I planted some Black Krim tomato seeds which are now about 4" tall. However, I noticed a couple of them have the potato leaf look and a couple do not. Therefore, is this a potato leaf variety, and did my seed source get things mixed (or is it normal for there to be some leaf variation from one plant to another)?
Thanks--

Black Krim is regular leaf (RL), so if you got some seedlings with potato leaf (PL) there's no way of really knowing what they might be.

Possibly croseed seeds, possibly the result of mutation(S), just no way to know for sure. IF you grow out both the RL seedlings and some PL seedlings you might know more once the fruits mature, but even then, not always for sure.

Did you purchase the seeds or were they sent to you as a trade?

Carolyn

Carolyn,
I purchased the seeds through heirloomseeds.com. I have a total of 5 plants and most are the standard varigated tomato leaf. However, two of them have a singular simple leaf (potato?) that do not resemble the others. I can post pics if necessary.

It is quite likely that you have a different variety of tomato plants growing among your Black Krim plants but at this size plant it may be hard to see the true potato leaf trait expressed. You may just have some other regular leafed plants that have a different shaped leaf from others.

I just looked at some of my 4" plants (all regular leaf hybs.) and the leaf shape (and color) differences are amazing between varieties. Tami G, for instance, has a rounded leaf that could be mistaken for potato leaf.

Since the potato leaf is a recessive trait if you really have plants expressing it then you are in tough situation. That would deminish the odds of a chance cross-pollination and tend to indicate a seed mixup. Sadly this is a relatively increasinly common occurance with smaller seed companies.

Thanks for the info. I am not really sure that they are potato leaf, but the ones in question have a single rounded leaf at the end of each stem. The other black krim have three leaves at the end of each stem. Maybe I just won't plant the former ones just to be safe.

Thanks for the info. I am not really sure that they are potato leaf, but the ones in question have a single rounded leaf at the end of each stem. The other black krim have three leaves at the end of each stem. Maybe I just won't plant the former ones just to be safe.

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Maybe plant one of each to see what you get.

With PL foliage it isn't the leaf shape as much as the nature of the leaf margin that's important in deciding whether you have a PL or RL plant.

And as Bmoser said, and I agree, sometimes you can't tell if a plant is PL or RL until they may be as tall as 3-4 true leaves tall, well that last part of this sentence is me talking, not Bmoser.

And when you know for sure what you have, if you do have PL Black Krim you might want to contact heirloom seeds and let them know about it.

Although at another site someone got all PL Watermelon Beefsteak seedlings from seeds purchased there and when they wrote to tell them that they had found out that it should be RL, which is correct, the e-mail back said, but we've always had PL Watermelon Beef and if you'd like to select anouther variety.......

Fact is, the PL WB was distributed by Seeds by Design in CA to several places and fact is I used to do a Wrong varieties thread here at GW, and that's when it popped up, and I let Tom at Heirloomseeds know about it then.

The same PL WB was also being sold by Baker Creek and I let him know about it as well. I don't know what Jere is selling re WB these days.

Carolyn
Carolyn

I just did a search for "Black Krim Potato Leaf" and this thread popped up. I have this exact same situation, although my seeds came from pinetree. I germinated 7 Black Krim seeds and 6 are regular leaf and 1 is a potato leaf. It is currently about 7 inches tall and has several true leaves. The other weird thing about it is that one of the first true leaves that came in, while a potato leaf, is not like the rest of the potato leaves. It is much smoother, and does not have the additional leaves that give it that "gloved" look. Essentially, it stands out like a sore thumb amongst the rest of the leaves. It's kind of strange, but I'm definitely growing it out to see what I get.

Stacie

Hi Stacie. I went ahead and planted out a couple of different leaf shapes from these seeds and they are all doing well. Actually, the one with the largest leaves (though maybe not potato shaped) seems to be the most productive. I have it pictured at the bottom of this blog I wrote. This plant is now over 3' tall and has at least 25 tomatoes on it. The other 3 black krims have many blossoms and tiny tomatoes starting, but they don't seem to be as "early" as this one.

Here is a link that might be useful: Black Krim tomato plant

Hopefully this doesn't double post...

I have been growing BKs for about 10 years and have been saving seed as long. Therefore, all the seeds I have used are my own. That said, one year I had a Black Krim Pear, that grows true from it's own seed, and this year I have my first PL Black Krim. I am growing 10 of them and they all came from the same tomato, from the same year, only one is PL. This is a first for me after growing them true (except for the pear) for many years.