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unidentified self-seeded tomato. Can I propagate it?

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  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited September 2019

    B3 said:
    @Dovefromabove, on the link, they say 'ripe', but the tomatoes in the man's hand don't look fully ripe to me. Do you think I should wait until they're very red and squishy?
    They could be ripe Sungold - mine are that color ... I’d leave them on a windowsill until they’re so ripe they start to wrinkle and soften.

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Thanks I feel a bit more confident now!
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
    But will they come true?  Won't the next generation be cross-breeds?
  • edhelkaedhelka Posts: 2,351
    If they are from a supermarket variety, they are probably F2 (2nd generation from an F1 hybrid). Your seeds are going to produce F3. Probably not the same as your tomato but if you are lucky, they are going to be similar enough.
    You can dehybridize a hybrid this way. Sow many seeds and in the first generation, choose plants that are the most similar to the parent plant or to what you want. Repeat 5-7 times. After approx. 7 generations, you should have a stable variety.
    If you propagate by cuttings (which is very easy for tomatoes and a good use for removed side shoots), you produce genetically same F2 plants as you have now. But you would have to overwinter them, which is possible to do if you want but not practical.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    We grew, amongst other varieties, some Yellow Pear in the polytunnel last year.  They self-seeded and came true despite the opportunities for cross pollinating with the rest which included Green Zebra, yello and orange Marmande types and several more.

    Same sort of thing outside with some red cherry toms.  Label long gone so no idea which but have self-seeded and come true enough to the parent to be indistinguishable.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Well we'll see. They are very nice but not nice enough to wait seven years for. I dont remember ever having tomatoes with that texture before so this lot will be F3 I suppose. 
    They started off with a plum shape and then went to a round shape when they matured so maybe their ancestors were a type of plum tomato.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • Obelixx said:
    They self-seeded and came true despite the opportunities for cross pollinating with the rest which included Green Zebra, yello and orange Marmande types and several more.
    Tomatoes are largely self-pollinating and rarely cross.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    That's good to know but I did wonder as they are growing fairly closely together.   Too close last year.   There's a lovely ovoid orange one I want to grow gain.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
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