Captain Family results - second from left Sun Gold hybrid, then Captain F1, and two F2 selections - potato leaf, and regular leaf

It is time to begin my review of my 2025 season. I will start with tomatoes, divided into a number of parts. This first part will be quite complex, as it will detail work done on a number of breeding projects - some new, some ongoing. I hope you enjoy reading these blogs. I will include as many pictures as possible.

Tomatoes in the first pic above sliced - Rosella Cherry is on the left (not part of my 2025 garden projects, but grown on recommendation of a friend)

The Captain project - In 2024, I crossed pollen from Sun Gold F1 hybrid onto a flower of Captain Lucky - this created what I call the Captain project. I did a test planting in 2024 to confirm that the cross took (regular leaf seedlings). Though I grew out one plant late in 2024, the large cherry tomatoes were ripened indoors. This at least gave me some seeds to send out for growing by project volunteers this year.

This year I grew Captain (Sun Gold F1 X Captain Lucky) F1 again so that I could get an accurate evaluation, as well as save lots of seeds. The center pictures above shows the comparison between the male parent, Sun Gold F1, and the hybrid. The large pale orange cherry tomatoes were quite tasty, best when very ripe. The rosy center flesh was very attractive. The quality of the hybrid really isn’t important, as it is what happens when the save seeds were grown that leads to new, promising, interesting varieties. As to the size, I was not surprised; the small size of Sun Gold F1 is quite dominant, even when crossed with a 1 lb beefsteak (Captain Lucky). The orange color was interesting, as I was half expecting a red tomato (if Sun Gold F1 is a cross between orange and red parents).

Now the fun began -planting some of the F2 seeds collected last year to see what I would end up with. Germination wasn’t great (as I found out from feedback from some gardeners I sent seed to), but I managed to get a few regular and a few potato leaf seedings, as expected. I grew one potato leaf F2, and one regular leaf F2.

Captain PL F2 on the left, RL on the right

The potato leaf selection was a monster of a plant, very productive, resulting in slightly oval medium sized cherry tomatoes (larger than Sun Gold, as you can see in the pictures - the potato leaf selection is fruit #4, going left to right). The fruit color is a nice combo of yellow orange with a pink swirl, more prominent as the fruit ripens. The internal color is pale orange with a greenish tint. The flavor was delicious. However, this is only the F2 generation. What happens next with saved seeds will likely offer variability and surprises.

Cut pictures of PL F2 on the left, RL on the right

The regular leaf selection fooled me. The initial blossoms looked quite large, but the fruit produced were cherry sized; a bit larger than Sun Gold F1, but smaller than the potato leaf F2. The color was a nice surprise. It is a green fleshed when ripe variety with very few seeds. Very ripe fruit took on a reddish tinge in and out, and the color was much like the Captain Lucky parent. Flavor was, again, delicious. Again, being only the F2, high variability is guaranteed, including some regular leaf seedlings.

In summary, there is fun to be had exploring the tomatoes that arise in this project. I saved lots of seed from the hybrid and the potato leaf selection, and enough of the regular leaf to provide lots of folks who want to play in this project seeds to grow.

The Triply project - This lower profile project actually shows great potential. Last year I crossed pollen from Cherokee Purple onto a grow-out of the hybrid between Dwarf Choemato and Dwarf Walter’s Fancy (the Matey family). I late planted on seedling last year and did achieve a few tomatoes from which I saved F2 seeds. This year I wanted to start fresh, so grew one plant of the hybrid. Saved seed from the hybrid last year led to a few dwarf seedlings I also grew this year - one potato leaf, one regular leaf.

Triply hybrid sliced. This is one delicious, prolific tomato

Triply hybrid itself was pretty spectacular. It was the healthiest, highest yielding tomato in the garden, producing uniform, smooth nearly round pink tomatoes in the 8-12 range, and was absolutely delicious.

The Triply F2 with regular leaf foliage was really pretty - 4-5 ounce tomatoes that were yellow and pink outside, mostly pink inside, with balanced, mild flavor.

Triply F2 regular leaf dwarf, cut to show it is mostly pink flesh, but yellow gel around the seeds.

Triply F2 potato leaf dwarf, which needed just another day or so.

The Triply 2 potato leaf dwarf was quite different. Much later than the regular leaf, the color was ivory with a greenish tint. The flavor was fine. Because it came so late, I really didn’t fully ponder the implications of this color.

