I have questions about how to best proceed with a tomato cross that happened randomly in my garden years ago. I have a huge amount of Indian Stripe tomato seeds and grow them yearly to sell. About 10% of the seeds that germinate are a regular regular leaf plant that grows 2 to 3 times faster than any other tomato plants that I grow. I have yet to plant these tomatoes as I typically cull them as soon as they get true leaves. I have transplanted some, but never had room to plant them. I don’t even know what kind of tomatoes they produce. My question is do they grow so rapidly because of hybrid vigor? And what would be the best way to proceed with stabilizing the variety should it be something worth keeping? I assume it would slowly lose hybrid vigor every generation? Sorry, I’m new to this and in general don’t care much about breeding tomatoes, as I grew them for so long I dislike them somewhat and really only eat melons, peppers, cowpeas, and okra.
Thanks for any help.
I recommend the Open Source Plant Breeding forum for discussions about stabilizing tomatoes.
You might explore the new hybrids. See if you like the flavor and productivity. If a variety has great ancestors, it is likely to be great itself.
You might love the hybrids, just as they are without stabilizing them. Perhaps you’ll love the hybrids so much that you’ll stop growing Indian Stripe.
Ok Joseph, still trying to navigate this new forum. I don’t really grow tomatoes to eat anymore, just for saving or seedling selling purposes.
I think that the flavor of red tomatoes is ghastly. I’m selecting strongly for orange colored tomatoes, because they consistently win taste testing trials. And the fruity flavors of the promiscuous tomatoes really please me.
Wait, are you saying your normal Indian Stripe are potato leaf?
That is possible, but many or most Indian Stripe may be regular leaf. Though I’ve never grown the variety.
I use potato leaf tomatoes as a marker for hybridization with regular leaf tomatoes since it is the recessive trait.
10% outcrossing is horrible for an isolated seed crop, but wonderful for a deliberate crossing block. 150 feet should be enough to isolate a tomato seed crop even of a variety with stigmas that stick out a bit. 50 feet should be enough to isolate a tomato seed crop with stigmas that are enclosed by an anther cone. Reverse that if you want crossing and plant closer- as close as possible!
So if your tomatoes are crossing we would expect some other nearby tomato to be the culprit pollen donor. We would also expect that the stigmas on your tomatoes probably stick out a bit.
The question is if you are getting crosses, who is the father? What other varieties are planted nearby?
Yes F1 hybrids tend to me more vigorous. Especially with distant crosses.
If you are getting ten percent outcrossing consider planting something a little adventurous next to the Indian Stripe like Q series Q-series Panamorous Tomato – Experimental Farm Network Seed Store and then growing out the hybrids!
They are ISPL. I have been saving my own seeds from them for the past 8 years. I previously grew produce for market and Indian stripe PL was one of the customer favorites. At some point they crossed with something so around 10% of my seeds are producing a regular leafed vigorous hybrid.
To add a little context, I previously trialed hundreds of different heirloom tomato varieties mainly for fun, but also to sell at the Farmers market.
I much prefer the taste of orange tomatoes as well, tbh I’m pretty burnt out on tomatoes. I’ll come back to them at some point I’m sure, but I’m ready to explore some new crops especially sorghum, corn, and muskmelons.
I think the most likely advice you will get in a landrace plant breeding community is, “Plant the crosses preferentially! Don’t try to stabilize them! Do the opposite! Try to get more crosses, that way you’ll have more hybrid vigor and all kinds of interesting new colors, shapes, and flavors every year!”
That would be my preference, anyway. 
In the Open Source Plant Breeding forum (which is awesome – I love both that community and this one), I think you’ll find good advice about stabilizing it, which you can do if you want to. That’s another path forward. The important thing is to figure out what seems most desirable to you.
I like the flavor of tomatoes just fine, but I tend to find them too sour to eat without sugar. The really sweet ones are tasty enough to eat off the vine, so I’d happily snack on those all the time. Sadly, I seem to have a tomato intolerance – I feel a bit sick whenever I eat tomatoes or anything containing them. So I mostly grow them for my husband.
As for other crops, those all sound like great ones! I’m a huge fan of melons, and I’m excited to try Joseph’s landrace this year. I’m also planning to grow sorghum! The fact that it’s super drought tolerant excites me. And I love the idea of growing a grain that also gives me a yield of syrup. I’m excited to try it.