AFAIK there is no variety named "Valentine". It sure isn't listed on any of the common tomao databases.

There is a small, plum, salad-type red determinate variety named Valentina, from Russia I believe. Tatiana's Tomatobase lists it but it isn't available in the US.

There is also one "called" Giant Valentine sold by some folks over on eBay - not sure how true it may be. But If Giant Valentine is the one you want then I think the only sure place to get it is from one of the SSE members.

Dave

yes it is the giant Valentine , I don't want to pay a $40 membership for a pack of seeds and I am not sure if I trust ebay sellers.

Thanks
Bob

Some them have good reputations and I have bought from a few in the past. You just have to take care with the ones you choose. Just searched and don't see anyone selling them there now.

But do keep in mind that "Giant" is supposed to be part of the name - Giant Valentine.

Dave

Below is a link to a Google search for this variety. Amazon looks promising, and some are off e-bay, but if bidding for seeds off e-bay the buyer doesnt pay any $40 that I know of.

Hope that helps, at least somewhat,

There are seveal large red plums that look like the pictures of Giant Valentine that I saw when doing the search and I'll name just two.

Ludmilla's Red Plum
Gianinni

And several more, but if the word Valentine is important then those won't do.

Carolyn

Here is a link that might be useful: Giant Valentine Seeds

The Valentine tomatoes are called gianinni tomatoes by brand of seed Dawn was quite right to send you that particular type of seed you may try to contact gurneys for that particular seed as well.

The Valentine tomatoes are called gianinni tomatoes by brand of seed Dawn was quite right to send you that particular type of seed you may try to contact gurneys for that particular seed as well.

%%%%%%%%

Not quite following you above,

Giant Valentine is an F1 hybrid.

Gianinni is the name of a wonderful variety that I got seed from a person in New England and I've SSE listed it and offered in seed offers.

I looked in my SSE Yearbooks and the person who lists Giant Valentine no doubt didn't know it was a hybrid and is listing F2 saved seeds. He's also the same person who was listing Black Pearl, an F1 hybrid from Burpee as a rip off on Black Cherry and was no doubt offering F2 saved seed.

I notified Baker Creek about that one since they had offered it as a stable OP, but pulled it ASAP

Carolyn

There are lots of heart shaped tomatoes --- name it yourself.

the giannini tomato I see around now is more like a pepper tomatoe than the heart shaped ones I remember.
the ones i remember were the size of cherry tomatoes. My grandfather grew them and they do mix real easy with other tomato varieties could these newer giannini tomatoes have crossed with maybe a roma tomato? Honest question and would like to know your thoughts about it.

Barry, I couldn't find your heart. Here's what I did find:

1. Tatiana's TOMATObase just lists this plum (for seed sites, click on the tab):
http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/wiki/Giannini
She's the only one to post who's grown it, and as she's in BC, her sizes tend to be a bit small compared to people farther south.

2. If you can read German (I'm clueless), there's this (the photo looks like Tatiana's plum):
http://www.tomaten-atlas.de/sorten/g/2152-giannini

Nothing whatsoever in Ventmarin (giant French database); Cornell's Vegetable Varieties; Rutgers's tomato list; the database at the site we're not allowed to name or link to; NCSU's Vegetable Cultivar Descriptions for North America (mostly commercial varieties the last time I paid attention to it); Luc Fichot's list; Heirloom Vegetable Archive; Tomatisidan; Tomodori; the other German sites; the Canadian cultivar database; Tomato Index; etc.

Your tomato may have been a local variety people are still growing in that area, but which never came to the attention of anyone who knew how to share it outside the area. You could go to the GW site for that state/area and ask to see if anyone's heard of it. You could also try the other garden/tomato forums out there (which we can't name or link to either). You could try other Internet sites with regional forums (like city-data.com). You could also contact the older and better garden centers in the area.

ty for the reference sites they were very informative even the german language site lol.
and yes it is a hybrid of the roma tomatoe for colder climates. I no longer have the seed we used with the heart shaped fruit and the fruit was the size of a mid sized cherry tomatoe with a sweet tangy flavor. we brought it to Nevada from Oklahoma not really sure where the family got it from before. but do believe it to be a french variety. or italian grape tomato variety as it was described to be a fruit used by roman royality. I will continue to look for it and may be able to locate the original stock again. if I do will either get with you and maybe go in together and purchase from them a few of the seeds for reintroduction of a very flavorful tomato. or buy them myself and send you some of the seeds.