Or orange, somewhere between yellow and orange, and they are a very popular hybrid tomato. I like Sungold, and Jasper hybrid cherry tomatoes. Jasper was an All American Selection winner.
Those are the only hybrids I grow for now. And almost getting tomatoes, the first ones maybe today or tomorrow. Anyway both are worth trying.[quote=“subdood_ky_z6b, post:40, topic:6191”]
where is this dwarf project project based
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It is based out of the garden forum called Tomatoville. A few of us are members there too.
Craig LeHoullier the founder of the project used the members to help. The project is still going on. So members help stabilize the dwarfs. the idea of the project was to create new open pollinated varieties easier to grow in containers. Which works for me and many others. So far they have developed over 60 varieties in the last ten years. Here I mention the varieties that Craig LeHoullier) suggested were best And here comes the freeze - #626 by Drew51
If you search the site I mention them a few times.
Craig has now written two books, and I have heard him on the radio many times. he has become fairly famous for this project. 4 small seed companies sell the seeds. I use a couple of them to obtain seeds. Victory seed company and Heritage Seed Market. The Sample Seed Shop also sells them. They gave seed to the stores to use as stock. No money was taken. Also again the project is still ongoing and active.
It is early for most here, but I have harvested sweet and sour cherries, tayberries, strawberries, and raspberries are just coming online now.[quote=“subdood_ky_z6b, post:40, topic:6191”]
Are you able to grow peaches there, and if so, which ones do well for you?
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Yes, I have 2 trees, but I have not grown enough to make suggestions. Other than I love Indian Free. I will always grow that peach, and Arctic Glo nectarines, but many many good ones will grow here. If you look around here, you’ll find books of info on what works in various locations.[quote=“subdood_ky_z6b, post:40, topic:6191”]
Well, good luck with your veggies and fruits. I would like to see a pic of some of those dwarf tomato plants when you’re able.
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All I’m growing this year is Tennesee suited two plants. I got seeds too late for the others I will grow them next year. Look at link for descriptions of those other dwarfs. I will post photos of TS as soon as my battery for my camera recharges. Here is a description
Tennessee Suited -
Maturity midseason
Growth habit dwarf, indet.
Leaf type regular, rugose
Fruit color black, purple, striped
Fruit shape beefsteak
Fruit size medium
Fruit type slicer
Variety type created heirloom, stabilized intentional cross
Country Australia, USA
is
a 6-10 ounce smooth oblate purple fruit with vertical green stripes
(clear skinned black with stripes), regular leaf dwarf, very good yield,
very good flavor. After one of the Alaska volunteers said she saw a
striped tomato late in her Alaska season, I was sent some seeds and
found it the next season here in Tennessee. We did some selections and
growouts, and now, it is available to the public. It is named after the
place where it thrived (Tennessee) and the two people who believed in
it. Enjoy this great tasting and colorful new variety. Does well in
containers. Obtained from Heritage Seed Market.
The Dwarf Tomato Project used the best of the heirlooms, Mortgage Lifter, Cherokee Purple etc and the results are amazing if you ask me.
Thanks Drew for the pics! That dwarf plant kinda looks like it has potato leaves on it. That’s very interesting about the dwarf plants. What do you mean about stabilizing plants? Is that like controlling how they get pollinated, like maybe isolating them and pollinating by hand?
I have visited the Tomatoville site, it seems like an informative place. Doesn’t that Dr Carolyn run it? I don’t what her doctorate is, but from what I’ve read about her, if there was a tomato doctorate, then she would have one. I also remember her from the GardenWeb forums as well.
Those Sungolds look good, I think I’ve tried to find seeds for those, but they’re hard to find or were a bit expensive. That MS 'mater (not even going to try to pronounce that one!), where does that come from? It kind of sounds Russian. We are trying a green variety, Aunt Ruby’s German Green, have a couple of those. Also trying a couple “white” types, Great White and Cream Sausage. We’re also trying quite a few Russian varieties, maybe 8 of them. I got them from a guy in Columbus, who has quite a few if the eastern European types. You may have heard of Ohio Heirloom Seeds, he also sells leafy veggies, beans, herbs, etc.
The weather came thru about 7:00 this morning, with a lot of rain, but practically no winds, thank goodness. The tomato patch is soggy, but the plants seem to be OK. Some are sagging a bit, but I think that’s because of all the rain we’ve got the last few days. They’re calling for more storms this evening, so hope that’s not too bad. We actually had the power go out about 7, and it just came back on. Glad for that, it was getting hot inside and outside the house. Very warm and humid here lately. You can’t work more than a hour without getting sopping wet. But I’ll take that over what I endured in Texas for 30 years. The heat there was unbearable at times, you just had to stay indoors during the heat of the day. Couldn’t do much out in that heat. Plus, our gardens just fried in that nasty black clay soil.
