I am curious the history on this one. Thanks

*****

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

Thank you for the answer!!!

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.

NEW The world’s first seedless tomato!

Burpee Exclusive.
We’ve come to appreciate seedless watermelons and virtually seedless cucumbers – now the world’s 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

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

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