Are they the same varieties? My guess is not.

Fresh seeds always sprout well and can be better than purchased varieties. Purchased varieties may not be as fresh as what you expect.

Seedling size and appearance, regardless of seed age, is usually associated with variety.

T

No they are not the same varieties. The rainbow mix I got from burpee are omars lebanese, dutchman, djena lee's golden girl, golden sunburst, aunt ruby's german green, and black russian. My home grown seeds are Black Krim, Brandywine, and some big orange slicer that I haven't identified. The unknown is a big yellow slicer with faint red streaks throughout. It tasted low acid and had a hint of melon flavor to it. The nursery where I got the plant from didn't know either; they just said that it is a German Beefsteak. These seedlings are actually looking the best.

It is probably impossible to identify by the photo but it is the one out in front.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Most likely, as Trudi said, just differences in variety. Some varieties are more robust in appearance, even as seedlings and some aren't but they all even out in the end. ;)

Dave

Had the same issues.....been saving seed for 3 years....buying more varieties via commercial seed companies....my own seeds are thriving while the newly introduced purchased ones have low sprouting rates and, even among those that sprout, are two weeks behind (in a 4 week period) the others.

As an aside your tomatoes look a lot like the Hillbilly's I grew last year.

as far as my experience with 'store bought' "Seeds from Italy" and "Baker Creek" are the best.

Thanks marullo, I'll keep that in mind. Haven't grown hillbillies before. Those in the picture are mostly brandywine and sweet 100. There are a couple hybrids in there that grew from seed (volunteers), Yuk! The brandywine are ugly, cracked, deformed, and the best tomato that I have ever tasted. BLT's to die for; sliced 1/2" thick.

To stay on subject, here is a picture of seedlings from the yellow melon tasting tomato only after five days from planting the seed; they sprouted after 4 days!

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:230357}}

It is probably impossible to identify by the photo but it is the one out in front.

*****

It is impossible to ID it by a photo other than to say that it's a typical gold/red bicolor. But there are close to 100 varieties of gold/red bicolors that are known, and most of them look pretty much alike.

As for saved seeds, the nice thing is that if you save your own you know exactly what the age is. When buying seed you often see a packed for date but that only means when the seeds were packed, not when they were produced.

Some, but not all seed companies, do germination tests on the seeds they sell. And some companies produce all the seed they sell, some subcontract out for seed production, and some buy wholesale off the shelf and some do a combo of what I've said.

The one place where you can be sure of buying tomato seed that's never more than two years old is Sandhill Preservation, and I can't make that comment for any other company that I know of. iF any of you know any other companies that can make that claim, please let me know.

Carolyn

My friends over at the Wisconsin forum think that this is a "Big Rainbow". Yellow slicer with red streaks throughout, and a distinctive red blotch on the blossom end of the fruit. Mild flavor with a fruity sweetness to it. Just like all of the descriptions I've been reading about the big rainbow. I'm going to try and contact the market where I bought the plants to see if I can find out for sure.