Could be wrong but I don't think so. Porter & Sons Seeds developed several different varieties of tomato and all include the family name Porter.

But the original Porter when I grew it was a pink plum/roma type and Porter Improved (aka Porter Pink Slicing) is a round pink 4-6 oz. we are growing again this year as it is a great canning tomato. There is also a Porter Improved Red. Never grown or seen Porter's Dark Cherry.

Dave

Thanks, Dave.

Did you like the original Porter? Maybe I'll try Porter Pink Slicing next year. I've only seen seed for the red Porter Improved offered (Willhite, etc.), but I haven't really looked much.

And maybe the folks at Bonnie Plants are smooshing together information on more than one variety. They say on one page (not the linked one) that Porter's Dark Cherry VF is an inch-long hybrid, valued for canning, juicing and fresh eating. I never met a one-inch tomato I wanted to peel for canning.

And they use the same photo for Porter Improved (the red one) and Porter's Dark Cherry (scroll down and click the link to Porter Improved).

Maybe I have no idea what tomato plant I got this year. An adventure awaits.

Here is a link that might be useful: Porter's Dark Cherry

I'm writing up a report in the "desert" thread about my 09 plants and Bonnie's Porter's Dark Cherry Hybrid is one of my most impressive plants. Big strong, stares down the blazing sun, and packed with fruit that's the biggest of my cherries. I see TomatoFest and Laurel have OP versions. I wonder what the difference is? I'll probably save some F2 seed if they are tasty. I half way wonder if this isn't really an OP plant.

I ate my first Porter's Dark Cherry today and really liked it. Then I've been enjoying a few bland Yellow Pears too, and don't get the hate for them. PDC and Yellow Pear are opposites so don't let me liking YP sway you.

The best way for me to describe PDC hybrid is robust. Robust plant, robust size for a cherry, robust dark pink color and robust taste.

So.

Tomatofest has this:

PDC Heirloom

I bought this from Home Depot/Bonnie

PDC Hybrid

I found a winner here for my unruly conditions. The fruit is an inch wide and 1.75 to 2.25 inches long. The taste sort of exploded in my mouth. I can also see why they're recommended for canning, big acid but plenty sweet. They're an interesting size, a little bigger than most good sized cherries, you won't just pop it in your mouth, but quite a bit smaller than plums.

I'd like to know if the OP version is as good and what exactly is up with this sort of mysterious tomato. I want to avoid nursery plants going forward, but I'm going to want a couple of these next year. I'll order the seed from Tomatofest, save a little F2 seed (unless advised against), and probably buy another from Bonnie next year to try and sort this out. I really like this tomato.

Here's my favorite tomato of 09 so far:

A little desert bounty with a blocky PDC in the middle.
This shows the deep pink better, hope.

The earliest ones were a little bigger. About half of them have an interesting cube shape. It's been over 100 degrees daily going on three weeks now, and these are going strong, still setting a few and looking like a plant that will make it to fall out here. I have harvested 38 and have another dozen looking good with about a dozen more very small ones recently showing. I imagine that number could be doubled or more in better conditions. They're a winner for appearance, taste, and heat tolerance. I wish I had more to share with friends.

4 more coming in soon:

I have a lot of blossom drop from the high heat, and the trusses could easily have held 10-12 maters in more hospitable conditions, instead of 3 to 6.

From what I understand, "Hybrid" didn't always used to mean F1. People used the word to describe stabilized crosses. Saw an article by the granddaughter of the founder of the Porter Seed Company (at Victory Seeds) which describes what seem to be stabilized crosses as "hybrids".

The nomenclature of the Porter family of tomatoes is confusing. I have what I think are the original pink Porter and the red Porter Improved (from Willhite seed). I've never seen seed offered for Porter Pink Slicing. Victory sells a pink "Porter Improved" (Porter's Pride), so maybe that's it. An inch and a half sounds a little small for a slicer, though.

TomatoFest sells a Porter Dark Cherry, but Bonnie has switched over to a pink "Porter Improved Hybrid" which they say is an inch long. They still use the same photo they've always used for various Porter tomatoes.