Dotson's Lebanese Heart Growout, 2017
 

I started this new thread here, as it really doesn't belong in the "wanted or trade" section anymore. For all of those kind souls who are growing this new cultivar this year, please post pictures and notes here!! If you received seeds from Marsha in her seed offer, then you have my original saved seeds from July of 2015. If I sent you seeds personally, then they are seeds from a generous growout by Dutch in 2016. Please note the germination rate and confirm that these plants are RL, which they should be.
I sowed 16 seeds from Dutch, and 6 came up. One of them was a PL, which I am growing out and a picture is included below. It is most likely a stray seed from me, as I was planting Terhune and Rebel Yell in the row next to it. I planted 10 of my original seeds, and 9 plants came up, all RL. I will be growing both seed sources in my garden for a direct comparison.
I believe roughly 25 folks received seeds from me (Dutch), and so far, all have reported only RL plants. Here are my first few pictures from a few days ago. Hope to see all of yours soon!

Thanks!

Darin

Darin, as you know Dutch was one of my 7 seed producers, and you used those seeds from Dutch to make your own seed offer and I was going to post in your thread, but thought better of that.;):no:

Carolyn

[QUOTE=carolyn137;629290]Darin, as you know Dutch was one of my 7 seed producers, and you used those seeds from Dutch to make your own seed offer and I was going to post in your thread, but thought better of that.;):no:

Carolyn[/QUOTE]

Yes he was, and I thank you again for sharing the original seeds with him and to Dutch for growing them out! I'm looking forward to seeing how they turn out this summer.:D

Reporting from Southeast NC, zone 8a

I sowed 2 or 3 seeds on Feb 12th, and got one germinated. It has RL.
Now it has been planted out ( about one week ago ) and growing normally in a row of 9 other varieties.
I will post a picture later today (4-3-17)

I received seed in the MMMM. Sadly, none germinated. Maybe next year!

Here are my Dotson's Lebanese Heart (2 on the right) next to Omar's Lebanese (2 on the left). They are 17 days old today and 7" tall in the Dixie cup. Will probably pot them up this weekend. 2 out of 6 of the Dotson's germinated, 6 out of 6 of the Omar's germinated.
[IMG]http://www.tomatoville.com/picture.php?albumid=360&pictureid=2503[/IMG]

Here is mine :

First picture : The one in front.
Second picture : The one in the middle.

Sowed : 2-12-17
planted out : 4-2-17

3 out of 4 seeds have germinated so far here. It's still possible the last one could. They and most other seedlings are growing slowly; could be temperature.

I have room for one DLH in my garden, but all healthy seedlings of every variety will be used by someone. If the local food bank will accept them, I may give all my extras to them to give away. (I'll provide growing instructions and variety descriptions.)

Nan

Great looking plants folks!! JTJMartin- I'm sorry about that! My germination rate was 6/16, so a little less than 50%. I have 3 plants in my garden from Dutch's seed, and one plant from my original seed. I also have many friends and coworkers growing out other examples from my own saved seed. We shall see! I think you will be suprised by the broadness of the leaves for such a heart variety. Granted, it does produce blunt hearts, but definitely no wispy leaves here!!

Enjoy!

Darin

[QUOTE=rhines81;629713]Here are my Dotson's Lebanese Heart (2 on the right) next to Omar's Lebanese (2 on the left). They are 17 days old today and 7" tall in the Dixie cup. Will probably pot them up this weekend. 2 out of 6 of the Dotson's germinated, 6 out of 6 of the Omar's germinated.
[IMG]http://www.tomatoville.com/picture.php?albumid=360&pictureid=2503[/IMG][/QUOTE]

Rhines- this will be an excellent comparison between the typical Omar's Lebanese and the heart-shaped modification that is DLH. What I found was:[LIST][*]same fruit color and taste[*]Same broad leaf habit[*]OL had typical oblate shape, with dark green shoulders before ripening[*]DLH had blunt heart shaped fruit, with dark green shoulders before ripening[/LIST]
I hope this will also be your observation! Thanks so much for growing it out....

