The Montana Tomato Project and community networking

Adaptation Projects Tomatoes
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132

2025 crosses looks like 112 after some more checking.

293 x 366 dwarf
294 (MMM x BAG) x PI 129143
294 x 314
294 x 511
294 x 284
294 x 303
298 x 284
298 x LA1385
298 x Cosmic Purple Rain
299 x PI 129143
301 x LA0410
302 x 366 dwarf new
303 x 366 dwarf
306 x SI promiscuous
306 x 4-153
309 x 303
310 x 283 where 310 is Fruity x Exserted Orange and 283 is MMM x LA1375
310 x 366 dwarf 310 is Fruity x Exserted Orange
310 x PI 129143
314 x LA1385
314 x P1 129143 new
321 x 366 dwarf
321 x LA1385 New
321 x PI 129143 new
321 x 303 is sunviva cross
322 pl x 366 dwarf
324 x 303
328 x PI 129143
329 x 366 dwarf
329 x PI 129143
332 x PI 129143
333 x 303
336 x LA1385
339 x LA1385
339 x LA0410
339 x 356
339 x 283
339 x 303
339 x PI 129143
340 x PI 129143
342 x PI 129143
344 x PI 129143
346 x 303
352 x PI 129143
355 x 505
359 x 303
368 x 303
369 x 366 dwarf
369 x 4-153
4-124 × PI 129143
4-157 x 366 dwarf
4-49 × 366 dwarf
4-71A x PI 129143
4-72 x 314
4-72 x 356
4-72 x 366
4-72 x 303
4-72 x 511
4-72 x SI promiscuous
4-74 x 366 dwarf
4-94 × 366 dwarf
494 x PI 129143
494 x 366 dwarf
494 x 314
494 x 303
497 x 366 dwarf
497 x LA0410
497 x PI 129147
499 x LA0410
499 x LA1385
499 x PI 129143
5-136 x 505
500 x LA0410 where 500 is Dwarf Johnsons cherry x 303
500 x LA1385
500 x PI 129143
500 x 314
500 x 356
500 x 283
500 x Marchenwald
501 x LA0410
501 x LA1385 New
503 x PI 129143 new
504 x 366 dwarf
504 x LA1385
508 x 505
513 x 366 dwarf
515 x PI 129143
5-69 x PI 129143
Beaverlodge 6808 x 314
Beaverlodge 6808 x LA1385
Cosmic Purple Rain x 366 Dwarf
Home Stoop x 366 dwarf
Home Stoop x LA1385
LA0410 x 284
LA0410 X PI129143
LA0410 X 303
LA0410 X 314 (Broken String on tag needs fixed)
LA0410 x 366 dwarf
LA0410 X Cosmic Purple Rain
LA0410 x 283
LA0410 x 4-72
LA1385 x 306
Marchenengel x 366 dwarf
Marchenengel x LA1385
Matt’s Wild x 314
PI 129143 x 303
PI 129143 x 283
Promiscuous x 366 dwarf
SG-87 × 366 dwarf
SG-87 x LA1385
SH-13 x 366 dwarf
SH-13 x LA1385

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Some thoughts on some lines with parents with superior flavor:

286 or F3 Dwarf Gloria’s Treat x Pimps. Notes say from orange or dark yellow mother with good flavor and a favorite.

339 The One. Mother was my favorite a rugose potato leaf dwarf with high anthocyanin expression and good flavor.

314 F2 Dwarf Eagle Smiley x (MMM x LA1375) 1/2 strength antho. Very promising flavor in F1.

My 339 line is nearing a finished variety. All that remains is to keep choosing best flavor. I may not have much seed though based on the apparent productivity of the plants.

314 deserves a larger F2 I tasted my plant and it is nicely sweet but has lost complexity.

286 I just tasted and put some seed in to ferment. It really is a Dwarf Gloria’s Treat flavored cherry tomato. Very good flavor. This year’s plant is not a dwarf. I regret not making crosses with it this year. It is in a corner of the crossing greenhouse behind a giant tomato plant. Maybe next weekend.

I’m very intrigued also by my crosses that are going after the best green when ripe flavor. Brad’s Atomic Grape produced that flavor for me last year in some selections of an domestic F2 grow out of line 294 which is MMM x Brad’s Atomic Grape and now I’ve made some exciting crosses with those selections and wild tomatoes. I’ve done the same with the 339 line above and I imagine that I’ll soon be crossing the results!

