Sunday 28 July 2013

Variations on a theme

Can anyone explain to me why the fruits on one single plant can be so very different?

This is a photo of some fruits on a "Russian Black" tomato plant:


So is this. On the same plant, I emphasise.


And what about this for a wierdo?


As you can see, it is not just one fruit that is so deeply ribbed; it is the whole truss.

In the catalogue from which I bought the seeds, the fruits are shown as smooth, like those in the first picture above. Presumably therefore something has gone wrong. Are the wierdly-shaped fruits perhaps a throwback to one of the plant's ancestors? Maybe this is a hybrid variety artificially bred from different types? Or could unusual weather conditions be the cause? This year we had a very cold Spring, but now we have had a long spell of exceptionally hot dry weather.

But variations in weather have evidently not affected the regularity of these "Orkado" tomatoes:


Or these "Sungold" ones:


And these "Zapotec Pleated" ones are supposed to be deeply ribbed:


I'm thinking now about how the "Russian Black" toms will look when they are ripe. Like something from a science fiction film, I expect!

Finally for today, here is a pic of my first ripe tomatoes of the year - two of the little "Maskotka" ones. The plants are heavily laden with fruit now, so hopefully there will be many more of these to harvest in the near future.

8 comments:

  1. Weird - I'd send a photo to the seed supplier and ask them what they think has happened?

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  2. Where's That's Life when you need it. Hope you and Jane are ok. Sending love x

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  3. Some tomatoes will send out double or even triple blossoms initially (more than one blossom all fused together). Beefsteaks do this a lot. They can really play around with what a tomato looks like.

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  4. My tomatoes are doing weird things as well Mark, especially the Black Russian - are they a heritage variety - I don't think they are as stable as modern hybrids.

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  5. Not too sure about the tomato but looks like some sort of virus. Wonder if you should pick the affected ones or leave them? Hard to know.

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  6. Those Tomatoes are okay to eat, Black Russians and some of the other oder heritage types tend to do that when there has been a cold start to their life. I've grown them for 4 years now and always I get some trusses like that. They are delicious! I trawled through your blog it is great! I am from down under (NZ) and it is so strange to see you harvesting stuff that I am just sowing. This post has made me get my skates on and start sowing my Tomatoes, broad beans etc.
    Sharon from http://sharonspatch.blogspot.co.nz

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    1. Thanks for your reassurance about the Russian Black tomatoes, Sharon. Now that I know it is not unusual I won't worry about it.

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