|
| Any one grow bonnie best tomatoes??? I am trying them this year for the first time, I am told they are heirloom, should I have to worry about cross pollination from bees when I save the seed?
Thanks, Pit-Pat |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
- Posted by dirtdigging101 7 - NC (My Page) on Fri, Apr 16, 10 at 19:38
| depends on what other tomaotes are nearby wind is your big pollenator with tomatoes bees do not do much for them. but you have to issolate and there are many methods to employe cages work well with a good screen to kkep insects and bees out |
|
- Posted by boulderbelt 5/6 (My Page) on Sat, Apr 17, 10 at 5:35
| Actually tomatoes are a self pollinated plant, not wind pollinated-and bees will do the pollination on the potato leafed types like Brandywine. I have not grown them (I though Bonnie's Best was the name of the greenhouse company that supplies the plants to Wal-Mart and other box stores and spread late blight throughout the eastern USA) but id they are an heirloom and you have at least 10' between the varieties you should be okay. I save a lot of tomato seeds ever year and rarely have crossing, though when I do a potato leaf variety is always involved. the rule of thumb is plant a block of at least 8 plants and 25' of separation between the varieties. Tomatoes do not need a lot of isolation. Even if the BB tomato is a hybrid you can still grow out the seeds, they just won't be like the parent plant (well a few should be, but most won't) You should read the book Seed to Seed by Susan Ashworth |
|
- Posted by myfamilysfarm (My Page) on Sat, Apr 17, 10 at 18:32
| Hubby found a "Bonny's Best" as a heirloom, spelled differently that Bonnie's Plant Farm's plants. |
|
- Posted by pitterpat_2009 (My Page) on Mon, Apr 19, 10 at 9:48
| I got mine at Millington seeds, My plants look nice 4inches and potting on to bigger pots today.... PP |
|
- Posted by farmerdilla (My Page) on Tue, Apr 20, 10 at 18:24
| Bonny Best/Bonny's Best supposedly introduced very early in the 20th century. A commercial variety, noted as being slighly later than Earlianna, round,red and baseball size. Noted as a canning tomato, but used for other purposes as well. Indeterminate. Burpee stated that it was a selection from Chalk's Early Jewel. Widely available. |
|
| Bonnie's Best is an heirloom introduced in 1908 by a nursery in Union Springs, Alabama. Cross pollination rates are generally 2 to 5 percent unless you bag the blossoms, use shields etc. Normally, I would not worry about doing any of that unless you were going to sell the seed. In this case you may consider trying to keep some pure seed since this tomato is becoming rare. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Market Gardener Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.