Weisnicht's Ukrainian seed available

Deacondan · January 6, 2013

I wanted to let everyone know that Weisnicht's Ukrainian is available at Fedco Seeds after a long period of development. I know this has been discussed before so I wanted to give a little more detail.

The seed was given to me by a lady in Minnesota. She got the seed from a friend who had brought a tomato to her and then saved the seeds from this tomato. He did not remember the name, but did remember he was given two plants by someone who said the seed had been saved for 120 years or more in their family. That was ten years ago. She indicated that one of the plants succumbed to a critter of some kind and the other had a tree branch fall on it and broke it so that it only bore two tomatoes. Her description was that it was large, more pink than red, had ribbing, lots of seeds and very meaty and sweet and flavorful but not watery.

She had a Smith and Hawken published book and thought it looked like a Ukrainian strain. I would assume this was Carolyn's book which I also have. As this seemed plausible ( I am still saving Polish C potato leaf due to the description in the book.) I named it Weisnicht's Ukrainian and sent seeds to CR Lawn at Fedco. The description comparison to Soldacki at the time was prompted by its popularity, good flavor and a tomato with the same shape and color and also by my enthusiasm of how good the new tomato tasted. I should remove this as the comparison was made at one location and for only one year.

To clear up any confusion, Weisnicht means "know nothing or I don't know" as I quickly found out when I married and was informed as such by my mother in law who is a German immigrant.

Redbaron · January 6, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deacondan

I wanted to let everyone know that Weisnicht's Ukrainian is available at Fedco Seeds after a long period of development. I know this has been discussed before so I wanted to give a little more detail.

The seed was given to me by a lady in Minnesota. She got the seed from a friend who had brought a tomato to her and then saved the seeds from this tomato. He did not remember the name, but did remember he was given two plants by someone who said the seed had been saved for 120 years or more in their family. That was ten years ago. She indicated that one of the plants succumbed to a critter of some kind and the other had a tree branch fall on it and broke it so that it only bore two tomatoes. Her description was that it was large, more pink than red, had ribbing, lots of seeds and very meaty and sweet and flavorful but not watery.

She had a Smith and Hawken published book and thought it looked like a Ukrainian strain. I would assume this was Carolyn's book which I also have. As this seemed plausible ( I am still saving Polish C potato leaf due to the description in the book.) I named it Weisnicht's Ukrainian and sent seeds to CR Lawn at Fedco. The description comparison to Soldacki at the time was prompted by its popularity, good flavor and a tomato with the same shape and color and also by my enthusiasm of how good the new tomato tasted. I should remove this as the comparison was made at one location and for only one year.

To clear up any confusion, Weisnicht means "know nothing or I don't know" as I quickly found out when I married and was informed as such by my mother in law who is a German immigrant.

Great first post! I love the history!

bwaynef · January 6, 2013

I'm looking forward to trying this one this year!

greyghost · January 7, 2013

Thanks so much for posting the information and for making this variety
available-it sounds terrific! Darlene

Tania · January 9, 2013

Thank you so much for the story, it is awesome!

May I ask what is the leaf type of this tomato? The one I got from a SSE member a while ago was PL, and I was not sure this was correct.

[I thought 'Weisnicht' was the last name of the SSE member who first introduced it

]

Tatiana

habitat_gardener · January 9, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tania

May I ask what is the leaf type of this tomato? The one I got from a SSE member a while ago was PL, and I was not sure this was correct.

The Fedco catalog says it's PL, 8-12 oz., 85 days. But it also says it came from Scott Weisnicht in 2004 (so Scott's MIL was commenting on his name!).

bwaynef · January 9, 2013

Deacondan, I can't help but wonder, do you have any affiliation w/ the Deacon Dan smartphone app?

Deacondan · January 9, 2013

The Weisnicht's Ukrainian is a potato leaf variety and I have not experienced any regular leaf variations. While growing Polish C I did have some regular leaf plants that would germinate but it appears now that I have been able to breed that out as I have not seen it for a couple of grow outs now.
Actually I used deacondan as it refers to the beet seed that I also am maintaining. The comment though is interesting as my son just finished designing a smartphone ap for his senior computer engineering class at UW Madison!

Tania · January 9, 2013

I think what confused me was the original description from 2004 SSE Yearbook:

Quote:

" 85 days, indet. habit with very heavy cover of regular leaf foliage, light pink beefsteak, moderate to high yield, meaty for a beefsteak, taste is outstanding and complex, starting out tangy and ending up sweet at the same time, both flavors have a full tomato taste (by comparison Soldacki tasted bland), good disease resistance, sent to me by an elderly gentleman who had it in his family for many years after immigrating from Ukraine."

It said 'regular leaf'.

I know that sometimes there could be some mistakes in the Yearbook, but the next person who listed it also said 'regular leaf'.

So it would be great to hear from the original source what should be correct leaf type.

