Wait a second,does it grow suckers? If not,could that trait be bred into another variety,so I don't have to remove them EVER again!? Hmmmm...

Weird is fun!!

No suckers! And really no branches. The stalk has decided to split halfway up. I think it would be cool to have a curl leaf heart tomato with excellent flavor...:)

First fruit on Stick!! Very dark green in color...

[QUOTE=Spartanburg123;633716] Anyone else growing it, please add pictures or comments here. [/QUOTE]

I'm growing a Stick for fun this year! I attempted to grow it in 2016, but the seeds that came up were not true... they were be PL and similar to Brandywine.

The seeds I got this year from a different retailer (Victory Seeds this time) did come true... and yes, what a peculiar tomato! I'm using the same green velcro as you, Spartanburg123, to support my plant! Its nowhere near as tall as yours yet... I'm getting my first "branch" off the main "trunk," so I'll probably stick another stake in the container soon. It's only a 3-gallon pot... I hope it'll be sufficient!

I can't tell if the additional branching is from side shoot or the apical meristem splitted.I'm curious whether it is completely incapable of growing suckers or does it actually have sleeping buds at each node but they're not activeated for some reason.

Can someone take a close up of the nodes(where the leaf is attached to the stem) ?

Now I got all worked up about this and gonna digg to see if there are some other mutants like this.

Having tomatoes that grow like palm trees,with only one apical meristem would reduce the labor associated with sucker prunning,which is significant.Though it does have many drawbacks.Maybe it could be worked around so that the plant activates the highest meristemic sleeping tissue if the main one is damaged,like many pines do.

[QUOTE=StrongPlant;646916]I can't tell if the additional branching is from side shoot or the apical meristem splitted.I'm curious whether it is completely incapable of growing suckers or does it actually have sleeping buds at each node but they're not activeated for some reason.

Can someone take a close up of the nodes(where the leaf is attached to the stem) ?

Now I got all worked up about this and gonna digg to see if there are some other mutants like this.

Having tomatoes that grow like palm trees,with only one apical meristem would reduce the labor associated with sucker prunning,which is significant.Though it does have many drawbacks.Maybe it could be worked around so that the plant activates the highest meristemic sleeping tissue if the main one is damaged,like many pines do.[/QUOTE]

I linked to the history of Stick in post 23 in this thread, and I'll do it again

[url]http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Stick[/url]

Please read the history of this variety,it is NOT a normal plant, there are no suckers to worry about since it's a mutant plant/

As many have said before, you have to grow it at least once,a true novelty variety, but forget about growing it for good tasting fruits.

You posted above

(Now I got all worked up about this and gonna digg to see if there are some other mutants like this.)

If you mean like Stick, no others I know of.If you mean in a larger sense mutants that arose from an original variety,yes,lots of them.:)

Carolyn





Carolyn

[QUOTE=StrongPlant;646916]
Having tomatoes that grow like palm trees,with only one apical meristem would reduce the labor associated with sucker prunning,which is significant.Though it does have many drawbacks.Maybe it could be worked around so that the plant activates the highest meristemic sleeping tissue if the main one is damaged,like many pines do.[/QUOTE]

Someone needs to cross Stick with other varieties to see if one can separate the non-branching and/or non-suckering traits. Use as the pollen parent, collect seeds. The F1's of a successful cross will all have the curled leaves. In the F2 and later, select for the least-suckering and least-branching. I don't know if you need to select against the curled leaves? Probably should, to get more leaf surface to better feed the fruit.

Spartanburg123 was talking about doing it... Darin, what else are you growing that would make an interesting cross? How about Brandywine OTV?

Nan

Nan- I'm not growing that one this year. But I was thinking Sgt. Pepper's. It would be cool to have the curl leaf, along with little hearts with purple antho shoulders ��

[QUOTE=Spartanburg123;646964]Nan- I'm not growing that one this year. But I was thinking Sgt. Pepper's. It would be cool to have the curl leaf, along with little hearts with purple antho shoulders ��[/QUOTE]
Strongplant, get some of Darin's F1 or F2 seeds and experiment!

Nan

[QUOTE=Nan_PA_6b;646938]Someone needs to cross Stick with other varieties to see if one can separate the non-branching and/or non-suckering traits. Use as the pollen parent, collect seeds. The F1's of a successful cross will all have the curled leaves. In the F2 and later, select for the least-suckering and least-branching. I don't know if you need to select against the curled leaves? Probably should, to get more leaf surface to better feed the fruit.

Spartanburg123 was talking about doing it... Darin, what else are you growing that would make an interesting cross? How about Brandywine OTV?

Nan[/QUOTE]

Nan,I'm not quite sure why you suggested Brandywine OTV, makes no sense to me unless,well, I'll say no more.

Carolyn

[QUOTE=carolyn137;647146]Nan,I'm not quite sure why you suggested Brandywine OTV, makes no sense to me unless,well, I'll say no more.

Carolyn[/QUOTE]
Carolyn, I was looking at one of Spartanburg's tentative grow lists made late last year, to find out what he would have available in his garden this year, with which to make a cross. He only listed a few plants. Brandywine OTV looked like the most generally interesting variety.

His plant-out list apparently didn't match his earlier intended list.
:)
Nan

Nan- that's right. I grew Brandywine OTV last year and loved it! But it did not make my garden this year....��

Darin, it's quite possible I mistakenly looked at a previous year's list. I can't find anything about Sergeant Pepper's... Tania doesn't list it and if I search the name, I drown in Beatle references. What's it like?

Nan

Nan- LOL on the Beatles references.

Here is a link to Jason Haynes' website where he describes the creation of this plant:

[url]http://seasideseeds.weebly.com/sgt-peppers.html[/url]

This is my first year growing it, but it has gotten great reviews. I have two plants, both are impressive plants with purple stems and loaded with tomatoes. I should have some ripe fruit in a few weeks.

Darin

Oh, they're cute! And pretty!

Nan