Sorry I was not clear. Stabilizing the genes so it comes true to seed… When you cross a tomato you have a hybrid with Heterozygous genes. You need to plant out the seed a number of generations, like at least eight. Try to save for the traits desired. Eventually eliminating other traits you don’t want. The genes become Homozygous which refers to having identical alleles for a single trait.
It is a Russian heirloom that produces well in my area. Well is supposed to. First time growing it. I keep info on cultivars and here is what I have on this one.
Malakhitovaya Shkatulka -
Maturity midseason
Growth habit indet.
Leaf type regular
Fruit color green
Fruit shape oblate, globe
Fruit size large
Fruit type slicer
Variety type open-pollinated, commercial
Country Russia
70 days. The translated name means “Malachite Box,” named after the lovely green boxes that are made from this mineral that comes from the Ural mountains and other areas. This early, light-to-olive green, medium-sized tomato has succulent bright green flesh that is very flavorful and tasty. Plants are productive even in the north, as this variety was developed at Svetlana Farm in Russia, and it has been tested in Siberia! Our grower likes to make a unique green ketchup from this variety. Obtained from Baker Creek
No but she is there. She is having health issues and no longer grows herself. People grow some for her. She no longer makes seed offers. She can’t do it anymore. Only for research or breeding.
You know we have had strange weather here, it’s warm but not humid. It’s about perfect today. Temp is 78F, partly cloudy.
I never grew it, although I have read good things about that one. It was a variety I considered (well still considering).
I have been absent for three weeks due to my trip to Russia. When I came back I found quite a lot of matters on tomato plants and there was not any of them three weeks ago. What a surprise!
Here are the pictures of the best of them.
Another BFT plant has fruits of the unusual shape, so it is unintentional hybrid with Japanese truffle pink which I had last year. It is very prolific and compact at the same time.
AntMary! You’ve done it again. I had to put off planting all of my tomatoe seeds this year because of my move. So I’ll enjoy yours!!! They surely are beautiful. Good going!
Nice pics Antmary, when did you set these out? Lots of good looking fruit. I like your trellis set up. I would like to do something like that, but have too many plants for that to be practical.
You mentioned a Japanese Trifele, I’m trying a couple of the black variety this year. I also have about 8 Russian types this year, like Amur Tiger, Gordost Sibiri, Siberian Pink Honey, Russian Queen, Korol Sibiri, and so on.
We tried Black Krim last year, but too much rain and early blight kind of messed with us getting a lot of good fruit. My BK produced well, but the flavor seemed a bit bland. I blamed it on the weather, so I’m giving them another chance this year.
We have had a lot of rain the last couple of days, after a couple weeks of hot dry weather. My plants seem to be handling all the water OK, but we really need it to stop for now. Think it’s starting to let up finally.
Thank you, Mrs. G, Drew and Subdood. I set out tomatoes quite early this year in the middle of April. But the weather was cool, so they grew very slowly. They had flowers but did not set fruits.
It is interesting, that tomatoes need certain temperature and humidity to set fruits and when the conditions just right they set a lot of them in a short time. When I went to Russia there was hot weather in Omaha and the upper flower trusses barely set any fruits
I like my trellis system so far. It is easy to take apart and to move to another bed. It is stable and sturdy. The tomatoes are grown in 3-4 stems and they are easy to manage. I would probably have less tomatoes this way then if I would grow them in cages. But I always have more fruits than I need anyway.
Subdood, I like to grow Russian varieties of tomatoes, but I also grow American heirlooms. I hope that someday I will find 5-10 varieties that will be my staples of the garden. I grow Korol Sibiri this year as well. We can compare results with this tomato. Right now it has several small hearts but it is not so good looking as mama Alla.
Some of my Russian varieties seem to have a “weepy leaf” habit. What I mean is that the leaves seem to be a bit more droopy than my domestic types. Is that something you’ve noticed with yours?
They seem pretty healthy, but just not as vigorous as my domestic varieties. It could be that they’re that way because they’ve only been in the ground 3 weeks and still haven’t got settled in yet.
But, I must say that my Japanese Black Trifele and Paul Robeson plants are doing really well and they’re Russian types.
Subdood,
Weepy leaf habit is the genetic trait of heat-shaped tomatoes, but it may occasionally happen in round or plum shaped tomatoes too. It should not affect productivity or taste, although the plants do look strange. This year I have 4 varieties with droopy leaves. They are Caspian Pink, Korean long, mama Alla and Korol Sibiri. I would not say that weepy leaves are specific for Russian tomatoes, but it looks that heart shaped tomatoes are quite popular in Russia, so they have big selection.
I’m way behind and just haphazardly decided to plant a couple of tomato’s today. Bought them from a big box store. I got beefsteak and early girl. Thought the early girl ripening might help me out due to the late planting.
