Micro Tom x F1 SunGold

[soren]

Here is a couple of pictures of my Micro Tom x F1 SunGold cross, they were sowed 1. February - almost 2 months before the rest of my tomatoes. I hope to get F2 seeds to grow out this year.
It looks like the cross took, they are defiantly growing way too fast, and too tall to be Micro Tom's (which i used as the mother).

[soren]

Thank you for that info Keith, very useful indeed. Now I just hope that the F1 will produce more seeds per fruit than Micro Tom (which only produced about 10 seeds or less per fruit ;D )

I was hoping to find a couple of sun dwarfs in the F2, and then select for orange fruit in the later generations.
How would the F3 generation look like if I saved seeds from a F2 sun dwarf? How large a % would be sun dwarfs?


The pictures were taken today, so the plants on the pictures are exactly one month old.

[soren]

Yes, the three plants I am growing now are F1's.
If I can get seeds from these and sow them before early June, I will be able to grow the F2 generation in my greenhouse this year (which is why I sowed them this early, my normal sow date is around March 25). And then hopefully, I can grow the F3 under the grow lights next
Autumn/Winter and so on

[jcm05]

Good luck Soren. It will be interesting to hear your progress. It certainly helps the breeding aspect when you have the capability that some have to grow two progenys per year. Do the plants have the unusual sungold aroma?

[soren]

I did not check before you asked, but now I have, and yes - they do have that distinct Sungold smell

[nolika]

How on earth did your plants get that big in a month???
Mine are so small at the one month stage. Did you fertilize them? Did you sow them one by one in big pots without transplanting them later? Please tell me what you have done with them to get them to be so BIG!

[soren]

Nothing special really, I sowed them in a small pot with starter mix and when they had developed their second set of true leaves, I transplanted them to their individual pots. I have only given them fertilizer once since I transplanted them.
They are around 25-30 cm tall, isn't that pretty normal for 1 month old plants? They are not larger than my plants usually are at this stage.

[jcm05]

Nolika, almost certainly a result in some degree of hybrid vigor.

[soren]

Mar 3, 2011 9:18:19 GMT -5 jcm05 said:

Nolika, almost certainly a result in some degree of hybrid vigor.

Yes, I thought about that too, and also that they are a cherry F1 (cherry varieties seem to grow faster in my experience). But like I said - to me they seem to have a quite normal size for their age.

[nolika]

Thanks for the info. I forget sometimes how fast tomato plants grow if given the right conditions. Especially cherry types...

[willyswoodpile]

4Mule,

Could you explain your equation? I was wondering where you get the 4 x 4 x 4? Or I suppose a link would work just as well. Because I need to know the substance of the equation so I can run the numbers in my head if I'm looking for certain traits then how many plants do I have to plant. I just don't understand where you get the "4's"(?). [it's probably simple but I just can't bring it up from my memory. I need a refresher]

Thank you
Terry

Soren,

Those are some really healthy-looking plants.

[willyswoodpile]

Ahhhh, thank you very much. And also for the link. I had already copied TGBasics I & II: I had done well to read further... and more thoroughly.

I only have one growing season, and I do not have a greenhouse [yet], so knowing these things will obviously save me years of trouble.
That's enough for now. I don't want to derail this thread. If i have anything more I will PM you.

Terry

[soren]

First fruit:

[tgplp]

I remember micro Tom having pointy fruit like that.

Good luck, and is it turning color yet?

Taryn

[soren]

Thank you, I don't see any blushing yet - but the fruit has grown larger since I took the picture above, and lots of fruits have formed on the plants