Accidental Crosses

[Starlight]

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

Star, I sliced the tomato instead of just squishing it to get seeds and juice. It turned out that it would not have done much good to just squash it because it had very little juice. A meaty tomato is an understatement. It had a high acidic and sweet balance - very tasty. Of course, who knows what it will grow out as?

As I wrote above, you can name it whatever you like. For now, I labeled it, "Star Cross"

I think you were very smart to slice it instead of squishing it. Reminds me of a friend of mine who saves the seeds from every tomato. Her poor husband never gets to really taste what a tomato tastes like. All his tomato sandwiches and parts on salads are always minus the seeds.

Sounds like you got a delicious cross from it. Good combination having both sweet and acidic. Star Cross sounds just fine to me.

Did you want to try some of my Riesentraube seeds? I can plop them in the mail to you today and maybe you would have them by Monday?

[AlittleSalt]

Star, it is a little late for me to start seeds now. It is recommended to start seeds here on July 1-7. I have a lot started, and will be posting a thread later this morning showing some of them. I have some of the VHS Cherry started back in late June. I started the Riesentraube seeds we got from Worth. They are in a mini starter cells/dome. I woke the seeds from 2007 in a very mild MG solution. The seeds sank to the bottom instantly - they will germinate.

[pauldavid]

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

I woke the seeds from 2007 in a very mild MG solution. The seeds sank to the bottom instantly - they will germinate.

Robert, can you further explain your method of waking seeds with MG? I haven't heard of this before and am super curious.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by pauldavid

Robert, can you further explain your method of waking seeds with MG? I haven't heard of this before and am super curious.

Take a cup of water and use a pinch of it in the water and I mean pinch.
A pinch is about 1/8 teaspoon or less.
Mix it up and put the seeds in and let them soak.
You may want to poke the seeds with a toothpick just for something to do out of boredom.

Worth

[AlittleSalt]

Worth taught me Paul.

[pauldavid]

Thanks Worth and Robert! Bookmarking page for future reference.

[AlittleSalt]

Here is one more cross - I think. Both sizes of tomatoes are from a seed pack labeled, "Matt's Wild Cherry." One plants grows the tiny ones, and another plant grows the cherry tomato sized ones. Both plants are in the same in-ground garden with the same amount of sun. Maybe this is normal? They taste the same.

[Fred Hempel]

A Little Salt,

I don't think your tomato is a PBB cross. Typically the F1 generation is closer in size to the smaller parent. I think it is more likely that your PBB is simply a seed mix-up.

Where did you get the seed for your PBB?

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

I grew several accidental cross plants this year. One is the Riesentraube cross that I named VHS Cherry. Another one was a Zapotec cross that tasted wonderful. And then there was this one that is supposed to be a Pink Bumblebee - it brings a smile to my face every time I see it. The small tomato in the picture is what size it should have grown to.

It would fun/nice to see some of the accidental crosses that you may be growing. Please feel free to post pictures and info

[AlittleSalt]

Originally Posted by Fred Hempel

A Little Salt,

I don't think your tomato is a PBB cross. Typically the F1 generation is closer in size to the smaller parent. I think it is more likely that your PBB is simply a seed mix-up.

Where did you get the seed for your PBB?

Fred, I missed your reply until now. I got the seeds from the MMMM.

I did save seeds from the one plant. They are dry now. With the conditions the plant grew in - it must be a strong plant. The new garden it tried to grow in received over a foot of rain in May alone. It did not dry out until almost July.

[AlittleSalt]

Originally Posted by Fred Hempel

A Little Salt,

I don't think your tomato is a PBB cross. Typically the F1 generation is closer in size to the smaller parent.

I started thinking of the crosses we grew this year. I did not know about the F1 generation being closer to the smaller parent. Until now. I agree with you that it was probably a seed mix up. I guess we will have fun trying to figure out what it is.

The VHS Cherry is definitely larger than a Riesentraube, but it's also a multiflora.

The Zapotec cross is a cross for sure. It is Zapotec crossed with a cherry sized tomato. The fruit were mostly round like a large cherry tomato with very light ruffles. The round tomatoes had lots of seeds. The other fruit from the same plant were large cherry tomato sized but looked just like Zapotec on the outside and on the inside. It had hollow areas and cells that looked like a labyrinth (In a way) and not nearly as many seeds. I saved seeds from both tomato types and have 3 of each growing in-garden. I call them Zap Fluted and Zap Round for the time being. I can't wait to see if they grow out differently.

Thank you Fred. I learned a lot from what you replied here.