long-lasting fruit

[Diane Whitehead]

I am not writing about the ones that don't ripen until the whole plant is hung up and they ripen through the winter.

My long-keepers are usually small and ripen normally through the summer, so are eaten then. Before the first frost (sometimes October, sometimes November) I pick all the remaining fruit and keep it in a cool place in the house. The one I have grown for decades is one of Tim Peters - Sweet Orange 2. We would eat it through December and January. One year I wanted to see how long it would last so no one was allowed to eat the last few. They were good until early April.

I have discovered another. Brad's Atomic Grape is still good. I'm not eating the last one so I can see how long it lasts.It is starting to get some wrinkles, so I guess it will be eaten tomorrow.

Brad's Atomic Grape has been given a whole page in Baker Creek's The Whole Seed Catalog 2020. Their headline says: Our Best Tasting Tomato.

Austin's Red Pear was good till March.

[dfollett]

We ought to try to cross some of those into these micros. I have some seeds from Spain that are supposed to be long keepers. I will grow some this summer and make some crosses. I wonder if it is the same gene. One grower who is growing one of the crosses, has said she sees some that seem to last way longer than normal. She is working to confirm and stabilize that trait. I can't remember which line it she was growing. It seems like it was here she first mentioned it, but I'm not sure.

[Diane Whitehead]

There is an excellent article on the Frogsleap Farms blog: http://frogsleapfarm.blogspot.com Breeding Strategies for Improving Shelf Life in Tomatoes

There are several genes involved in fruit ripening - rin. (ripening inhibitor ) nor. (non-ripening) alc (alcobaca, the one the Spanish long-keepers have). dfd (delayed fruit deterioration - Cornell has put a patent on this one). nr (never ripe). gr. (green ripe)

Frogsleap is breeding for extended shelf life.

They seem to have stopped posting on their blog, which has other excellent articles, and have moved to Facebook I think.

[dfollett]

Yes, they are on Facebook.

Does the long keeping variety you are referencing fit with anything he talks about in that blog post? From what I read, some of the long keeping genes will do us no good in trying to get an open pollinated variety with the trait. Some only help with they are heterozygous, which works for what he is after. He is looking primarily to find hybrids he can sell seed for.

I have some of the Spanish seeds he references. I have 7 different varieties. If anyone wants some, either to make crosses with or just to grow outside for their own use, let me know. I'd be happy to share seed. Some are supposed to do much better when grown with very little water. I didn't have a way to water-starve mine so I don't know how much difference that makes. Most of the varieties were too late for my climate. One variety was a great producer and just ready to start ripening when frost hit. Six of the seven did ripen some fruit and I saved seed from them.

The conversations I had with the guy from Spain who sent me the seed and another breeder in Nova Scotia were all lost on Tomatoville when Mischka ran me off. They gave me detailed information about the different varieties and how to grow them to maximize their keeping qualities. Bummer.

Mark (Frogsleap) is also starting to breed micros. I don't know if it is just so he has more to play with off-season or if he is serious about them. It will be fun to watch someone with his knowledge get into this area.

[Diane Whitehead]

Mine obviously do not have any of the non-ripening genes, because they do ripen normally. They don't crack when our fall rains begin (we have no rain all summer). So I think they are long lasting because they have a strong structure. Maybe they have dfd (delayed fruit deterioration)

From Mark's blog:
ESL, or extended shelf life, - a collection of traits that together extend the time between picking ripe fruit, and its deterioration
- a ripening related spike in polygalacturonase (PG) and other enzymes degrade fruit cell wall polysaccharides.
-cuticle composition and architecture also influence ripening-induced fruit softening

[dfollett]

I assume they are full-size indeterminates. Try crossing them into some of the micros you are growing.

[Diane Whitehead]

I don't think that will be useful, as the micros don't produce so abundantly that I'll have more fruit than I can eat as soon as it ripens.

[dfollett]

That makes sense in a practical way - more valuable when you have an over abundance in the fall.......

[Diane Whitehead]

However, some of the pictures posted here show multiple fruit. My plants stand upright like sturdy little trees with one wee tomato up top.