:D
Darin

Question :
What is the average fruit size of DLH compared to Omar's Lebanese ?

[QUOTE=Gardeneer;629809]Question :
What is the average fruit size of DLH compared to Omar's Lebanese ?[/QUOTE]

Gardeneer-

I can't give an accurate answer as I only collected 2 fruit from my original plant! The other fruit had severe BER and I lost them. But Dutch commented that most of his DLH tomatoes averaged around a pound, with some larger.

Knowing how large OL get, I wouldn't be surprised that these also get very large.

The two tomatoes I collected were about 8 oz and 10 oz, but I pulled them early to prevent losing them to BER too. One was catfaced pretty badly, but the other formed a beautiful blunt heart with dark green shoulders- the pictures are in various threads here and in Xanadu.

Thanks!
Darin

Here are the two original tomatoes I collected after they ripened, and the last picture is from Dutch's growout in 2016- you were sent these seeds :)

First flowers, DLH (Dutch) on 4-18-17. Enjoy!!

Darin,
Does DLH have the wispy foliage, less juice and fewer seeds usually characteristic of some hearts?
Nan

Hi Nan-

No, this plant has enormous broad leaves! That's what makes it different than most heart varieties. The way it was explained to me, there is a gene responsible for fruit elongation, that also causes the leaves to be elongated, aka wispy. Whatever is causing the blunt heart shape, is not affecting the leaves. The plants looks virtually identical to an Omar's Lebanese.
Regarding seeds, yes, there are fewer seeds than normal, and the tomatoes are very meaty and dense.
Here is my most vigorous plant just this morning. This plant outran every other seedling from the get go, and is a monster!

Enjoy, and good luck!

Darin

Here is a pic from my garden today, 4-27-17. All of these were sowed on the same day! Look at the DLH brute front and left! The vigorous Terhune is on the right.

Monster DLH front left center! 8 flowers, 3 fruit set so far :)

Pictures of DLH fruit, showing blunt heart morphology!

Bad news !
My DLH looks diseased. The other 3 plants next to it are normal and healthy.
It also looks like Phosphorus deficiency. This is in addition to having sever leaf roll.

Picture one: DLH next to other plants

Picture two : The pattern of leaves are as shown in this picture.
There is hint of blue with dark spots. This is in the new growth.
This symptom is often associated with P deficiency.

I, will give it some more time. It already has half a dozen tomatoes.

Noooo!!! Please go to Home Depot, and get Super Bloom from Scotts. It is very high in P, and will fix this problem. I use it on all my tomatoes early on to promote blooming and fruit setting.

Gardeneer- are the fruits that are setting blunt hearts?

[QUOTE=Spartanburg123;639465]Noooo!!! Please go to Home Depot, and get Super Bloom from Scotts. It is very high in P, and will fix this problem. I use it on all my tomatoes early on to promote blooming and fruit setting.

Gardeneer- are the fruits that are setting blunt hearts?[/QUOTE]

I will try that. My soil test tells me that there is abundant of phosphorus.
But I have also fertilized with some that has P.

Fruits are not quite big enough to tell if they are blunt or other shape.

Another DLH fruit showed up! So far, flowering has been good, but fruit set is slower than most of the other varieties in my garden (similar to Rebel Yell). Out of three plants, I currently have 4 fruit set.

A few fruit from DLH today, 5-24-17. The largest one is approximately 8 oz at this point. Blunt heart morphology is consistent...

Nice looking hearts! I can't wait till my little guy gets that far!

Nan

Pictures from today, 5-25-17. The stems on the "turbo" DLH are as big as my thumb, even at the top of the plant! Incredible growth!

Goodness! Look at those stems! Hope you save seed separately from that one, even with it being a bit stingy so far ( and that can change) it's a monster!!!

Loving those pics Spartan!

very nice, esp. this early in the season. looks like you will be needing an extension pole to tie off to soon and a big ladder.

Gardeneer, is your plant still hanging in there, or.....:?:?

Nan