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appmy

Burpee's Seedless Tomato

appmy
15 years ago

I received the new Burpees catalog today and it has a seedless tomato on the cover. I have seen and grown one or two almost seedless varieties before, but never 100% seedless.

I am curious the history on this one. Thanks

Here is a link that might be useful: My Square Foot Gardening Website

Comments (9)

  • containerted
    15 years ago

    If it's truly a seedless, then from where did they get the seeds??? Sounds like an oxymoron to me.
    :>)
    :>)

  • carolyn137
    15 years ago

    If it's truly a seedless, then from where did they get the seeds??? Sounds like an oxymoron to me.
    :>)
    :>)

    *****

    Sounds to me like a typical parthenocarpic variety, many of which were bred by Dr. James Baggett of OSU, such as Oregon Spring, now retired.

    But there are some naturally parthenocapric varieties as well.

    What it means is that fruits can form in the absence of fertilization of the ovules in the tomato ovary by pollen. Each fertilized ovule becomes a seed under normal circumstances.

    Parthenocarpic varities have few seeds with the first fruits, and you can see little white mishapen non-viable seeds, but as the season progresses, usually a few more seeds are produced that are viable.

    App, you faked me out. I clicked on your link without really reading the title b'c I thought you were going to take me to Burpee to show me what was written, but instead, it took me to you own website. But that's OK b'c I didn't want to go to Burpee anyway.( smile)

    Carolyn

  • appmy
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Sorry for the fake out. I did just look and the Burpee page has been updated. It wasn't a couple of days ago.

    Thank you for the answer!!!

  • HoosierCheroKee
    15 years ago

    They look mushy to me in the Burpee catalog. If I'm gonna eat a cherry tomato, I think I want one that's typical ... two or three wide open cells with lots of gel, juice and seeds. You know, the kind that are dangerous to eat at a sit-down dinner wearing a tie.

  • suze9
    15 years ago

    Carolyn and others, I think this might be the tomato the OP was referring to:

    Sweet Seedless Hybrid

    If so, is it just me, or are there a few seeds in those locules visible in that picture? :-) Especially visible in the enlarged version.

    I have to say, I know some are into seedless or almost seedless tomatoes, but I have never found the amount of seeds to be a primary determining factor on whether I like the taste of a tomato or not. Expection - I think most of the parthenocarpic ones are usually yuk.

    There are plenty I love that are very seedy and juicy, and also several I also love that have very few seeds.

    Two vars I grew this spring that were almost seedless are Japanese Oxheart and Aunt Astrida's Latavian Oxheart. Both were outstanding to superb.

  • carolyn137
    15 years ago

    Tomato Sweet Seedless Hybrid

    NEW The worldÂs first seedless tomato!

    Burpee Exclusive.
    WeÂve come to appreciate seedless watermelons and virtually seedless cucumbers  now the worldÂs first seedless tomato!
    Beyond the lack of seeds to digest, this tomato is first rate for taste. In fact, precisely because there are no seeds to store the sugars for later use, all the sweetness is immediately available for you to enjoy in every rich slice. This is a totally new tomato on every level  the perfect balance of flavor and sweetness, meat and gel, solid firmness and juiciness. And to top it off, the indeterminate plants have a full package of disease resistance to ensure plenty of healthy yields.
    68 Days.

    *****

    The World's First seedless tomato? I think not, far from it.

    No seeds to store sugars for later use? The seed endosperm does have carbohydrate in it that's used for energy once the seed has germinated. That seed energy is used to grow the wee seedling until the first true leaves appear at which time photosynthesis takes over to make the energy compounds that allow for plant growth, fruit maturation, etc.

    I think what I'm trying to say is that I'm a bit, shall we say, underwhelmed with the hype given in the blurb.

    Growing one of the many known parthenocarpic varieties developed by Dr. Baggett will give you the same thing as I see it. Except his are OP, not hybrid. Varieties such as Oregon Spring, Siletz, Santiam, etc.

    And nowhere do they speak to the often mushiness of almost all parthenocarpic varieties, but the tradeoff is fruit set at low temps in the absence of pollenization, as explained in an above post.

    And that's why Dr. Baggett developed these varieties, for good fruit set in the PNW where spring temps often are too low for good pollenization.

    Carolyn

    Carolyn

    Here is a link that might be useful: Parthenocarpic Tomatoes ( Google Search)

  • digdirt2
    15 years ago

    For the past several years Burpee's has thrown some supposedly "unique" "new" tomato on the front cover and then covered it with a bunch of Madison Ave. ad hype which is usually factually wrong and seldom lives up to the claims.

    Personally, I think it's all a marketing effort to recover from much of the negative reviews that Burpee has gotten from experienced gardeners over the past several years.

    Please note that there are many other preferable seed sources than Burpee - especially for tomato seeds.

    Dave

  • jmhewitt
    14 years ago

    well, I'm a sucker!! planted some, will report on how they are....

    surprisingly, seem to be almost the earliest mater in the garden, and I do have Early Girl and Fourth of July planted.

    Michael
    Hampstead, NC

  • pennyrile
    14 years ago

    A friend's father started a pack of the Burpee Sweet Seedless tomatoes this spring and gave me two plants. So, I'm growing one in a container to see what gives. The other one is growing in another friend's garden. Mine already has a few small green tomatoes on it that look very smooth and evenly green. It was one of the first plants to set fruit right behind Ditmarsher, Sun Gold and Indian Stripe, in that order.