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Minnesota

Hi, just a quick question. Does it matter which tomato you save seeds from for the following year? any one of them is good?

7/31/2012 7:15:16 PM

Minnesota

I mean, good looking tomato, bad looking, does it matter?

8/1/2012 2:14:59 PM

Bethlehem CT

That is a very good question Richard. I am not sure if it makes a huge difference, but why chance it? Choose a nice fruit. Maybe someone else will have a better understanding.

8/1/2012 3:04:46 PM

East Carbon, Utah

Genetically, all the fruits on a given plant should be identical. But there's always that rare possibility of a favorable mutation or some heritable epigenetic effect. So we continue the process of selection, as our ancestors have done since the dawn of agriculture.

Commercial tomato breeders probably have an "ideal" in mind for each variety - size, shape, color, production, disease tolerance, etc. - then only select fruits from among thousands in their big fields which fit the ideal.

If you're growing to conform to the standard for a given variety, this strategy should be followed on your much smaller scale.

Growing for large fruit size is another matter.

Most of the really huge tomatoes are "ugly" because they are formed from multiple fused blossoms. I'm guessing it's pretty tough to breed for consistency in how blossoms fuse and how the resulting tomatoes grow. So most growers of giant tomato growers, I assume, save seeds based on one criterion: how much the fruit weighed at harvest.

I'm growing plants from many of the recent giant tomatoes. One line that has shown promise for putting out LOTS of megablooms, both this year and last, is:

Big Zac (5.35 Lyons 2010)

Virtually every truss has at least one fused blossom. My biggest last year from this was 2.510 lb. - not impressive by the high standards here, but respectable in the small pond where I live.

8/2/2012 1:30:50 AM

Cameron

We're getting nice blossoms on our 7.33 & the 5.0 timms. We have another variety that has some big blossoms as well. Hopefully they'll turn ito a couple 5#ers. Good luck.

Jane & Phil

8/2/2012 8:22:43 AM

Hamilton Nj

the bigger the better for seeds!!! i got some nice maters from the 7.33 strain but most of my megablooms fell off in the 95 temps,lol pizza

8/2/2012 11:19:29 PM