splitting, or am I seeing things? It looks like they are shedding the woolly outer skin because the darker patches look smooth and shiny. Patrina __________________ Truth is colourful, not just black and white. PP: 2005

February 5, 2007	#7
Patrina_Pepperina Cross Hemisphere Dwarf Project™ Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: New South Wales, Australia Posts: 3,094	Tom, is there such a thing as woolly blossoms too? I would love to be able to deter thrips! My season has been ruined this year because of the TSWV they spread Keith, that woolly dwarf is really neat! It would be great to get that woolly gene into the dwarf project somewhere. Patrina __________________ Truth is colourful, not just black and white. PP: 2005

January 26, 2007	#2
Tom Wagner Crosstalk™ Forum Moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: 8407 18th Ave West 7-203 Everett, Washington 98204 Posts: 1,157	Initial crosses of L. cheesmanii with L. esculentum and back crosses to esculentum have been done to eliminate much of the cheesmannii characteristics. However, I had chances to select types that more closely resemble cheesmanii (tiny leaves, smaller fruit, growth habit, etc.) and to use them in crosses to heirloom type tomatoes. Two lines that I have perpetuated through stable lines are TASMANIAN GOLD and CHEESMANIAN GOLD. Both of these have the gold flesh of cheesmanii and the small leaves, but with the addition of woolly foliage. Both of these were used in hybrids this past season. This is but a few of the breeding projects that are in my 'library' of germplasm. Tom Wagner

April 19, 2007	#8
korney19 Buffalo-Niagara Tomato TasteFest™ Co-Founder Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: The Niagara Frontier Posts: 942	Cheesmanii, in the tests I've seen, were high in Brix, much more Brix than many of the popular varieties we all know & grow & love. I posted this in another thread but here's something from cheesmanii, "Nipples" that I tried working with: Some of you can probably tell what the male parent is, it's also often very high Brix but not to everyone's liking.