New crosses with 294
294 (MMM x BAG) x PI 129143
294 x 314
294 x 511
294 x 284
294 x 303

New crosses with 339
339 x LA1385
339 x LA0410
339 x 356
339 x 283
339 x 303
339 x PI 129143

134

Fun new crosses which have wild or indigenous cytoplasm.

497 x 366 dwarf 37.5%
497 x LA0410 87.5%
497 x PI 129147 87.5%
LA0410 x 283 75%
LA0410 x 284 75%
LA0410 X 303 75%
LA0410 X 314 75%
LA0410 x 366 dwarf 62.5%
LA0410 x 4-72 50%
LA0410 X Cosmic Purple Rain 50%
LA0410 X PI129143 100%
LA1385 x 306 62.5%
Matt’s Wild x 314 75%
PI 129143 x 283 75%
PI 129143 x 303 75%

Older crosses:
497 is Puerto Cortez x 303 and 75% germplasm.

Galapagense x Unknown is 50% germplasm. I should grow it out and make more crosses with it.

Future crosses:

This list was so exciting that I went out today and made some more cross attempts with LA0410 and 339 The One x MM (six attempts which would be 56.25% germplasm) and 294 MMM x Brad’s Atomic Grape (5 attempts which would be 50%) as I am particularly excited about crosses with those lines for flavor and fanciness. Though I think I have some of the reverse crosses already.

Joseph Lofthouse recently posted on Facebook about a fun new cross in his garden via bees which might likely be Solanum cheesemanii x hummingbird. I would reckon that to be about 80% germplasm and with wild cytoplasm.

Lines like these stabilized and segregated for a few years then crossed back to wild tomatoes could lead to some really fun new currant and cherry tomatoes that have really high percentages of germplasm.

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135

I have a baker’s dozen new F1’s to process into seed after this weekend’s picking. Also 15 more lines to seed save from. So will have 29 new F1’s saved and 35 of my existing lines saved by the end of the week.

Highlights include 339 x LA0410, 339 x LA1385, and 294 x PI 129143 where 339 is The One x MM and 294 is a green when ripe antho striped selection of MMM x BAG. These crosses bring in exciting colors and flavors. I very much intend to cross the 294 F1’s with the 339 F1’s next year and perhaps again in subsequent years after some segregation to essentially repeat the wonderful segregation I got from MMM x BAG.

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136

I have made a family of crosses this year with the South American indigenous tomato variety I got from the USDA but use the shorter accession number from TGRC for: LA0410. On the TGRC website I noticed it had bizarre flowers with many stigmas. The survivors, perhaps of long storage, in my garden had normal flowers with somewhat long stigmas causing them to be exserted from the anther cone. My favorite survivor of the two also survived a first frost and most of the following crosses are with it. Percentages stated below are of recent indigenous and wild ancestry in each cross.

301 (EO x ET) Orange x LA0410 exserted 50%

This cross is with an orange mother plant of a Exserted Orange x Exserted Tiger cross.

321 x LA0410 50%

321 is my cross between Sunviva from the European Open Source Seed and Mission Mountain Morning my cross with Big Hill HX-9 an OSSI tomato bred by Joseph Lofthouse.

339 x LA0410 No Anthocyanin Flavor Ok 56.25%

339 is The One x MM a potato leaf rugose dwarf fusion of Big Hill descended Lofthouse Promiscuous project and my Mission Mountain series.

497 x LA0410 87.5%

497 is Puerto Cortes from EFN crossed with 303 my potato leaf bicolor cherry in the Mission Mountain Series with 25% LA1375 for brown rugose virus and 25% PH5 though it would contribute 12.5% of each for this cross.

499 Yellow Anthocyanin x LA0410 62.5%

Where 499 is Dwarf Moby’s OSSI dwarf x 303

500 red x LA0410 75%

500 is Dwarf Johnson’s Cherry (A OSSI cross with Everglades current) x 303

501 Blue Bicolor x LA 0410 62.5%

501 is Mocha’s x MMS x 303

LA 0410 x 283 75% and red

283 is MMM x Brown Rugose LA1375

LA 0410 x 284 75% and red

284 is MMM x LB PH5 Pimp

LA 0410 x 286 75% tasty bicolor cherry parent

Where 286 is Dwarf Glorias Treat x either PH5 or LA1375

LA 0410 x 294 GWR Anthocyanin Striped 50%

Where 294 is Mission Mountain Morning x Brad’s Atomic Grape

LA 0410 x 303 PL Blue Bicolor 75%

303 my potato leaf bicolor cherry in the Mission Mountain Series with 25% LA1375 for brown rugose virus and 25% PH5 though it would contribute 12.5% of each for this cross.

