Free tomato seed from an unusual plant

[Mike in Chicago]

I'm offering free seed of this tomato to anyone in the USA or Canada. Its history:

I save seed regularly and one year this plant grew from OP Sungold seed I'd harvested from my garden. The tomatoes of this one plant, however, were larger, almost-paste-tomato-size, and the really large ones have that bit of orangey-red mottling that is reminiscent of Striped German, which I was also growing that year. For the record I was also growing Kellogg's Breakfast and Amish Paste, both possibilities as well for a pollen donor. I'm leaning toward SG because of that red-orange-y mottling.

The flavor is very good, sweet but balanced with acid like Sungold but with much more tomato depth. It's also as productive as a Sungold, producing oodles of tomatoes all season like a cherry tomato would. I've saved cuttings the past few years and grown them on because it's so productive and tasty. I've not sown seed before because I'm not sure if it would come true from seed or not. I don't have the space for dozens of plants as one should do to figure this out.

I live in the Chicago area, z5, and want to give this seed to as many who would like to grow it out. I'll mail them to you (or drop them off) if you let me know what the plant is like!

[steve ok]

PM sent

[bower]

Those look lovely. A worthy grow out!

Edited to add: this might just be a mutant, and if so it would be true to seed.
None of the parents you listed are likely to produce orange fruit with Sungold.
Afaik Sungold is a Beta orange, so unless the F1 fruit eventually turn red, it would have to be crossed with another Beta orange fruit.
If they do turn red when very ripe, then the shape might be your best clue to the other parent. Amish Paste perhaps?
Kelloggs Breakfast is a tt tangerine orange fruit. These genes don't interact with Beta, you wouldn't get orange from B/- t/-.
Striped German, being a bicolor, may be less likely than a red. Afaik Beta is only expressed in a full red background RR. Although I don't know if ry (bicolor) has been tested for partial expression of Beta orange.
If the inside when sliced looks similar to Striped German, then I think it's another possibility.

Either way it's nice looking fruit!

[Traveler]

I have a report on the unusual "Sungold experimental" seed from Mike in Chicago. I am growing his seed and Sungold side by side. The plants look identical except Sungold has set more tomatoes. Also, the experimental seems to have slowed setting when very hot weather occurred. The experimental tomato is about twice the size and weight of Sungold. The flavor of the experimental is average to good and nowhere close to the sweetness of Sungold. Of course, comparing it to Sungold probably isn't fair. I'll let the next crop over-ripen a little for another taste test.

A picture is attached with the lighter colored experimental on the bottom and 2 Sungold above.

[Seven Bends]

Great to see a report on this! I just transplanted four plants of it into the garden a few days ago -- had to wait for my peas to be done because I didn't have any more space. Hopefully there will be time for some fruit to ripen so I can see what the lottery brings me.

[Mark_Thompson]

Sorry, awful picture. It looked like it was going red, but I left on vacation before it ripened. Should be home to harvest more in about a week.

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[Shule]

I'm guessing the father is Amish Paste, considering the long fruit shape and the nippled fruit (while Amish Paste isn't always nippled, it is sometimes).

Sounds like a great project to keep going with. How much F2 seed do you have?

[Traveler]

Shule,

I have not saved any seed from these since I wasn't impressed with the taste. However, I could do so if requested. I have several fruit on the vine but unfortunately the plant is starting to wilt badly. I suspect it was too wet for too long recently. I don't think the issue is the possible fusarium issue from a different plant in ground which I recently posted in a different thread. My distressed Sungold-X is at the other end of the garden in a container.

[Seven Bends]

I grew four plants this year for this tomato from seeds sent by @Mike in Chicago. Three of the plants have produced fruit -- two red saladettes and a pink elongated plum/paste shape. None of the plants produced anything similar to Sungold in appearance or taste, but it was a fun experiment.

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M1 is a pink elongated paste/plum shape with a prominent nipple on the end. The color is a gorgeous, deep pink, and overall it's a really pretty tomato. Average weight is about 0.9 oz, so maybe more of a large cherry than a small saladette. Unfortunately, the taste wasn't very good, pretty much just tart with no sweetness, so that somehow it managed to be bland despite the tartness. Walls are thin; seeds and gel are abundant. Very juicy, not dry or grainy. The texture is soft/melting.

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M3 is a red, round, small saladette, about 1.1 oz each, with abundant seeds/gel, juicy. It has pretty good flavor, predominantly tangy without much sweetness, but it's more flavorful than M1. This is my favorite of the three for flavor. The plant is healthy and producing well. Tomatoes are uniform and there's no problem with splitting. This is an enjoyable small saladette but not exceptional or unusual.

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M2 also is a red, small saladette, the same size as M3, but some of them are very slightly elongated and with a faint nipple on the end, not prominent. Abundant seeds and gel. Taste is similar to M3 but not quite as good -- same tanginess, same lack of sweetness, but with a hint of mustiness/off flavor, and the skins seem to add a bitterness that isn't there with M3. Plant is healthy and producing well.

I've tasted at least four examples of each, at various stages of ripeness and over a few weeks' time, to try to give a fair assessment of taste. Our weather was dry this summer and I didn't water much, maybe not at all, during the period when these were ripening.

My verdict: M3 was my favorite of the three, but I prefer sweeter tomatoes and am not a huge fan of this size of tomato, so I doubt I'll grow it again. M1 was the prettiest and might appeal to some people due to looks, but I didn't care for the taste or texture. People who dislike sweet tomatoes and who prefer the soft/melting texture might like this very much. M2 was okay but there was something not great about the flavor; that may be specific to my taste buds. Overall, I was surprised that none of the plants resulted in orange tomatoes or sweet tomatoes, but that's part of the fun of experiments.

[Mark_Thompson]

Mine looked like M1. Pretty fruit but I also won’t be growing it again.

[slugworth]

The 5 chamber specimen has potential.
Normally fruits that size are only 2 seed chamber.

[Seven Bends]

The 5 chamber specimen has potential.
Normally fruits that size are only 2 seed chamber.

Yes, I was surprised by the five chambers in that one. Too bad the taste wasn't better.

[Seven Bends]

Final update: My fourth plant finally produced a ripe fruit -- the only one it produced before kicking the bucket. This one was a slightly oval yellow/orange cherry, a bit larger than Sungold, with a nipple on the end. It looked kind of like the one posted by @Traveler, but not quite as elongated and somewhat misshapen. Unfortunately, the taste wasn't very good. So in summary, I ended up with a long pink small saladette, two small red saladettes, and one large yellow/orange cherry. I won't be pursuing any of them further.

This was educational for me, to see what a wide variety of offspring can come from a hybrid, and how taste doesn't necessarily travel down the line. I sort of knew this already from volunteers in my own garden over the years, but having the four plants together from the same parent made it very obvious. Thanks again for the seeds, @Mike in Chicago.

[slugworth]

Yes, I was surprised by the five chambers in that one. Too bad the taste wasn't better.

Sometimes they taste better the next year from that saved seed.
Endeavor to persevere.

[Seven Bends]

Yes, I was surprised by the five chambers in that one. Too bad the taste wasn't better.

Sometimes they taste better the next year from that saved seed.
Endeavor to persevere.

Good advice, but I'm going to pass on this one because I've got another experiment in progress from last year's volunteer pink cherry in my garden. Results from that one this year seem much more promising to me (excellent flavor) and I have several lines from it I'd like to pursue. I'll be reporting on it soon, I hope.

I think I did keep some seed from M1-M3 (the pink & red types I got from Mike's Sungold) so I can try them in the future if I change my mind.

[slugworth]

Oh fudge