Author Topic: Growing Heirlooms  (Read 17890 times)

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Mark W

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Re: Growing Heirlooms
« Reply #40 on: September 04, 2013, 06:48:21 AM »
Well Darline, it sounds like you have a one in a million. The simple tomato is far more complex then many would know. There are so many hundreds if not thousands of genes that play a role in the different colors, shapes,sizes and tastes of the tomatoes we grow and eat. If it were possible to trace down the linage of the parents of your tomato variety, yow would find a tomato that had a yellow skin. It could have been a hundred years ago or better, but most likely it was there. And for some reason it decided to pop up many generations later in your garden. Oftentimes when this accrues, we can it a sport or even a mutation. It doesn't hurt anything, but does make for a surprise. For those in the tomato world, sports are exciting because of their rarity. Like I said, one in a million. If it was a true sport every seed saved from that plant will exhibit the yellow fruit color from now on. 
I will say you got my curiosity up so I will throw out a proposition. I will send you some seeds of some of my favorite tomatoes if you could send me a few of your yellow sports. Just think, what are you going to name it; Dorine's Sunshine? ;) God is Good, Mark

Dorine

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Re: Growing Heirlooms
« Reply #41 on: September 04, 2013, 06:59:51 AM »
Oh Mark you now have me very excited.  ;D  I will certainly send you some seed saved from this plant. They are only cherry tomatoes. Are you still interested? There will be plenty of seeds to share with you. As for a name....hmmm  ::) .....I'll have to think about that for awhile.  We'll keep in touch.
But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press  toward the mark. Phil. 3:13,14

Mark W

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Re: Growing Heirlooms
« Reply #42 on: September 04, 2013, 07:32:18 AM »
Dorine, I will say there is one other possibility for you tomatoes color change that I will let you know about. I don't know how far away from any other garden you are like a neighbors or something to where a little bee could have crossed something. Where I live we have little sweat bees that like to gather pollen for some reason that have unknowingly crossed their share of plants. Even just one grain of pollen would have been enough to change the outcome of the one seed you planted. Many don't realize but for every seed that you find in a tomato and many other fruit, it takes one grain of pollen to create one seed so as to reproduce. So lets say you have a good seedy tomato with 200 seeds. 200 grains of pollen had to get on the stigma and travel down to the ovary and develop. With that in mind, if we were to insert 200 different grains of different varieties, the resulting tomato would have the potential to create 200 totally different offspring.  Now in the real world that could never happen, but it goes to show what one microscopic grain of pollen can do. But to find out if it is a true sport, they will need planted again. if they come true in every respect to what they were before, it was a sport. 
Just a little more fuel for garden thought. Mark

Dorine

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Re: Growing Heirlooms
« Reply #43 on: September 04, 2013, 08:11:06 AM »
That was one of my first thoughts when I first saw the yellow tomatoes.  About 150 feet away from us and through trees our neighbour planted about 3 or 4 plants called Scotia. They are a medium size red determinate tomato. Other than that there is no one around us that plants a garden. I guess we will have to wait and test them to know for sure.
But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press  toward the mark. Phil. 3:13,14

Ed Sutton

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Grateful for Psalms 32 and Titus 2:10 - The divinity of Christ is acknowledged in the unity of the children of God.  {11MR 266.2}