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Oklahoma Gardening

Tiny Toms Tomatoes

14 years ago

Does anyone know where I can buy Tiny Tom Tomato plants in the OKC area? I would love to have these for my container garden. Thank you in advance for your assistance!

Okiemomx2

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Comments (3)

Okiedawn OK Zone 7
14 years ago
The only tomato variety named "Tiny Tom" that I know of is an Australian variety and I've never seen them for sale here. I don't even think I've ever seen seeds of these available here. Some of the very small tomato plants suitable even for exceptionally small containers include Tiny Tim, Micro Tom, Red Robin, Orange Pixie, Yellow Canary, Small Fry, Florida Basket, Tumbling Tom Red and Tumbling Tom Yellow (the two tumbling varieties are ideal for hanging baskets). Of those, you might find Tiny Tim, Small Fry, Florida Basket or either of the Tumbling Toms in a nursery if it carries a really large selection of varieties.

If you are looking for a tomato that would do well in a 5-gallon container, there are many although you are unlikely to find many of them in a commercial nursery. You might find Window Box Roma or Husky Red Cherry available commercially, or for full-sized tomatoes from a determinate plant, New Big Dwarf is an outstanding one, and I see it every now and then in stores. Any tomato described as a Determinate probably could be grown in a 5-gallon container.

In case you are interested in seeing some of the smaller varieties available from seed, I've linked the website of the Tomato Growers Supply Company. All the tomatoes in the linked section produce small-fruit, but not all of them are container-sized plants. Still, it gives you a good idea of what is available from seed. The selection in stores is significantly smaller.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Small-fruited Varieties from TGSC
okiemomx2
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you so much for your helpful information. I will try to find one of the plants that you suggested.
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I can only reiterate what anney has said so well. The plants you named are indeterminate varieties - big, vining, 6-8 foot plants. The plants shown in all the pics above are determinates - bush, dwarf, and compact plants. That is a crucial difference. They really cannot be compared and indeterminate varieties will not grow in a 1 gallon container. They will quickly become root bound and stressed to the point of disease and no production. Check out the Growing Tomatoes forum here (linked on the front page) for all sorts of posts from folks trying to grow in 5 gallon buckets and all the problems they are having. If a 5 gallon is full of problems how good could a 1 gallon possibly be? We're just trying to save you some wasted work and problems. But you are welcome to try of course. That is the best way to learn for yourself. ;) Dave
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Hi, yipla, I have 5 Red Robin seeds, which I'll be glad to send you. Check out my list, linked below to see if there are any others listed that you'd like. I am in the process of giving away the seeds I know I won't grow again, and I do see one variety on your list I'd like -- Prudens Purple. So, if five Red Robin Seeds are worth a trade, email me, and we'll make arrangements. Here is a link that might be useful: List of seeds I have
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George Curtis Spoon tomatoes? That I don't understand at all. ( smile) The variety Spoon was first introduced by Park Seed Co many many years ago and called Spoon b'c they showed them in a real spoon to show how small they were. They were and are currant tomatoes. The Wild Everglades one, seeds sold for a fortune online with so much hype it's ridiculous, which has been discussed here quite a bit, are also red currant tomatoes. Currant tomatoes are a different species than our regular garden tomatoes. Cherry tomato are much larger and are not currants. I've grown quite a few red currant ones, some named, some not, and my experience was that there wasn't a heck of a lot of difference between them as to taste, productivity, etc. Currant tomatoes at least half of them, have what's called an exherted stigma, which means the stigma sticks up above the pollen bearing anthers, so those have to be pollinated by insects. In the development of more modern tomatoes, retraction of the stigma was part of the process so that almost all of our regular tomatoes self pollinate. DIStances are given here and there as to how far away any currants should be grown from other types so as to lessen the possibility of insect mediated X pollination, but one person I know, and he knows a lot, says he'd be more concerned about the regular tomatoes X pollinating the currants. What I prefer to grow is a variety called Sara's Galapagos which is not a pure currant, but is the same size, and is probably a natural stabilized cross between a currant and something else, as shared with me by Dr. Chatelet at the Rick Center when I asked him about it. Yes, they are lots of fun for kids to pick, and even for we adults, but it's easier to just let one truss ripen up and pick the whole truss rather than picking individual fruits. Hope that helps. Carolyn
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I haven't grow Coyote but I know some folks like it and others don't. it's never been clear to me from the entries in the SSE Yearbooks whether Coyote is or is not a true currant altho many folks assume so. Only recently has it been moved from the regular yellow/orange listings to the other species listings in the Yearbook. Original seeds were sent to Craig LeHoullier by Dominga ( Maye) Clement from Vera Cruz, Mexico. There's been a lot of DNA sequencing going on with presumed true currants and the results on many have shown that not all are true currants, but all have wee fruits. My feeling is that if you want those wee fruits, no sense in worrying about whether it's a true currant or not. I have grown several different currant tomatoes and they aren't all the same as to taste. My current currant fave is Sara's Galapagos, seeds available at Sandhill Preservation, which has a huge burst of flavor. It's probably a stable interspecies cross, according to Dr. Chatelet at the TGRC whom I consulted about it and probably isn't a true currant, but the fruits are the same wee size as true currants and the taste is huge. Some currant varieties have exherted stigmas which means they have to be insect pollinated which means there could be a greater chance of X pollination with other varieties you're growing, if you do save seeds and don't bag blossoms or isolate geographically. But I know one person who says he's more worried about his other tomato varieties X pollinating with his currants. I'm conservative, and since I don't know apriori which currants have exherted stigma's and which don't, I grow my currants far away from my other varieties. There are red, yellow and white currants and there used to be some pink ones as well, but no more. Carolyn
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Okiedawn OK Zone 7
14 years ago
You're welcome.

Good luck finding a plant suitable for your container.

And, I forgot to mention Sweet Baby Girl which is a mid-sized plant that has red cherry tomatoes. It is a fairly recent introduction (within the last 10 years, probably) so you might find it in a nursery.

Dawn

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