The very pale color of Triply F2 potato leaf dwarf

My current thoughts on the Triply Family are as follows. Being a three way cross, incorporating indeterminate, dwarf, potato leaf, regular leaf, variegated leaves, and fruit colors of white, yellow/red bicolor and purple. There is a lot here to find. My planting in the spring didn’t result in any variegated seedlings. I have lots of seeds saved from the hybrid and both F2s - and hope to find some interested volunteers to help me work on this to see what we can find.

The Bee project - In 2024, Cherokee Chocolate grown from 2022 saved seed produced large red, rather than chocolate, tomatoes. The red tomato was an F1 hybrid between Cherokee Chocolate and one of the potato leaf varieties growing in my 2022 garden nearby. I did a test planting using seeds from the red fruit and noted a mix of regular and potato leaf seedlings. The bees are responsible for this cross, which I call the Bee project.

I decided to grow 2 of each leaf type, with a set here and a set in my daughter’s garden. My regular leaf plant, grown in a 5 gallon grow bag, produced medium size, smooth, oblate chocolate colored tomatoes. My regular leaf plant was heavily shaded and did not produce any tomatoes. My daughter’s potato leaf plant produced 8 ounce chocolate colored tomatoes. Her regular leaf plant produced 8-16 ounce flavorful red tomatoes.

Given these results, my guess is that the potato leaf parent is Polish. I don’t feel that there is enough interest or uniqueness in this project to pursue anything further, but I have seeds saved of the red hybrid as well as the three F2s. All of the tomatoes are excellent, and purple and pink tomatoes are possible, if indeed the parent is Polish.

The Vary project - In 2023 I crossed Dwarf Blazing Beauty and Dwarf Walter’s Fancy, which I named the Vary family. Dwarf Blazing Beauty is a medium sized potato leaf dwarf with orange fruit, and Dwarf Walter’s Fancy is a medium sized potato leaf dwarf with ivory colored fruit - the foliage is variegated. The hybrid, grown last year, was a potato leaf dwarf, no variegation, with medium or larger pink tomatoes with great flavor. The color was definitely a surprise. I saved lots of seeds.

Many gardening friends have seeds saved from the hybrid to experiment with this year. I germinated quite a few seeds, seeking variegated seedlings. I planted one of them, and later on, a few others, but my labeling became messed up so I can only confirm one variegated plant from the Vary F2 seeds. It produced a good yield of medium sized yellow/pink swirled tomatoes with very good flavor. I am not sure that it is worth taking further, and am awaiting results from other volunteers.

The Matey project - In 2023 I crossed Dwarf Choemato and Dwarf Walter’s Fancy, which I named the Matey family. The story here is very similar to the one above, except Dwarf Choemato, a medium to large yellow/red bicolor, was used instead of Dwarf Blazing Beauty. The hybrid, which I grew last year, produced loads of red/yellow bicolor fruits with delicious flavor on a potato leaf dwarf with no variegation, as was expected. I saved loads of seeds.

I planted one variegated seedling in my garden. It produced a good quantity of bright yellow medium sized tomatoes with very good flavor. Again, I am not sure if this one is worth pursuing, and prefer to wait to see what other gardeners who received seeds found.

Peppy selection - chartreuse, variegated, ivory tomatoes - meet Dwarf Eli’s Surprise

The Peppy project - In 2023, I crossed Dwarf Zoe’s Sweet with Dwarf Walter’s Fancy, which I named the Peppy family. Dwarf Zoe’s Sweet is a unique dwarf from our project in that it has chartreuse foliage and medium to large pink tomatoes. The intent is to find variegated chartreuse dwarfs, which would be something completely new. The hybrid of the above cross produced a potato leaf, normal leaf color dwarf with lots of pink tomatoes from which a lot of seed was saved.

Last year I did a test planting and managed to find a single chartreuse variegated plant. It was too late to grow it for tomatoes, so I kept it alive in the garage. When planted out this year, it thrived, and ended up producing medium to large ivory colored delicious tomatoes. I named it Dwarf Eli’s Surprise in honor of our grandson, who was born on December 27.

I also kept a chartreuse selection growing indoors all winter, and it was a really find variety, producing a heavy crop of medium sized, delicious pink tomatoes, quite different from Dwarf Zoe’s Sweet (which was larger, more ribbed shoulders, flatter). It may be worth working on and releasing.

Finally, from my planting of so many Matey, Vary and Peppy seeds additional variegated seedlings were found, but my poor labeling mean I don’t know which is which. I planted 8 of these in one of my raised beds midseason, and at least 3 of them will produce ripe tomatoes. We shall see what they produce!

That does it for my 2025 Garden Update - Tomatoes, part 1. You will see part 2 soon, focusing on some other ongoing tomato projects.