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| I have quite a few volunteer tomato plants in my garden and recently they have started making tomatoes. Anyone knows what variety are these? I am trying to decide whether to keep them or remove. I have atleast 20 of them. Thanks
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Follow-Up Postings:
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| No way to tell variety at this stage, and from pictures. You perhaps can have a better clue as to what they might be, since you know what you grew last year. |
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- Posted by ill_gardener 5B (My Page) on Thu, Jul 4, 13 at 11:37
| The problem is someone else owned this garden last year. So I have no idea what they grew. Thats disappointing to know that there is no way to tell the variety now. I was hoping once the fruits come in, the experienced gardeners maybe able to tell me. Anyway, thanks seysonn. |
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| Even when fruits develop you can't put a name to a plant. Most people don't realize how many thousands of varieties of tomatoes there are and the only distinction between them is the size of the plant and shape of the leaves. So one might get the guesses down to 1 out of 500. :) As to fruit, any one fruit has at least 50 other varieties that look just like it. Plus since they are volunteers then they are most likely hybrid throwbacks so wouldn't have a name anyway. All you can do with volunteers is what the rest of us do - let them grow if you want and have the room and see how they taste. Otherwise, pull and toss them and plant varieties that do have a name. Dave |
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| Dave is correct. Identifying a tomato variety from a photo is virtually impossible since there can be a great deal of variance in appearance of a variety in different regions due the the influence of the myriad of factors in growing tomatoes. Even if the tomato was fully ripe and you tasted it, you still couldn't tell. I've had varieties that were delicious one year and bland another because of the variations in growing conditions from one year to the next. Plus taste is subjective, what I think is a good tomato might not please somone else. (There are people who are crazy about yellow pear, and not just children!) And then there are so many tomatoes that look alike, but are definately different in other ways (flavor, leaf type, growth habit). If an "expert" examined your tomato and the plant it came from, they would be able to tell you if the plant were determinate, semi-determinate, or indeterminate; regular leaf, potato leaf, or rugose; perhaps cherry, paste, heart or beefsteak. But if the "expert" was not told what variety that "big fat juicy tomato" was, there is no way to know. The only way to be relatively sure of what tomato you have, is to obtain seed from a reputable source, start them yourself, make sure you label them and do not mix them up.....and even then it might not be correct. Betsy |
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- Posted by ill_gardener 5B (My Page) on Thu, Jul 4, 13 at 14:45
| oh wow.. i did not realize it is so complicated. I wanted to know the variety just to have an idea about how much space it will take. Some of them are already 2-3 ft tall. Anyways.. thanks Dave and Betsy for the insight. Another lesson learned. Sam. |
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| Sam, If you want to keep them, then I suggest that you thin them out so that they are about four feet apart, that way if they are indeterminate they will have plenty of room. If you aren't going to support them and you allow them to sprawl, you might consider six foot spacing (or more) since indeterminates can get to be over six feet tall so you may readily have an impenatrable tomato carpet before the season is over. (Been there, done that!) If you dig them up to transplant them, you may set them back significantly. For an idea on the number of heirloom and open pollinated tomatoes there are, check out the link below. Just remember, that isn't all of them! Betsy |
Here is a link that might be useful: Tatiana's TOMATObase - Heritage Tomatoes
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| I think the plants are very healthy and producing. I would stake them( 5' stakes) and if too close, prune them too. The branches are slim and long between the nodes. This might indicate that they are SMALL FRUITED PLANTS. I personally would be happy with those tomatoes, it does not mater what the names are. |
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| "The branches are slim and long between the nodes. This might indicate that they are SMALL FRUITED PLANTS." Seysonn do you have any links to reputable sources (websites, books, scientific papers, etc.) to back up that statement? I ask because I am truly curious. I was under the (possibly mistaken) impression that internode length was related to a tomato plant being either determinate or indeterminate. Carolyn137's comment in a recent thread on indeterminate behavior : "Specific genesdetermine plant habit of a variety, as in det, indet, Dwarf, etc. by controlling the internode distances, that is, the spaces between on the stem/lateral branches, etc., where blossoms appear." seems to support my impression, but is by no means definitive. Betsy |
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| You aren't mistaken Betsy. Internode length does not indicate type/size of fruit that will be produced. And when dealing with volunteers, especially if hybrid volunteers, it is even less relevant. Dave |
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