tomato seeds

[lottie dolly]

hi has anyone grown toms kalidoscope jewel,,they are apparently a hairloom variety,i was thinking that the saved seeds will grow true,only i have got some seeds i saved from a few,a friend growing,no seed pkt for ref.,they are a lovely tom,and did not want to waist time,if i need to order a pkt in,thank you

[Jungle Jane]

They’re pretty tomatoes I haven’t grown them but had a look online it says they are heirloom,your saved seeds should grow true to type

[lottie dolly]

Thank you,that was my thoughts,we will give it a go,

[quanglewangle]

I've always been reluctant to use saved seed for tomatoes.

I sure they work but I only have room for a handful of plants and they get a lot of effort spent on them so they have to all come through and come true.

[nick the grief]

saving your own seed is a fascinating hobby. It saves you a few bob for the cost of seeds and in my experience you usually get better germination than bought seed for several reasons.

• its probably fresher - you don't know how old the seed you buy is just when it was packed.
• if you continue to save your own seed you end up selecting a variety that isadjusted for your local growing conditions - Most seed is produced in places like Italy.

you have to be careful when saving that you don't get in advertant crosses so I'm lucky I have two greenhouses and grow the ones I want to save on their own in the small one but you can make a small frame covered in fine mesh and a few maggots in a tub so the hatch in to blow flies - they'll do the pollination for you and don't sting like bees. Just save from the best plants and you should be OK.

[ameno]

Tomatoes usually self-pollinate and don't actually require insect pollination, so crosses are actually quite uncommon (although obviously not impossible). So as long as you are growing an open-pollinated variety, not an F1, then it should come true from seed even if you have different varieties nearby.
The same is not true of the related pepper and aubergine, though. They are both insect pollinated, and so will readily cross.

[Bren In Pots]

I've been saving my Black cherry tom seeds since 2012 and they've never failed to germinate and produce lots of toms.

At least I know what i'm getting unlike the Black Russian from T&M (GYO mag seeds) but they did offer a different packet of toms as a replacement when i sent them the photos.

[quanglewangle]

I've been saving my Black cherry tom seeds since 2012 and they've never failed to germinate and produce lots of toms.

At least I know what i'm getting unlike the Black Russian from T&M (GYO mag seeds) but they did offer a different packet of toms as a replacement when i sent them the photos.

This is interesting and a bit worrying.

I am changing my mind somewhat over saving seed but can't do it this year because I want to change the variety I grow.

I had nievely believed that seed from well known suppliers would be the variety claimed.

I suppose if I limit myself to F1 seeds then I have a better chance of getting the right ones.

[Bren In Pots]

QW I posted about the seeds here, 3 other members replied to say their toms seeds turned out not to be Black Russians.

https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...09#post2531109

[quanglewangle]

QW I posted about the seeds here, 3 other members replied to say their toms seeds turned out not to be Black Russians.

https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...09#post2531109

I've read through the thread but found it hard to pull together any conclusions other than, as you say., Black Russians are sometimes mislabelled, or at least contaminated with other varieties.