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Post by hmoosek on Jun 4, 2022 20:02:39 GMT -6
I’ve been a seed trader for many years as I like collecting seeds. It’s a passion. I can’t tell you how many tomato varieties I have. Back during Gardenweb’s heyday, I had so much fun trading seeds! Tomatoes are one of my weaknesses. Every year I say I’m only going to plant x amount, then plant way more than I need. I have a friend up in Ohio that gifted me a gallon zip lock bag of tomato seed. Yes, I said a gallon. Plus, I don’t know how many mason jars of tomato seeds I already had. It may take the rest of my life to get through that bag. Here is one from that bag. It’s called Shadow Boxing. It’s a pretty variety, but I really don’t care for most of the “blue” tomato varieties. I’m not sure, but this one may be crossed with something else. The green one is supposed the right shape and size, but as you can see, I have a few round ones too. WELL SHIVER ME TIMBERS! After doing some research, both shapes are normal. This one was bred by Tom Wagner! www.vertiloom.com/en/shadow-boxing.html
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Post by macmex on Jun 5, 2022 6:51:28 GMT -6
Tom Wagner is such a treasure to the gardening world! I think of him as the Amadeus of plant breeding. Beautiful tomatoes! Hopefully you keep your excess seed in frozen storage.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Jun 5, 2022 14:19:19 GMT -6
When I moved to Texas and first ordered some tomato seeds to try some recommended varieties for this area, I received a trial pack of “Lime Green Salad” tomatoes. It was a small bush tomato with rugose leaves, and we all just loved the flavor of the fruit. A little research showed that it had originally been bred by Tom Wagner, who had called it Green Elf. It’s a great plant to grow as a gift for someone who doesn’t have a lot of room to garden.
I’m not growing Lime Green Salad this year as I’m trying a variety called “Taste Patio” for my container tomato. It, like Shadow Boxing shown above, has both oval and round tomatoes on the same bush. It seems that the fruits that set on the first truss were round but now the plant is putting out more elongated fruits. These are striped as well, but they ripen pink, not blue. I’ve never tried a blue tomato.
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Post by hmoosek on Jun 5, 2022 15:23:03 GMT -6
chrysanthemum I gotta first put this qualifier out there. I’m not what you’d call an expert on tomato taste. I really don’t care for the taste of raw tomatoes. There are exceptions of course. While im in the garden, I will munch on Black Cherry, Sun Gold, Mini Gold, Hawaiian Yellow Cherry. I tend to like more fruity and less acidic I guess. Once they are cooked, I could care less as I pretty much like them all once that raw taste is gone. In the blue tomatoes, I’ve grown quite a few and so far, every single one has been a spitter. Although I must admit, I haven’t tried shadow boxing yet.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Jun 5, 2022 20:08:51 GMT -6
I’ve heard that about blue tomatoes before. I once read a post that described the anthocyanins as creating an “off-whang” for many people, and that has stuck with me. I bet that’s what you’re tasting.
I enjoy all sorts of colors of tomatoes—red, pink, yellow, orange, “black,” and green, and I really enjoy all sorts of purple foods, but blue tomatoes don’t even really strike my fancy when I see pictures of them. I figure that’s just as well because I would be sad to give up precious garden space to have a tomato that folks didn’t enjoy.
I have a couple family members who do eat raw tomatoes when I prepare salads and things, but they definitely prefer them cooked. I, on the other hand, love both. I wonder what a blue tomato would be like for sauce? What do you do with all the blue tomatoes that you grow?
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Post by hmoosek on Jun 15, 2022 11:43:30 GMT -6
This tomato shows different shapes. From what I’ve been able to find, the part of the tomato that faces the sun is blue and the backside stays red. Pretty Tomato. No clue if it tastes good. I guess I should have sampled one, huh?
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Post by hmoosek on Jun 16, 2022 23:24:42 GMT -6
Mom really loves the taste of this one. She says it’s her new favorite tomato. I took her a bowl full of cherry tomatoes and she brought one of the shadow boxing tomatoes to me and asked “what’s this?” I have been given instructions to plant more! Sooooo, I guess there’s a blue tomato that will get into regular growing rotation after all. Wonders never cease. I got to thinking about this one. I’ve only been saving 1 tomato per plant for seeds, but On this one, maybe I should save 2 (one of each shape.)
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Post by chrysanthemum on Jun 17, 2022 13:43:37 GMT -6
Those are beautiful tomatoes, HMooseK, and I’m glad your mom likes them. I appreciate that you grow them for seed saving, but it’s always better to have someone eat what’s left after the seeds. I’m not nearly as experienced in seed saving as most, but I was under the impression that for tomatoes any fruit off the same plant would have the same genetics regardless of the shape of the fruit. It wouldn’t hurt to save more seeds, of course, but wouldn’t the genes be the same if they came from the same plant? I’ve tried saving some seeds from a few different varieties this year. Your Shadow Boxing looks a lot like my Taste Patio with different coloration. (I believe Fred Hempel, the breeder from Artisan Seeds, doesn’t actually like blue tomatoes and so doesnt’ breed them). I’ve saved seeds from both round and oval fruits, but that was only because they were the first fruits produced on the plants before most of my other nearby varieties were blooming.
That picture is of tomatoes that I harvested before they were really ripe earlier this month. The Taste Patio ones are right in the center going up to the top. As you can see, they’re mostly pointed, but there’s a round one smack dab in the middle of the bunch. (The others are mostly also Artisan Seeds products, too, because I got a great variety pack on a super special last summer. There’s Marzano Fire on the left, Blush 2.0 on the right, Maglia Rosa toward the bottom, and one Heidi tomato around the 5:00 position. As I type that out, I’m wondering if I’ve posted this before. Hmm.)
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Post by hmoosek on Jun 17, 2022 18:13:32 GMT -6
chrysanthemum. I believe you are correct about the genetics. Although I’m a seed saver, I’m not an expert. What I do is try to save the best looking ones for seed. Or the earliest. Depends …, sometimes I save from the best looking, thriving plant. Or for example we have a heat wave and I forget to water and the plant nearly dies but recovers. Then I might save some from that plant. Nothing I do is scientific really, so don’t do what I do.
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Post by hmoosek on Jun 19, 2022 20:45:15 GMT -6
I have seeds of shadow boxing fermenting.
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Post by hmoosek on Jul 19, 2022 19:56:34 GMT -6
My original plant was beginning to get eat up with sun damage and lack of me remembering to water it twice a day. I plucked a couple limbs from the bottom of the plant and I’m trying to root it out. It’s been in water for 3 days and I think we have some roots forming. I don’t generally do this as I usually just grab a couple of seeds to start, but I’ve been in experiment mode lately.
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Post by woodeye on Jul 19, 2022 20:29:02 GMT -6
Definitely looks like roots to me.
Your studies of the many quirks of botany are paying huge dividends...
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jul 19, 2022 22:20:16 GMT -6
Very interesting. Thanks, for bringing us along for the ride!
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Post by hmoosek on Jul 21, 2022 13:10:09 GMT -6
Well, here goes nothing. I had several tiny roots, so maybe it will take off. Foliage is kinda droopy as I guess it didn’t like being plucked to sit in a bathtub of water. Maybe now it’s feet are back in the ground, maybe it will perk up.
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Post by hmoosek on Jul 23, 2022 18:59:38 GMT -6
Coming along.
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