robynanne said:Burpee replied back to my request for the official cultivar name by telling me they didn't understand my question and that they don't sell things with 'hidden' names.

Well, at least you are getting tomatoes. Burpee does have some tried and true excellent well known tomato varieties. But I guess not this one.

crawgarden said:

Berkeley Pink Tye-Dye, great flavor, it started out at $8.00 per tomato! : )

I am sure I still have seeds for Berkeley Pink Tye-Dye, I think I might have to grow it again myself next season as it is such a stunning tomato.

Newyorkrita said:

Well, at least you are getting tomatoes. Burpee does have some tried and true excellent well known tomato varieties. But I guess not this one.

the plant is huge and healthy, makes a ton of tomatoes, and the tomatoes are delicious. Granted, they are the only home grown ones I've had so there's that. :)

Actually, based on:
1) The picture doesn't match the tomatoes - this is for both me and that weird forum post I found online from 2008. The picture is these little oval cherry tomatoes that you could easily find in a store and the actual tomatoes are bigger than golf balls with more squared off shoulders and coming to a pointed tip on the end.
2) They ONLY exist in 2008. The Burpee person told me she couldn't find them in the 2007 or 2009 catalog and mysteriously couldn't find her 2008 catalog.
3) They are really amazing tomatoes

based on those three things what I suspect happened was as said above, they had some set of seeds that wasn't selling well, they slapped a market name on the package and some intern put together a stock photo for it, and shipped it out. They realized what a mistake they made by dressing a winner up in generic packaging and promptly sold it the next year correctly. That's my guess anyway, I don't really know. I suspect I won't ever know. Feel free to take guesses on the tomato's actual parentage.

robynanne said:

the plant is huge and healthy, makes a ton of tomatoes, and the tomatoes are delicious. Granted, they are the only home grown ones I've had so there's that. :)

Actually, based on:
1) The picture doesn't match the tomatoes - this is for both me and that weird forum post I found online from 2008. The picture is these little oval cherry tomatoes that you could easily find in a store and the actual tomatoes are bigger than golf balls with more squared off shoulders and coming to a pointed tip on the end.
2) They ONLY exist in 2008. The Burpee person told me she couldn't find them in the 2007 or 2009 catalog and mysteriously couldn't find her 2008 catalog.
3) They are really amazing tomatoes

based on those three things what I suspect happened was as said above, they had some set of seeds that wasn't selling well, they slapped a market name on the package and some intern put together a stock photo for it, and shipped it out. They realized what a mistake they made by dressing a winner up in generic packaging and promptly sold it the next year correctly. That's my guess anyway, I don't really know. I suspect I won't ever know. Feel free to take guesses on the tomato's actual parentage. :)

Yup, I think we will never know.

But I think you will find that as you try even more selections and varieties that there are many amazing tomatoes out there.

This was their last reply. I guess that closes that issue out.

"It looks like 'Salad Sweet' was the name, there isn't an actual and a market name. It would not be a description, the description is that it is a grape type. It is probably no longer available if you can't find it anywhere (I can't either). Unfortunately we cannot tell the parentage, but that would not help because those seeds would also not be available. Many parents are not named varieties and are not available to the public.

It does not look like this was a hybrid so it should come true from seed. It's great than the seeds were viable, maybe try saving some at the end of the season?"

So they are guessing that it is not a hybrid. Really!!!

Newyorkrita said:So they are guessing that it is not a hybrid. Really!!!

Yeah, that one kinda surprised me. She didn't say why she thought it wasn't. I'm fine with saving seeds and seeing what happens. I didn't bag anything so cross pollination is always possible, though these were the only blooms in the garden at the time the first ones started. I also have more seeds in the package. I mean, if they grew in 2016 from 2008, what's one more year?

Anyone interested in a Hybridizing forum? If so, please weigh in on this thread.

The thread "Anyone interested in adding a Hybridizing forum? Good idea?" in Site Talk forum

On the Salad Sweet, I can find no current reference. Burpee is noted for packaging obscure varieties for thier seed racks. These do not appear in their catalogs. For current varieties there is usally a code on the package and you can get whatever info is available by searching using the code number or e-mail address on the package. Probably not for seed as old as 2008. Since it was packaged in France, highly probable that it is a Vilmorin product. Unfortunately at that point in time, Vilmorin was acquiring seed developers at a rapid rate and then consolidating their offering. Competing varieties were discontinued and the stock sold bargain retailers. Here is a little history of the French based company. http://www.saveseeds.org/compa...

robynanne said:

Yeah, that one kinda surprised me. She didn't say why she thought it wasn't. I'm fine with saving seeds and seeing what happens. I didn't bag anything so cross pollination is always possible, though these were the only blooms in the garden at the time the first ones started. I also have more seeds in the package. I mean, if they grew in 2016 from 2008, what's one more year?

Hey. I didn't bag my seeds either. And if in fact yours does turn out to be hybrid then it it would probably not be exactly true from seed anyway.

Tomato seeds last a really, really long time. I started seeds this spring that were packed for 2010. They grew just fine.

robynanne said:Burpee replied back to my request for the official cultivar name by telling me they didn't understand my question and that they don't sell things with 'hidden' names.

