Tarasenko 6

[amideutch]

Ami, did you grow out any of the Fred Limbaughs Potato Top variety I sent you last fall? It's another variety which really loads up with fruit and sometimes breaks trusses.

Ted, it did not make my grow list for this year. Will give it a try next year. Grew Cabin PL which is also similar.

I did a web search on tomato locules and this is what I came up with.

Number of Locules And Fruit Type
Two= Cherry and plum or pear types (processing tomatoes)
Four to six= Commercial cultivars for fresh market
More than six= Large beefsteak type for garden or greenhouse production (do not
ship well, subject to cracking and irregularly shaped fruit)

So basically it pertains to fruit type and not variety.

The first 2 pictures below were the seed source for the T-6's I grew this year and the picture on the seed envelope is a generic picture and not of the actual variety. I thought I had used Andrey's seed but instead used his seeds for Boyko's Tarasenko, the last 2 pictures which I also grew this year. It was also an excellent tomato.

[ddsack]

Kath, I got my seeds from Martin via SSE yearbook, and my tomatoes look much like your pictures. Big, but a more rounded look, rather than the flattened beefsteaks. But the shapes are somewhat variable and I think environmentally affected, because my early tomatoes that may have come from mega or double blooms had more of a beefsteak look than the later tomatoes which tend to a round shape. I looked at a few past listings in the yearbook, and nearly everyone calls them beefsteaks (? can you call round tomatoes beefsteaks, just because they are large?) so looks like I might have to try another source as well to grow side by side and see if the shape is really different.

Thanks, Ami, but Tania's site was the next place I went after I saw your photo and then checked my old thread. I thought I read about the # of locules a variety has in a thread here at T'ville. Anyway, your pics and Tania's seem to show that Tarasenko 6 has more of a beefsteak look with lots of small locules, whereas my pic definitely doesn't. It might be one for me to try again should someone make seeds available.

I've received ten or twelve requests for Tarasenko 6 seed and I will reply to those PM's with my address. I don't really care if you do or don't put a stamp on the SASE you send me. My problem is my hand writing is so poor I sometimes can't read it. I usually ask my wife to address envelopes for me, but I think it may be better and more accurate if folks address their own return envelopes.

I also asked for some glassine envelopes. Some folks kindly offered me some small plastic zip lock and/or small paper coin envelopes. I have plenty of those but I don't like them for mailing seed. I will probably use the little zip locks to send the seed out if I can't find the glassine envelopes.

It may be this evening when I reply to the PM's. We are having a birthday party for my wife this afternoon and I will not be on the computer until later.

As a side note, my T6 tomatoes look identical to the photo's Ami posted. The plants are very large and have been resistant to both high summer time temps and the diseases common my garden. It is a great tomato.
Thanks

Ted

Okay,

I've received and replied to fifteen PM's requesting Tarasenko 6 seeds. I will close the offer for now. If I have enough seed left, I may open the offer again.

Ted

[kath]

Originally Posted by ddsack

Kath, I got my seeds from Martin via SSE yearbook, and my tomatoes look much like your pictures. Big, but a more rounded look, rather than the flattened beefsteaks. But the shapes are somewhat variable and I think environmentally affected, because my early tomatoes that may have come from mega or double blooms had more of a beefsteak look than the later tomatoes which tend to a round shape. I looked at a few past listings in the yearbook, and nearly everyone calls them beefsteaks (? can you call round tomatoes beefsteaks, just because they are large?) so looks like I might have to try another source as well to grow side by side and see if the shape is really different.

That's interesting, Dee. I don't have any more of the T6 that I grew last year but Ted is sending me some of his for 2014, so I'll have to rely on photos and my memory to make any comparison. DH is happy to hear that I'll be growing one of his favorites from last season.

kath

For those folks who are sending SASE's to me for Tarasenko 6 seed, I will also be enclosing ten seeds for Fred Limbaughs Potato Top tomatoes when I return the SASE's.

I simply have lots more seed than I can ever use and I see no reason to allow them to become old in storage. They are also a great pink tomato variety as a heavy producer of large, tasty tomatoes. They have an interesting history which can be found by performing a google search for the variety.

I harvested seed from six large tomatoes last year. Of the six tomatoes, one blossom was accidentally cross pollinated with Fourth Of July hybrid resulting in an average of one out of six seeds germinating as regular leaf while five out of six germinate as potato leaf. The ratio may vary a little. The potato leaf plants grow true as Limbaughs Potato Top. The regular leaf plants have been grown out three times with varying results ranging from tennis ball sized fruits to golf ball sized fruits. While they are interesting and good tasting, I don't think the regular leaf plants can ever be stabilized too a true form. Seed saved from the potato leaf plants should be stable and consistently reproducible. If you germinate a regular leaf plant, you can either destroy it or grow it out for the fun of it.

The regular leaf plants have exhibited extreme hybrid vigor growing and blooming at a rate much higher than most plants and producing heavily. If you do grow out an RL plant, I would ask you to not share seed with anyone in order to prevent it's becoming associated with the name Fred Limbaughs Potato Top. FLPT is such an exceptional tomato plant that I would hate to see the name confused with anything else.

Here is a photo of the Fred Limbaughs Potato Top plant I grew and harvested seed from. Some trusses with multiple tomatoes had already broken off and fallen to the ground. I believe the plant had twenty four tomatoes still attached when I took the photo.

Ted

[amideutch]

Ted, thanks for the picture and will definitely be growing it next year. Like I said it reminds me of the Cabin PL I grew this year but FLPT seems to have better production than Cabin.

Ami

I mailed most of the SASE's this morning with the Tarasenko 6 and Limbaughs Potato Top seed enclosed. I'm waiting to receive a couple of SASE's and will mail those when received. Let me know if they are not received in a week or so.

I hope all of you enjoy growing them. They are both very good tomatoes.

(Since the Tarasenko 6 seed seems to not be easily available commercially, please PM me if you are a commercial seed producer and I will send you some seed to grow for next years seed supply.}

Ted

One recipient of my seed offer only received one of the two varieties I offered. I suppose I messed up when I was packing the return envelopes. If any other recipient only received a single seed variety from me, please let me know which you received and I will send the second. I retained the original envelopes for the return address for that reason.

Ted

[Father'sDaughter]

Received both today in the mail. Thanks Ted!

[dfollett]

Thanks Tedln. Both arrived yesterday.

[Ken4230]

Mine came today, i will let you know how they turn out.

Thanks for the seeds, Ted

You are all very welcome. I hope they perform as well for you as they did for me.

Ted

[Doug9345]

The letter came today and had oth varieties in it. Thank you

[Father'sDaughter]

My husband and I have had our first couple of T6 tomatoes these past two weeks and we both agree that it's amazing! It's the first tomato we've tried that has such a rich, complex and deep flavor that even with no salt, seasonings or additives what so ever, we'd swear we were eating ketchup in it's "raw" state. He's trying to convince me to forget about growing any other varieties next year and just fill the garden with T6 plans. For a moment, I was tempted...

Thanks Ted for sharing the seeds for this one!