Sungold Leaves

[Chucker]

This is my first season growing Sungold F1. I planted 2 seeds, one for me, and one for my parents. The two plants are very different from one another. One of them has smooth, normal shade of green leaves, and the other has fairly "hairy" dark green leaves.

Does anyone else have a Sungold seedling nearby? Would you say the leaves are smooth, of fairly "hairy"? I'd like to give my parents the real deal, and keep the mystery one for myself .

I can post pics later tonight if the leaf type is not obvious.

[NarnianGarden]

Mine are somewhat fuzzy, but so are seedlings of many other varieties.

Can you smell anything? SunGold is supposed to have that peculiar smell of its own, although my seedling doesn't yet give any different aroma than dozen of other tomatoes. Perhaps when they grow and get more sunlight.

[Labradors2]

I just checked my (large) Sungold plant which is almost ready to bloom, and I wouldn't say the leaves are hairy. It does have that distinctive Sungold smell though.

Linda

[jmsieglaff]

My Sungold and most other of my tomato seedlings are hairy, especially when looked at in the light at the right angle to see the light reflect.

A lot has been written on that Sungold smell on the forum here, I think I'll be in the minority, but I love the Sungold smell.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Chucker

This is my first season growing Sungold F1. I planted 2 seeds, one for me, and one for my parents. The two plants are very different from one another. One of them has smooth, normal shade of green leaves, and the other has fairly "hairy" dark green leaves.

Does anyone else have a Sungold seedling nearby? Would you say the leaves are smooth, of fairly "hairy"? I'd like to give my parents the real deal, and keep the mystery one for myself .

I can post pics later tonight if the leaf type is not obvious.

Two seedlings of Sungold are very different from each other.

That doesn't say that either one is Sungold F1.

Your seedlings could be the result of cross pollination or stray seeds in a pack, to name just a couple of possibilities.

Did you sow any other varieties near the Sungold seeds? I used to have seeds that would sometime jump rows when I watered.

I think the best question to be asked is what was the source of your Sungold F1 seeds, as in commercial and if so where from if you want to post that, or from traded seeds, although most folks don't trade F1 hybrid seeds. etc .

Also to be considered IMO is whether the seeds were labelled Sungold F1 and weren't one of the several OP versions of Sungold F1.

Carolyn, who knows that many people do say that Sungold F1 foliage has a special odor, but she's never detected that.

[RJGlew]

Here are pictures of 5 Sun Gold F1 seedlings I am growing. The seeds are from T&M (2012), and last year they all grew out properly for me.

Notes:
a) I would not describe any of their leaves as being `hairy.'
b) The brown bits on the cotyledons/leaves is potting mix from me re-potted them over the past weekend.
c) plant #4 shows up in 2 of the pictures

[jmsieglaff]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

Carolyn, who knows that many people do say that Sungold F1 foliage has a special odor, but she's never detected that.

I see descriptions on here of foul or skunky--to my nose it isn't that, but a concentrated, more potent tomato plant smell. All tomato plants have a tomato plant aroma and Sungold is the strongest to my nose. I guess sense of smell is like sense of taste, everyone's is different.

[Labradors2]

I think the Sungold smell is nice. To me it's rather fruity! Perhaps it's more noticable because mine is quite a large plant and it's inside. I had asked a friend to start some seedlings early for me so that I could grow them in pots, and she threw in a Sungold (which will be too big for a pot!)

Linda

[Chucker]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

Two seedlings of Sungold are very different from each other.

That doesn't say that either one is Sungold F1.

Your seedlings could be the result of cross pollination or stray seeds in a pack, to name just a couple of possibilities.

Did you sow any other varieties near the Sungold seeds? I used to have seeds that would sometime jump rows when I watered.

I think the best question to be asked is what was the source of your Sungold F1 seeds, as in commercial and if so where from if you want to post that, or from traded seeds, although most folks don't trade F1 hybrid seeds. etc .

Also to be considered IMO is whether the seeds were labelled Sungold F1 and weren't one of the several OP versions of Sungold F1.

Carolyn, who knows that many people do say that Sungold F1 foliage has a special odor, but she's never detected that.

Carolyn,

I got my seeds from Johnny's last year (too late to plant). I'm not going to say that it is impossible that I mixed the seeds, but I try to plant each variety one at a time to make sure this doesn't happen (I only planted 39 seeds, so the extra time it takes didn't bother me too much).

I tried the smell test on both seedlings, and neither one smells like anything yet - something they have in common .

Originally Posted by RJGlew

Here are pictures of 5 Sun Gold F1 seedlings I am growing. The seeds are from T&M (2012), and last year they all grew out properly for me.

Notes:
a) I would not describe any of their leaves as being `hairy.'
b) The brown bits on the cotyledons/leaves is potting mix from me re-potted them over the past weekend.
c) plant #4 shows up in 2 of the pictures

RJGlew,

Thanks for the pics. The less fuzzy one of the my two is pretty much an exact match for pic #4, so that's good.

I'm going to assume that they are both Sungolds, and one of them is just super healthy and a much darker green, and secretly hope that the one I keep is a mystery cause that's more fun.

[ddsack]

Originally Posted by jmsieglaff

I see descriptions on here of foul or skunky--to my nose it isn't that, but a concentrated, more potent tomato plant smell. All tomato plants have a tomato plant aroma and Sungold is the strongest to my nose. I guess sense of smell is like sense of taste, everyone's is different.

I had never noticed a different smell until it was discussed here a few years ago. But when I made a point of rubbing the leaves, I could tell the difference. It has a more pleasant and complex smell to me, with less of the strong acrid smell I associate with crushed tomato leaves. I think it's most pronounced in older leaves growing in sunlight, less so in indoor seedlings. Funny how noses do not always agree.