>> 2) They ONLY exist in 2008. The Burpee person told me she couldn't find them in the 2007 or 2009 catalog and mysteriously couldn't find her 2008 catalog.

Snort!

Now I feel better about having such a low opinion of Burpee. Some good seeds and even good varieties, but after buying from vendors that treat customers with respect, I certainly won't go back THERE.

>> Unfortunately we cannot tell the parentage, ...
>> It does not look like this was a hybrid so it should come true from seed.

She has no idea what the parents are, but if you want it to be OP, then it must be OP. That gives me zero confidence, but if I were you, I would still save some seeds and try them again next year, as an experiment through which I might get lucky.

1. They might BE OP, and then you have a winner strain. If there's no way to ID it, you HAVE to name it after yourself!

2. They might be F1 hybrids that come "pretty close" as F2s, then a medley as F3s. Oh, well! You can still have the F2 crop for 3-10 years if you save enough seeds the first year, and store them dry.

3. They might be F1 hybrids that come out as crummy mongrels even as F2s. Oh, well, uproot the plants and toss the F2 seeds.

Take plenty of photos and compare them to seed catalogs, testing whatever looks close. If you test one new variety per year, you might have a hobby that lasts many years. And might find OTHER good tomatoes meanwhile!

Unfortunately, "France" only means they were grown and collected in France, not that they are popular inj France, originated in France, or have a recognized name that looks or hints "French".

If you want to go to GREAT lengths, some people take cuttings from adult tomato plants and overwinter them. Then set the cloned plants out again next spring. If you did that, you could collect tomatoes and F2 seeds for another year (if the F2 seeds are worth planting).

When I read Plant ID threads, I always wish there was a lab like NCIS that did DNA-sequencing on plants. Like a paternity test.


>> dressing a winner up in generic packaging

I think you're right about that.

Here is a picture of the inside of these sweet salad tomatoes. My daughter is so excited that we are nearly the only people with this tomato. Lol. I've got some seeds to grow next year so we'll see if the characteristics are stable. She wants to come up with a name for it if it is stable.

The other pictures are just for reference. Knock on wood, but no blight issues here either for this plant.

I agree with your daughter! If the name is lost, then in effect, for everyone except the Burpee marketing trolls, it is a "lost variety".

Are you going to save any seeds from this year's crop, just hoping it is a stable variety?

I had a great time when a relative of Mr. Schochler (who developed and marketed his own watermelon all over the South, [i]Citrullus lanatus[/u] 'Schochler') wanted to find some seeds so she could bring back the family's namesake watermelon.

I couldn't find any vendor or University with seeds. The USDA / ARS seed bank did not have it! And it was a major commercial variety decades ago.

Finally, the Vavilov Institute in Russia (a seed bank) had seeds ! The researcher handling that part of the bank (Irina Gashkova) was willing, but needed permission from her director, Nicolay Dzubenko , who wanted a request from a more reputable organization. I got Dr. Todd Wehner from NCSU – Raleigh to request them, but it died there.

Fortunately, Baker Creek found some seeds and offered them commercially! So the grand-daughter-in-law of old man Schochler got the seeds in the end.

I've got seeds fermenting now Rick! We're going to grow those next year and see if they come out the same. Here's hoping!

robynanne said:I've got seeds fermenting now Rick! We're going to grow those next year and see if they come out the same. Here's hoping!

I think maybe Burpee re named those seeds but now no one will ever know the original name as Burpee themselves either doesn't know or will not tell.

It hope it is stable or OP so you can grow it again.

Great, Robyn! More power to you and your daughter!

Thanks Rick!

I'm trying saving tomato seeds for the first time. (The most popular variety of those I give away: I'm out of commercial seeds.)

I'm rather lost. . . . (Hint hint: HELP!!! )

The internet sources say the sign of fermentation is when the top looks "scummy" (average of 5-7 days @ 70 degrees but longer if colder), so then decant, rinse repeatedly and spread seeds on a paper plate to dry.

What does "scummy" look like???? I keep my home @ 70, it's been 8 days, the liquid looks cloudy. . . .





















11-

BetNC -- they should get quite a fuzzy layer on the top... unless you've been stirring them up regularly, which is also okay, and then they won't get that layer.

Just wondering, though, since we're in the hybrid tomato thread... is the variety that you saved seed from open pollinated? If it's a hybrid it likely won't grow out as the same tomato that you saved the seeds from.

BetNC said:I'm trying saving tomato seeds for the first time. (The most popular variety of those I give away: I'm out of commercial seeds.)

I'm rather lost. . . . (Hint hint: HELP!!! )

The internet sources say the sign of fermentation is when the top looks "scummy" (average of 5-7 days @ 70 degrees but longer if colder), so then decant, rinse repeatedly and spread seeds on a paper plate to dry.

What does "scummy" look like???? I keep my home @ 70, it's been 8 days, the liquid looks cloudy. . . .
-

8 days? I only leave mine for 3 days. Some gets more stuff on top than others but they all do get cloudy and the liquid stinks.