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**carolyn137** · August 31, 2015

I grew what I thought was going to be Lemon Boy and what I ended up with was a lot of orange currant plants instead. They were not grouped together and was intermingled with all my other plants.

I was told that currant tomatoes are one that will cross with anything and you don't have to do anything to make it happen. That currants are like peppers, they cross in a heartbeat.

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First question is how did you ID them as Currant plants since not all wee fruited varieties have the typical currant plant habit and leaf color and form?

It used to be thought that currant varieties had exerted stigmas, ones that are held high up aboveove thepollen bearing anthers so they were more attractive to insect pollinators.

But later research has shown that only about half of them do and actually Keith Mueller has said that's he more worried about his regular tomatoes crossing with currants that he grows.

I've grown several currant varieties years ago but then switched to Sara's Galapagos which I love, I've given the history here before, some at Tania's page is not correct, wee fruited, typical currant foliage but is NOT a currant, for I found out that it is a stable interspecies cross, and that from Dr. Chatelet at the TGRC since I knew which island it came from.

Some places still say to use huge islation distances when currents are being grown, one of them is Dr. Jeff McCormack who used to own SESE but he was doing seed production for what was listed in his catalog and online so was extra careful. Now that I think of it back then he probably didn't know about the stigma positions with pimps.

Now finally back to what you said above:

(I grew what I thought was going to be Lemon Boy and what I ended up with was a lot of orange currant plants instead. They were not grouped together and was intermingled with all my other plants.)

You had seeds for Lemon Boy, but got no plants that gave you Lemon Boy. Fresh Lemon Boy seeds or seeds you saved from Lemon Boy?

So you are suggesting that your Lemon Boy had crossed with something else that ended up giving you plants with wee orange fruits? What could Lemon Boy have crossed with in your garden? And how did they get "intermingled" with your other plants for that I don't understand.

Help me understand.

Carolyn

Carolyn

August 31, 2015	#3
carolyn137 Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a Posts: 21,169	I grew what I thought was going to be Lemon Boy and what I ended up with was a lot of orange currant plants instead. They were not grouped together and was intermingled with all my other plants. I was told that currant tomatoes are one that will cross with anything and you don't have to do anything to make it happen. That currants are like peppers, they cross in a heartbeat. %%%%% First question is how did you ID them as Currant plants since not all wee fruited varieties have the typical currant plant habit and leaf color and form? It used to be thought that currant varieties had exerted stigmas, ones that are held high up aboveove thepollen bearing anthers so they were more attractive to insect pollinators. But later research has shown that only about half of them do and actually Keith Mueller has said that's he more worried about his regular tomatoes crossing with currants that he grows. I've grown several currant varieties years ago but then switched to Sara's Galapagos which I love, I've given the history here before, some at Tania's page is not correct, wee fruited, typical currant foliage but is NOT a currant, for I found out that it is a stable interspecies cross, and that from Dr. Chatelet at the TGRC since I knew which island it came from. Some places still say to use huge islation distances when currents are being grown, one of them is Dr. Jeff McCormack who used to own SESE but he was doing seed production for what was listed in his catalog and online so was extra careful. Now that I think of it back then he probably didn't know about the stigma positions with pimps. Now finally back to what you said above: (I grew what I thought was going to be Lemon Boy and what I ended up with was a lot of orange currant plants instead. They were not grouped together and was intermingled with all my other plants.) You had seeds for Lemon Boy, but got no plants that gave you Lemon Boy. Fresh Lemon Boy seeds or seeds you saved from Lemon Boy? So you are suggesting that your Lemon Boy had crossed with something else that ended up giving you plants with wee orange fruits? What could Lemon Boy have crossed with in your garden? And how did they get "intermingled" with your other plants for that I don't understand. Help me understand. Carolyn Carolyn __________________ Carolyn