heirloom Tomatos

19 years ago

Is it ok to plant heirloom Tomatos near other kinds of tomatos? Lets say Brandywine next to Beefstake, would they cross pollinate each other and screw up the fruit?

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

fusion_power
19 years ago
Please go to the tomato forum and review the FAQ's link at the top of the page. There is also a current thread on cross pollination in the tomato forum.

In a nutshell, the fruit is not affected even if two varietes cross. The seed can be affected so if you grow seed of Brandywine for example, you could wind up with a regular leaf plant. Tomatoes normally cross at a relatively low rate of about 5%. Under some conditions though, this can be much higher.

Fusion
0
joanelaine
17 years ago
I intend to plant Brandywine tomatoes this year( I bought some plants today).
I was just told that this tomato was very susceptible to disease (some kind of mold?) and that if this disease infected my garden then I would have to abandon that plot of ground because it would infect other plants.. Does any of this make sense?
0
Related Discussions
HAVE: Many Heirloom Tomatoes, looking for Heirloom Peppers
Q
Comments (20)
Please check this list of everything I have, and let me know if you're interested in any if it. I do have photos of most. http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/exseed/msg1113040224813.html You have lots of tomatos I'd like to try! Thanks!
...See More
HAVE: Heirloom Tomato for pepper seed trade (have tomato/want pe
Q
Comments (3)
pepperdude@live.com should work. I put the email address in my message. It's not in my profile if that's where you looked...sorry for the confusion if so.
...See More
heirloom tomato book vs heirloom tomato book
Q
Comments (6)
I think I have answered this in another forum, but I think both books are great. Someone else pointed that Goldman's book has stuff such as recipes that are not present in Carolyn's book. On the other hand, Carolyn's book does work better as a field guide for maters, as it has presentations of each type of mater, and it's foilage, plus it's size and format are more for usage, and less for coffee table viewing. If you gotta buy one, I can't make that call for you. Carolyn's seed sources are a little out-dated, which she has stated herself I believe. Other than that, her book is a great read and is very useful to have, as is Goldman's book. Good luck.
...See More
Website where people rated their favorite heirloom tomatoes
Q
Comments (5)
Give Kellogg's Breakfast and Supersweet 100 a try. Great tomatoes
...See More
digit
17 years ago
Once again, Joanelaine, I think the best advice would be to go to the Tomato forum and do a search of "brandywine soil disease" or "brandywine soil blight" (without the quotation marks).

Brandywine tomatoes are a HUGELY popular heirloom but I've not grown it because of my short season. There are plenty of newer disease-resistant hybrid varieties. However, I think that it would be far more likely that diseases currently in your garden soil would be more of a threat to your Brandywine than any possible jeopardy your tomato plants would have for future gardens.

Steve
0
poodlepup
17 years ago
I have been growing Brandywines for eight or ten years now, and I have never seen any indication of disease.
My Brandywines are the most robust of all the varieties I grow, and they give the most fruit
0
kubotabx2200
17 years ago
I am growing Brandywine right next to Beefmaster hybrid. I have never had a problem mixing heirloom and hybrid varieties in the same bed.
0
digit
17 years ago
Well, I didn't think that crossing was likely either and have regularly saved heirloom tomato seed. I knew that there was some question regarding currant tomatoes was all.

However, Zeedman did a fine job on GW's veggie forum recently explaining how it can and does take place. As notes Zeedman - -

"However, some tomatoes are very prone to crossing:
(1) Potato-leaf varieties
(2) Currant tomatoes
(3) Double blossoms of large tomatoes (usually some of the first of the season)
(4) Varieties whose blossoms have a protruding style/stigma"

Steve

Here is a link that might be useful: How did Great . . . Grandmother avoid crosses?
0