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.

IMG_1015.jpeg

[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.