2006 Dehybridization project - Better Boy and Brandy Boy F2s
 

My first consious attempt at de-hyb'ing F1s, and I am somewhat disappointed and puzzled.

Anyway, here is the story -

Last year I saved F2 seeds from Brandy Boy (pink beef, PL) and Better Boy (red beef, RL).

This year, I planted 8 seedlings of each F2, along with the original F1 seed to compare.

All Brandy Boy F2 came up as PL, pink beefsteaks, excellent sweet flavor (similar to Earl's Faux btw :wink: ), and they all look exactly like the original F1! :roll: :? :shock: My original seeds are from Burpee.

All Better Boys F2 came up as RL, red round firm beefsteaks, same as F1 - I can't tell the difference if I put the fruits from different plants in a row and compare. The original F1 seeds are from Pinetree.

The only variation was in DTMs in Brandy Boys and yield in Better Boys. So at least I can select the Brandy Boys F3 based on early maturity.

Which gives???

I was hoping to get some variations in F2, and have gotten none. I was also hoping to get some pink beefsteaks in Better Boy F2s...

So what do I do now? Grow Better Boy F2s again next year?

Jack Reynolds from Springfield IL sent me some Brandyboy F2's a couple of years ago and I haven't grown them , Silly Me. Too many varieties and growing eh.

Might this be a case of not being True F1's or very (read extremely) closely related parents in both cases like Tom Wagner mentioned in his post in research and development.
He backcrossed a F7 with a F8 because of 1 trait.
That might partially explain DTM and yield.

thanks Keith, you confirmed my suspicions...

hopefully I'll do better next year :)

Tania,

Specifically with regard to the F2 Brandy Boy's

Did each of the 8 plants bear fruit in clusters of three? Or basically bear clusters of evenly sized tomatoes rather than single sets of tomatoes more like Brandywine?

Did you have much foliage where the twin leaflets directly behind the tip leaflet was fuzed with the tip leaflet forming a very large 3-pointed potato leaf?

Were the tomatoes rather hard to detach from the calyx so that you had to twist them off or cut the stem to remove them?

Did your Brandy Boy F2s bear fruit over a more extended period of time compared to regular Brandywine?

PV

[B][COLOR=blue]Moved to separate topic.[/COLOR][/B]


Ted

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