Yes, like I said, my Paul Robeson and Black Trifele and Gordost Sibiri look “normal”, so it’s not like all my Russian varieties are droopy. I don’t know if any of them are heart shaped, maybe the Siberian Pink Honey (Rozovyi Myod?) is, but its leaves are OK. I have noticed that this variety and the Black Krim and Mischka have leaves that tend to curl up.
The biggest of my plants (Russian Queen) are just short of 3 feet tall, so I’m going to start allowing those plants to start producing now. I am pinching off blooms off the smaller plants, they need to get a bit bigger.
Our plants are really doing well, just hope we can get some good production this year. Just need to keep the deer out the patch, and weed and mulch. I have all kinds of different colored varieties going- red, pink, green, purple, yellow, orange, white, black, and striped.
I would not pinch blossoms at this time. Pinching blossoms is recommended for small transplants which are still in pots and can not support the development of fruits. Your tomatoes are in the ground and the weather is perfect for tomatoes.I found that tomatoes can regulate their own fruit set perfectly fine, they do not develop fruits if they have no resources for it. If you pinch your blossoms at this time you just reduce your overall yield and delay your first tomatoes. This is just my thoughts on the matter.
My tomatoes usually do not set fruits on the first two trusses no matter what I do about it, but then I let the nature go its own way and they set as much fruits as they can. All of my tomatoes have large fruits right now. I expect the first ripe ones in the beginning of July.
Please, share your experience with the various varieties and the photos.
Thanks for advice. You and other folks have suggested to go ahead and let them go. I have allowed some of my plants to flower. As you said, it’s almost July, and they need to start producing.
I do have a Lemon Oxheart variety growing, but it seems to have a “normal” habit. But, like you said, not all heart shaped varieties have the droopy habit.
I’ll pass along some new pics after the plants have grown out a bit more, maybe next week.
Well, if they were big enough, maybe a foot tall, then they might give you some fruit later in the summer, especially with the Early Girl’s.
I hope you were spared from all that horrible flooding from last week. They were saying on the local news (WSAZ), that the flood levels were higher than levels last seen in the Civil War days.
We were lucky to be on the west side of all that rain, we maybe got about 2-3 inches out of all of it.
Interesting about how you stabilize plants. You said you have to run thru 8 or so generations of a variety to stabilize. Does that mean 8 years, or maybe you can do 2 or 3 generations in a year? How do you know the variety is stabilized?
Do you have to hand pollinate them so that their pollen doesn’t get mixed with another variety, so that you keep the genes “pure”?
Looks like you got quite a few of your plants in containers. We don’t seem to have luck growing them in pots, they always seem to be kind of pale and not very vigorous. My initial guess is that they’re too wet too much. We use potting soil and put some fertilizer around the plant when we potted it. Could it be the wrong type of soil, or is it because the soil’s too damp?
I myself have not crossed tomatoes. Many people I trade seeds with do though. I know enough to get into trouble! I am crossing raspberries, blackberries, and peaches.
Yes it is hard to grow in containers. It took a few years to get it down. Not the best light, most recent photo of some of my tomatoes. I do grow in straw (Which I have yet to fine tune. It will work, but I’m doing something wrong. All plants in straw are smaller), in raised beds, and in ground too. This year none in ground or in raised beds.
On stabilizing plants .
Here is a little blurb from a Dwarf Project member
A cross of two tomatoes, resulting in F1 seed, will always produce
the same tomato. This is the foundation of the hybrid tomato seed
industry.
In the F2 is when you see the most variation, as traits present in the
parent plants are expressed in hundreds of random combinations. Once one
reaches the F5-F7 generations, having each year selected the variety
that best reflects their favorite traits of the original F1, you have a
stabilized variety and can reasonably expect seeds saved and resown to
produce the same result.
Which brings up a question, and since this is the questions thread I
hope I am not out of line to ask this. It’s been 5 years, 4 of which
straddled both hemispheres to result in an impressive 9 generations of
testing. January 2011 will be the 5 year anniversary of the Dwarf
Project, I think some varieties will have reached their F10 generation.
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Do you have to hand pollinate them so that their pollen doesn’t get mixed
with another variety, so that you keep the genes “pure”?
[/quote]
Yes, You emasculate an unopened flower. Pollinate with collected pollen. Protect ovaries from any other pollen reaching them, with say an organza bag. This is done for the original cross you want to stabilize.
Now if you mean each year, well no. Most tomatoes are self fertile and fertilized before the flower even opens. Sure cross pollination can happen. You will soon know and eliminate any that deviate.
You can bag unopened flowers if you wish. To make sure no stray pollen messes things up. Remember you not only collect seed from many fruits on one plant, but from many plants too. So it is easy to have some that have the genes you want. Grow enough plants out to get them.
Also to mention it has been 11 years now for the Dwarf Tomato Project, and they have over 60 cultivars developed. The project is ongoing.
I was north of the flooding luckily. We delivered some relief supplies to one of that hardest hit areas yesterday. Very very sad. They were loading the contents of many peoples homes into open top semi’s with excavators.
