Something a little weird with a Ramapo - Page 2

Labradors2 · August 19, 2014

Wow! I like the look of those salad-sized maters. What are you going to call them?

Linda

saltmarsh · August 20, 2014

Hi Linda, it's probably going to be a while before they get names.

I've saved seeds from the following Ramapo mutations:

Ramapo Potato leaf - These are vigorous plants and continue to set fruit during the heat of summer. These were grown pruned to 2 stems on a trellis, in concrete cages, and allowed to sprawl on the ground. Pruned to 2 stems on a trellis was much more vigorous and productive than caged or sprawled. Seeds were saved from the most productive plants with uniform fruit in the 12 - 16 ounce range. Seeds were also saved separately from individual fruits which were over 20 ounces.

Ramapo Regular leaf - The growth habit of these was identical to the Potato Leaf plants. These were also pruned to 2 stems and trellised, caged, and allowed to sprawl with the plants pruned to 2 stems and trellised out producing by far the caged and sprawled plants. Fruit set during the heat of Summer was even better than the Potato Leaf plants.
Seeds were saved from the most productive plants.

I did an early plant out 3 weeks before our normal last frost and on April 15th the temperature got down to 26.7 degrees and stayed there for 3 hours until 6 AM when the sun came up and the temperature started to rise. The plants were unprotected and all but 1 were killed by the frost. 1 Ramapo Regular Leaf was undamaged - no frost bite on the leaves or growing tip, so I identified this plant and saved seeds separately. Growth and production and taste of the fruit of this plant were identical to the other Regular Leaf mutations.

Unless someone has better advice, I plan to start seeds in the next few days to test the germination and grow them to the true leaf stage to determine whether the Potato leaf seed produce all Potato Leaf plants or a mix and whether the Regular leaf seed produce all Regular leaf plants or a mix. If I don't get a mix from the seeds, I'll probably grow out some of the plants this fall and winter to see if the fruit are true to the parent. If I get a mix from the seed, I'll just wait and grow them all next year.

Any suggestions? Claud

kerns125 · October 19, 2015

Claud, what happened with your F2 growouts? Did the PL seeds produce 100% PL in the next generation, and same for the regular leaf? Did your tomatoes look similar this year to the ones you described above (with regular leaf tasting the same but being much smaller)? I am fascinated.
Jen

August 19, 2014	#16
Labradors2 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Ontario Posts: 3,889	Wow! I like the look of those salad-sized maters. What are you going to call them? Linda

August 20, 2014	#17
saltmarsh Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: 2 miles south of Yoknapatawpha Zone 7b Posts: 662	Hi Linda, it's probably going to be a while before they get names. I've saved seeds from the following Ramapo mutations: Ramapo Potato leaf - These are vigorous plants and continue to set fruit during the heat of summer. These were grown pruned to 2 stems on a trellis, in concrete cages, and allowed to sprawl on the ground. Pruned to 2 stems on a trellis was much more vigorous and productive than caged or sprawled. Seeds were saved from the most productive plants with uniform fruit in the 12 - 16 ounce range. Seeds were also saved separately from individual fruits which were over 20 ounces. Ramapo Regular leaf - The growth habit of these was identical to the Potato Leaf plants. These were also pruned to 2 stems and trellised, caged, and allowed to sprawl with the plants pruned to 2 stems and trellised out producing by far the caged and sprawled plants. Fruit set during the heat of Summer was even better than the Potato Leaf plants. Seeds were saved from the most productive plants. I did an early plant out 3 weeks before our normal last frost and on April 15th the temperature got down to 26.7 degrees and stayed there for 3 hours until 6 AM when the sun came up and the temperature started to rise. The plants were unprotected and all but 1 were killed by the frost. 1 Ramapo Regular Leaf was undamaged - no frost bite on the leaves or growing tip, so I identified this plant and saved seeds separately. Growth and production and taste of the fruit of this plant were identical to the other Regular Leaf mutations. Unless someone has better advice, I plan to start seeds in the next few days to test the germination and grow them to the true leaf stage to determine whether the Potato leaf seed produce all Potato Leaf plants or a mix and whether the Regular leaf seed produce all Regular leaf plants or a mix. If I don't get a mix from the seeds, I'll probably grow out some of the plants this fall and winter to see if the fruit are true to the parent. If I get a mix from the seed, I'll just wait and grow them all next year. Any suggestions? Claud

October 19, 2015	#18
kerns125 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: 22301 Posts: 92	Claud, what happened with your F2 growouts? Did the PL seeds produce 100% PL in the next generation, and same for the regular leaf? Did your tomatoes look similar this year to the ones you described above (with regular leaf tasting the same but being much smaller)? I am fascinated. Jen