Amphibian...
I e-mailed VidaVerde, and received the following comprehensive reply:-
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'Thanks for your email. Its a very good question. Our strain of Latah comes from 10 seeds I got through a Seed Savers Exchange seed swap about 5 years ago. It did superbly in our trials and so we multiplied it up for the catalogue.
In that first year, I did get 1 plant that was different. All the others were identical.
Since then we haven't had a single off-type. I assumed that the 'oddball' one was either a rare crosing or much more likely a 'lost' seed of another variety that got put into the seed packet by mistake (this often happens in seed- swaps).
So the question is, where did your potato leafed latah come from? Especially as some-one else has the same thing.
We grew 1 potato leaved variety last year - Galina, which is a yellow cherry.
There are a few possibilities:
1) Physical mix up of seeds. I think this probably hasn't happened, but it is one obvious explanation. We obviously try really hard to be sure jars, sieves etc are clean before doing the next variety. Very unlikely though.
2) Crossing. Your Latah might come from a flower that crossed with the Galina. Both were growing fairly near to each other. Tomatoes do cross, to a small (and debatable) extent. From what I know of Latah and Galina, I would be surprised if they had crossed, the Latah flowers aren't the right type. But it is definitely possible.
3) 'Reversion' i.e. the entire Latah variety being genetically impure/unstable and settling out to show different types. I think unlikely as we have grown many with no variation over several generations. However this cannot be dismissed as it is a modern variety, with a wide background, and it is perfectly possible that it has a very low-frequency tendency to mutate.
4) Rogues - well that's just a term for ones that don't look like what you want, rather than a cause. Could be any of the above.
My preferred explanation is (2) that they crossed. Your question of 'to bin or not to bin' is a very good one.
If you want Latah, just keep the ones that are all the same. That's how you maintain a variety of course, by rogueing. A little genetic diversity (even by accident)is good, it allows for adapation, but you have to rogue (throw away the ones you dont like) as well.
But if it were me, I would not bin the others. Latah and Galina are some of the very best tomatoes I have ever grown (otherwise they wouldn't be in our catalogue :-). A cross between them could be **awesome**. In fact, if you do keep them, can you send us a few seeds, and let me know what they are like?
I think that creating new varieties is just as important as keeping the old ones alive. And its as easy as spotting something you like and keeping it, provided you select the plants carefully each year.
In this case, even if you have a completely unstable cross, as tomatoes are (mostly!) self-pollinating, you just need to grow it every year and keep the seed from the one plant type that appeals to you. After 8 years you will have a variety that is 99% stable. (the genetics of self-fertilization just work out like that). Name it and give the seed away to your friends!
Ben
PS Please copy this to your email group so the other person gets a reply too!
PPS: What happened to the one 'oddball' plant that I had right at the start? Well, I kept it, to see what it was like, and it was good too. Even better, it was stable. In fact, we multiplied it up and it will be ready for release next year. So its always worth evaluating the odd ones. Most will be rubbish, but over your lifetime a good
gardener can spot quite a few 'happy accidents' and add them to our collective larder!'
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....so I'll carry on and grow the odd-ball potato-leaf Latah, and see what happens, if it survives and fruits, I'll save seed and send some back to VidaVerde.
Are you on for a little comparison experiment? See if we end up with the same size/shape/colour of tomatoes from these potato leafers?