Tania · January 9, 2013

Deacondan, were you the original lister at SSE? Just curious

Deacondan · January 9, 2013

I am the original source for the seed. Here is a photo from Heritage Harvest Seed who is also offering the seed.

They have it listed as a regular leaf also. I appears to me to be more potato leaf than regular so I should have this changed next year. It appears to be more of an original error carried forward.

Tania · January 9, 2013

Thank you

So the original SSE listing did not correctly describe the leaf type.

I am glad to hear that, because mine was certainly PL.
http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/F...eaf_Flower.jpg

Looks like I did not need to purchase the seeds from Fedco, as I already had the correct one! Duh...

Also, I am not entirely clear about the 'Ukrainian' part of the name - from your post, it sounds like it is not certain that it originated from the Ukraine, correct? It just looked similar to some Ukrainian variety?

Sorry for asking so many questions - it is just very important to me to get the story straight.

Tatiana

Deacondan · January 10, 2013

You are correct. I wanted to retain something from the description from the person who sent me the seed so I used the comparison to a Ukrainian variety in the original letter.

**carolyn137** · January 10, 2013

So it looked like one of the Ukrainian ones in my book and that's how it got the Ukraine name since you started out saying it was from a lady in MN and then switched to saying it was from someone from the Ukraine who brought it to the US.

Right?

I have doubts about the having been grown for 120 years history that was given to you myself. But who knows for sure. Craig L ( nctomatoman) was told by John Green that Cherokee Purple was over 100 years old but more recent testing of gf alleles showed it was not.

It's sometimes hard to tell if the foliage is PL or RL,at least in my experience, until the plants have several sets of leaves and even then there are some varieties that have PL near the bottom of the plant and RL at the top on MATURE plants.

Did you ever check the epidermis to say for sure that it was pink or red, yellow epi gives a red and clear epi gives a pink. And I say this b'c you had said at one point above that it was more pink than red.And that before you sent seeds to Fedco as well as Heritage Harvest.

Well I remember when I first listed Anna Russian in the SSE YEarbook in the early 90's, didn't know about checking epidermis colors back then and listed it in the red section initially.

About Polish C (PL). I think the last time I offered that one was pre-2006 when I was doing seed offers at GW. Several had asked for Polish C and all I had was that PL variation, so listed it, a mistake in retrospect, and told folks to NOT share seeds b'c it should be RL.

Some varieties flip flop re leaf form, and can never be genetically stabilized to one leaf form. The one I remember most was Taps. I'd save seed from the PL, and on growout would get both PL and RL plants. So the same with the RL, save seeds and get both RL and PL plants. Very frustrating and I gave up.

Did you get that Polish C (PL) from me at GW? I don't remember offering it post 2006 here at Tville since when I know a variety is wrong I don't want to spread those seeds around and I'm never sure that a PL version of an original RL is the same except for leaf form and have discussed that here several times. Thus all the guidelines in my current seed offer here to try and catch any bloopers or crossed seed before they get spread around.

I do think there's another thread here about this variety, possibly elsewhere, b/c I remember trying to dredge up my German to translate the Weisnicht word. But you'd remember where you started another thread about it better than I would and besides, I'm not in search mode right now, I'm in get my address back to those who want to participate in my seed offer mode right now. LOL

Carolyn

Deacondan · January 10, 2013

My source in Mn obtained the seed from a friend who indicated he had gotten two plants from someone else that indicated it had been in the family for over 120 years. After further correspondence she could get no more information on a name or origin. While attempting to see what kind of tomato she had, she looked at the book and made a comment it looked like a Ukrainian tomato.
What I knew for sure was that I had the best tasting tomato I had ever had and to offer the seed had to have a name. Since I had already had another tomato from the same source and named it after her family ( Schlueter's Paste), I used my name and in deference to her, the Ukrainian part of the name. When I sent the seed to FEDCO I did not indicate anything concerning the history as I could not verify it.
Also, the tomato is definitely pink.
My original source for Polish C was Charles Wyatt in 2000 and it was listed as Polish C Potato Leaf. I am growing this again this year so I will see how the variation in the leaf is.
Here is the description in SSE this year:
TOMATO/RED-
Polish C - IA SSE HF - HAS, 5'6" indet. plants, potato leaf type; exserted stigma, irregular shape, flat round red fruit, green shoulders, 2.5" dia. x 3" high, medium blossom scar, From: NY MA C, SSE 4035
It seems they have had it listed as potato leaf for quite a while so it appears the original version is not being offered. If I get the regular leaf again, should I try to stabilize that strain?

