P20 Blue Tomato

[falkon]

I just came across this while googling some other types of tomatoes

Blue tomatoes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Blue tomatoes are tomatoes that have been selectively bred to produce high levels of anthocyanin, a pigment responsible for the blue and purple color of several fruits. Anthocyanin has also been identified to possess antioxidant properties.
Researchers at Oregon State University have produced the blue tomatoes using conventional breeding techniques, cross-pollinating domestic tomatoes with wild varieties that exhibit the "Anthocyanin fruit" (Aft) gene. High-anthocyanin tomatoes have also been developed using gene splicing techniques, incorporating genes from snapdragons to increase the anthocyanin levels.

Has anybody tried these varieties ?

[bronwen]

Wow, they look very intriguing! I haven't heard about them before, thanks for sharing the link falkon.

I am growing yellow and red cherry toms this year... and I really want to try white cherry toms too

Some of the coloured crops I am trying this year include: yellow beans, purple carrots, red spring onions, rainbow chard! I want purple peppers...

The variety of amazing colours, shapes and types of fruit and veg really captivate and inspire me to grow.

[timethatthetaleweretold]

Wow, they look very intriguing! I haven't heard about them before, thanks for sharing the link falkon.

I am growing yellow and red cherry toms this year... and I really want to try white cherry toms too

Some of the coloured crops I am trying this year include: yellow beans, purple carrots, red spring onions, rainbow chard! I want purple peppers...

The variety of amazing colours, shapes and types of fruit and veg really captivate and inspire me to grow.

I like funny coloured veg too.

My garden doesn't include blue tomatoes, but I am giving "Purple Beauty" peppers a try.
Unfortunately they seem to be an incredibly slow-growing variety and are still teeny dwarf plants, with barely one set of true leaves despite being sown back in january.
My red peppers sown at the same time are big and starting to flower.

THere's the rub...
I guess odd-coloured veg tends to have some kind of disadvantage (e.g. slow growth, lower yields) which is why it's not popular.



My coloured chard reverted to green-only after a couple of generations. Not sure why.
But it's still delicious.

btw falkon,
are those guys at Oregon University making genetically modified tomatoes?
"Gene Splicing" sounds like the kind of technique not ordinarily used by normal gardeners like us.

I wonder if Flummery is using "gene splicing" to perfect the peas she's working on.

[zazen999]

I have some Blue OSUs growing......I have no idea whether they ARE blue or not but they are one of the fastest growing of my seedlings......will report back on taste later.

[timethatthetaleweretold]

Sorry Falkon, I misread the article you posted.

The Blue OSU tomatoes are not GMOs made from gene splicing but conventionally bred.

I wish success to any growing them this year.

[zazen999]

I checked that before sowing! Don't want GMO's in my patch!

[FROSTYFRECKLE]

Growing OSU Blue and Blue Berry tomatoes this year. Don't know what they taste like but I'll shall soon see. OSU Blue parentage is mix of a blue wild tomato and a red tomato.

[mcsee]

I have a friend here that grew Blueberry this season, which grow as a Purplish/Blue shouldered fruit while green, but eventually go red. I think he described the taste as 'mediocre'.

[bronwen]

Zazen and Frostyfreckle... where did you get them from? I'd be very interested to try them!

[Flummery]

As I understand it (however, I often MISunderstand stuff!) the degree of blueness depends on the degree of ripening and the temperature. I was on a forum last year and the Americans were growing the OSU blue and got results from a bit iffy to great depending on where they were. We're not in the best tomato ripening part of the world!

Gene splicing? It was fiddly enough flower splicing!

[zazen999]

Zazen and Frostyfreckle... where did you get them from? I'd be very interested to try them!

Mine were from a seed circle on another forum

[FROSTYFRECKLE]

Got my seeds from Annapolis Seeds

[bronwen]

Thanks for your responses

[Bramble_killer]

Gene splicing? It was fiddly enough flower splicing!

I splice genes all the time It's really simple when you get down to it. I don't do it on plant genes though, I work on human genes.

[Lotsaveg]

I gro Black cherry tomatoes from Thompson & Morgan each year. They're not quite as dark as those P20 blue's though. They have a fantastic sweet flavour though.

I recall seeing GM tomatoes using snapdragon genes on the news a couple of years ago here in the UK.. Now off to google a link....

Here it be:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7688310.stm