Mini-Me tomatoes.

[Jayb]

Last year Grannyjanny asked if there were any black tomato varieties suitable for baskets/pots. I couldn't think of any at the time. But it did make me think about making a few crosses to try for one.   ;D Being a lover of mini/micro tomatoes it seemed a great way of trying to improve the flavour of some of these little tomatoes.

I made several crosses using Micro tomatoes and Ditmarcher, an early pink basket type, as the female parent. I used several different pollen donors.  These are some of the second generation or F2 plants. A mixture of colours, fruit sizes, growth habits and tastes.
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Nearly all the fruit I have tasted so far has been an improvement on the micro parents. Luckily they have taken many good points from the pollen parents. So far I've several promising chocolate Mini-Me's, one good purple/black Mini-Me (for Granny Janny). An assortment of pink, red, yellow and I think one orange MM.
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The majority of these plants are currently all in the 8 to 15'' height range.

From the Ditmarsher x's (also F2), I'm hoping I might find a couple of basket/tumbley types. But most of these were sown later, time will tell. I do have a few of the older ones just starting to set fruit now, some could be stripy ones which would be lovely  :)

[Jayb]

[grannyjanny]

Wow, you are a very clever girl. Well done ;D & thank you.

[Jeannine]

Well done, you are a great gal. XX Jeannine

[Jayb]

Thanks, and luckily not hard to do  :)

I love the look of this stripy one on a small dwarf, looks a bit like a mini beefsteak.

[Stevens706]

Well done Jayb, wish I had the patients to try these things

[Jayb]

Thanks, I find making tomato crosses quite therapeutic in a way, though doing crosses with the mini tomatoes is a bit fiddly, I'd much rather bigger plants or better still potato flowers! It is fun though watching them grow and it's great not knowing quite what you will be getting ;D

[jesssands]

Those tomatoes look so yummy.

I have got a passion for little sweet tomatoes, eat them like sweets!

[Jayb]

I have got a passion for little sweet tomatoes, eat them like sweets!

Me too, just love them, I can't wait for Sungold toms to ripen  ;D

Some more ripe mini-me tomatoes...a bit suprised to see white ones (parents are yellow x purple/black) which were suprisingly tasty, lots of flavour and nice and sweet too  :) Skin was a tad tough. I'm really looking forward to the next generation of these  :)

[grannyjanny]

They look lovely Jayb ;D.

[Jayb]

Thank you  :)

[susan1]

Wow they look great, have you ever tried a variety called tigrella, grew them about 6 years ago and they were wonderfully sweet and so pretty on the plate, not found any seed in the last couple of years tho , and silly me never saved any seed

[Allotment-junkie]

Tigerella I grow them every year you can get them on ebay 120 for 99p

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TOMATO-TIGERELLA-120-FINEST-SEEDS-/280841980149?pt=UK_HomeGarden_Garden_PlantsSeedsBulbs_JN&hash=item41637c88f5

[Jayb]

Yes I grew some Tigerella toms a few years back, I think I may still have a couple of seeds if you fancy them. But if you like the look of stripy toms (I think they are gorgeous, just so pretty) I've got several other varieties that look super and taste great. Send me a pm if you'd like some seeds  :)

[Jayb]

The dwarf stripy mini-beef is ripening, stripes are green on yellow?
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[Jayb]

Stripy mini-beef now eaten minus the seeds which I've saved. These seeds are crossed with an F1 Micro Tom x Michael Pollan. I really hope I get a few more ripe fruit from this plant to save for seed.

Taste- Quite good, slightly sweet, meaty but juicy, with a lovely tomato taste, not many seeds. Plant is around 18" high looks to be a small  indeterminate dwarf.