January 6, 2013	#1
Deacondan Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Waupun Posts: 5	Weisnicht's Ukrainian seed available I wanted to let everyone know that Weisnicht's Ukrainian is available at Fedco Seeds after a long period of development. I know this has been discussed before so I wanted to give a little more detail. The seed was given to me by a lady in Minnesota. She got the seed from a friend who had brought a tomato to her and then saved the seeds from this tomato. He did not remember the name, but did remember he was given two plants by someone who said the seed had been saved for 120 years or more in their family. That was ten years ago. She indicated that one of the plants succumbed to a critter of some kind and the other had a tree branch fall on it and broke it so that it only bore two tomatoes. Her description was that it was large, more pink than red, had ribbing, lots of seeds and very meaty and sweet and flavorful but not watery. She had a Smith and Hawken published book and thought it looked like a Ukrainian strain. I would assume this was Carolyn's book which I also have. As this seemed plausible ( I am still saving Polish C potato leaf due to the description in the book.) I named it Weisnicht's Ukrainian and sent seeds to CR Lawn at Fedco. The description comparison to Soldacki at the time was prompted by its popularity, good flavor and a tomato with the same shape and color and also by my enthusiasm of how good the new tomato tasted. I should remove this as the comparison was made at one location and for only one year. To clear up any confusion, Weisnicht means "know nothing or I don't know" as I quickly found out when I married and was informed as such by my mother in law who is a German immigrant.

January 9, 2013	#5
Tania Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Anmore, BC, Canada Posts: 3,970	Thank you so much for the story, it is awesome! May I ask what is the leaf type of this tomato? The one I got from a SSE member a while ago was PL, and I was not sure this was correct. [I thought 'Weisnicht' was the last name of the SSE member who first introduced it ] Tatiana __________________ Tatiana's TOMATObase Last edited by Tania; January 9, 2013 at 12:23 AM.

January 9, 2013	#10
Tania Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Anmore, BC, Canada Posts: 3,970	Deacondan, were you the original lister at SSE? Just curious __________________ Tatiana's TOMATObase

January 9, 2013	#12
Tania Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Anmore, BC, Canada Posts: 3,970	Thank you So the original SSE listing did not correctly describe the leaf type. I am glad to hear that, because mine was certainly PL. http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/F...eaf_Flower.jpg Looks like I did not need to purchase the seeds from Fedco, as I already had the correct one! Duh... Also, I am not entirely clear about the 'Ukrainian' part of the name - from your post, it sounds like it is not certain that it originated from the Ukraine, correct? It just looked similar to some Ukrainian variety? Sorry for asking so many questions - it is just very important to me to get the story straight. Tatiana __________________ Tatiana's TOMATObase Last edited by Tania; January 9, 2013 at 11:59 PM.

January 10, 2013	#14
carolyn137 Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a Posts: 21,169	So it looked like one of the Ukrainian ones in my book and that's how it got the Ukraine name since you started out saying it was from a lady in MN and then switched to saying it was from someone from the Ukraine who brought it to the US. Right? I have doubts about the having been grown for 120 years history that was given to you myself. But who knows for sure. Craig L ( nctomatoman) was told by John Green that Cherokee Purple was over 100 years old but more recent testing of gf alleles showed it was not. It's sometimes hard to tell if the foliage is PL or RL,at least in my experience, until the plants have several sets of leaves and even then there are some varieties that have PL near the bottom of the plant and RL at the top on MATURE plants. Did you ever check the epidermis to say for sure that it was pink or red, yellow epi gives a red and clear epi gives a pink. And I say this b'c you had said at one point above that it was more pink than red.And that before you sent seeds to Fedco as well as Heritage Harvest. Well I remember when I first listed Anna Russian in the SSE YEarbook in the early 90's, didn't know about checking epidermis colors back then and listed it in the red section initially. About Polish C (PL). I think the last time I offered that one was pre-2006 when I was doing seed offers at GW. Several had asked for Polish C and all I had was that PL variation, so listed it, a mistake in retrospect, and told folks to NOT share seeds b'c it should be RL. Some varieties flip flop re leaf form, and can never be genetically stabilized to one leaf form. The one I remember most was Taps. I'd save seed from the PL, and on growout would get both PL and RL plants. So the same with the RL, save seeds and get both RL and PL plants. Very frustrating and I gave up. Did you get that Polish C (PL) from me at GW? I don't remember offering it post 2006 here at Tville since when I know a variety is wrong I don't want to spread those seeds around and I'm never sure that a PL version of an original RL is the same except for leaf form and have discussed that here several times. Thus all the guidelines in my current seed offer here to try and catch any bloopers or crossed seed before they get spread around. I do think there's another thread here about this variety, possibly elsewhere, b/c I remember trying to dredge up my German to translate the Weisnicht word. But you'd remember where you started another thread about it better than I would and besides, I'm not in search mode right now, I'm in get my address back to those who want to participate in my seed offer mode right now. LOL Carolyn __________________ Carolyn

January 6, 2013	#3
bwaynef Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Clemson SC Posts: 143	I'm looking forward to trying this one this year!

January 7, 2013	#4
greyghost Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: southeastern PA Posts: 760	Thanks so much for posting the information and for making this variety available-it sounds terrific! Darlene