Post by macmex on Jul 29, 2019 14:45:10 GMT -6
Several years ago I heard about a fellow by the name of Bill Jeffers, who likes to breed tomatoes. There are getting to be a good number of tomato breeders among our gardening ranks, but what I really liked about Bill Jeffers was that he started out in the pursuit of tomatoes which would sell well and do excellently in the hot, windy conditions of the Caribbean. He has since moved back to the USA, but continues to do some great work in breeding. Some years ago he crossed a popular hybrid called Mozark (known for doing really well in the Ozarks) and Sioux. From the F2 seed he started selecting for high producing, determinate plants with round red fruit. Bill is apparently a really generous fellow, as he distributed this seed to a good many people, telling them to select what they liked and giving them permission to name their own selections. I was impressed with what I heard about this cross.
Two years ago I was corresponding with Auther Ray, a fellow member of the Oklahoma Gardening Forum, and he asked me if I wanted to try any new tomatoes that year. I responded that the only one which interested me was probably what I had read about, crossed by Bill Jeffers. Wouldn't you know it? Auther had been in communication with Bill and obtained some seed of a branch of selections called Mocross. He generously shared some seed with me.
I have to say that was the most excited I have been about any "new tomato" in years. You see, I struggle to maintain the seeds I have, and I already grow Baker Family Heirloom and Sioux, which are hard to beat. Sioux has the same excellent flavor as Baker Family Heirloom, that old time acidic tomato flavor I remember from the classic NJ tomatoes like Marglobe and Rutgers. Baker Family Heirloom's weakness is that the plants are truly monstrous in size and they produce a little late. Sioux is determinate (perhaps strong determinate) and produces more quickly. Its fruit is superb, but you better catch it when it's breaking color, or it will split most of the time. This "Mozark selection" would hopefully eliminate the extra thin skin of Sioux, while preserving its heat resistance and excellent flavor.
Last year I grew about a dozen plants from seed sent by Auther. They were all good. I saved seed from the best. Most were the classic red of "red tomatoes." But one of my plants produced pink fruit. The flavor was the same, only the skin was different. So this year I planted seed from that pink fruited plant. I put out a dozen plants, and so far it appears that all of this year's crop wil be pink fruited.
This is fruit from just one or two plants, which I picked last night. They're not real large, but they are really strikingly beautiful. I cut one to taste, and WOW! They have fantastic flavor. I'm going to select from these pinks. Hopefully, in a couple years, I'll have a consistently stable variety.
Here's a photo of a plant, LOADED with fruit. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture until after I picked the ripe ones!
Two years ago I was corresponding with Auther Ray, a fellow member of the Oklahoma Gardening Forum, and he asked me if I wanted to try any new tomatoes that year. I responded that the only one which interested me was probably what I had read about, crossed by Bill Jeffers. Wouldn't you know it? Auther had been in communication with Bill and obtained some seed of a branch of selections called Mocross. He generously shared some seed with me.
I have to say that was the most excited I have been about any "new tomato" in years. You see, I struggle to maintain the seeds I have, and I already grow Baker Family Heirloom and Sioux, which are hard to beat. Sioux has the same excellent flavor as Baker Family Heirloom, that old time acidic tomato flavor I remember from the classic NJ tomatoes like Marglobe and Rutgers. Baker Family Heirloom's weakness is that the plants are truly monstrous in size and they produce a little late. Sioux is determinate (perhaps strong determinate) and produces more quickly. Its fruit is superb, but you better catch it when it's breaking color, or it will split most of the time. This "Mozark selection" would hopefully eliminate the extra thin skin of Sioux, while preserving its heat resistance and excellent flavor.
Last year I grew about a dozen plants from seed sent by Auther. They were all good. I saved seed from the best. Most were the classic red of "red tomatoes." But one of my plants produced pink fruit. The flavor was the same, only the skin was different. So this year I planted seed from that pink fruited plant. I put out a dozen plants, and so far it appears that all of this year's crop wil be pink fruited.
This is fruit from just one or two plants, which I picked last night. They're not real large, but they are really strikingly beautiful. I cut one to taste, and WOW! They have fantastic flavor. I'm going to select from these pinks. Hopefully, in a couple years, I'll have a consistently stable variety.
Here's a photo of a plant, LOADED with fruit. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture until after I picked the ripe ones!