LA 0410 x 314 75% with yellow parent

Where 314 is my cross with Dwarf Eagle Smiley itself a OSSI 50% current tomato cross from the Dwarf Tomato Project. 314 is Dwarf Eagle Smiley x (MMM x Brown Rugose LA1375)

LA 0410 x 339 56.25%

Reverse cross: 339 is The One x MM a potato leaf rugose dwarf fusion of Big Hill descended Lofthouse Promiscuous project and my Mission Mountain series.

LA 0410 x 366 Dwarf 62.5%

366 is a dwarf Payette descended cross with 25% LA1375.

LA 0410 x 511 75%

511 was a F1 in 2025 with another brown rugose resistant pimp. (Dwarf Mocha’s x MMS) x PI 390714 brown rugose true resistant pimp

LA 0410 x Cosmic Purple Rain 50%

Where Cosmic Purple Rain is the work of Casey Piscura and this is the start of a breeding line to honor him and his work.

LA 0410 x Golden Tressette 50%

Where Golden Tressette is the work of Alan Kapuler and the start of a breeding line to honor him and his work.

LA 0410 x PI 129143 100%

Where PI 129143 is a brown rugose resistant or tolerant pimp.

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137

MT tomato Inventory # 651
F1 LA 0410 x 294 GWR Anthocyanin Striped 50%
Where 294 is Mission Mountain Morning x Brad’s Atomic Grape

I planted eight fresh fermented but never dried seeds of this cross October 14th for a winter generation to try to get to F2 seed faster. I would like to get this segregated back to GWR anthocyanin striped asap for further crossing.

Also, I numbered the new crosses today. So, this one is number 651 in my tomato inventory which also includes many varieties I’ve collected.

138

‘Mission Mountain II’ Cherry/Saladette Tomato Grex – Experimental Farm Network Seed Store

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139

Anyone else getting these: Lofthouse Direct-Seeded Tomato – Experimental Farm Network Seed Store

They will be competing against my own direct sown seeds this summer to see which ones produce mature fruit the fastest.

2026 Grow Reports Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and a wild tomato (Solanum penellii)
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I think this belongs in a more general promiscuous tomato thread. This one I post updates on MT projects. I do think this is a very good strain of the Profoundly Promiscuous or Lofthouse promiscuous tomato project that will help many more folks to direct seed. Transplanting was done long before plastic (glass, metal, and wood still work great)- but I do think that direct seeding can help us cut our reliance on plastic which I think is a serious problem in the environment.

141

Was curious if these have made it into the rotation yet for growing or crossing? And if the plants/fruits seem much different than our easily available varieties?

142

I grew them and saved a little seed in 2023. I don’t know that I managed many crosses with them.

143

Planted my main group of transplants today. About 50 mainly clumps of plants but some singles. The three hybrids I planted a few weeks ago froze pretty hard. I planted a Galahad and another Sunsugar today. I also weeded on the oldest rows of direct seeded tomatoes. I think frost thinned those nicely. Newer ones aren’t up. Presumably the friendly neighbor dogs weren’t nice to my cow pot direct seeding experiment- but one pot did sprout and more may yet. Some got dog obliterated. I do have 26 cells of wild and indigenous germplasm lines at the cotyledon stage to add to them in a few weeks.

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144

I planted some more tomatoes. We are having quite the rain event, so I put out the small seedling clumps of the wild and indigenous tomatoes I got started late. They grew quite a lot in the greenhouse compared to the direct seeded tomatoes of approximately the same age that were out in the cold. This will be great though I think because everything will harden off nicely in the rain and get growing when the weather improves. There is too much perennial grass in the old, fenced garden where I planted everything. I replaced the Sungold I fed to the frost and added a Celebrity to replace the Bush Early Girl, but the latter is also resprouting from being frosted badly. I also bought and planted a Rose de Berne, a Black Cherry, and a Stupice. All varieties I have seed for but that I didn’t grow myself- and which I would like to make crosses with if I get the chance!

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Yesterday I started but did not finish the first weed through of many of the direct seeded tomatoes and also worked weeding around the transplanted tomatoes. Varying damage from the late frosts including on Monday the 8th.

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146

Mission Mountain grex growout in northern central ohio. And TheOne x is The One crossing block, from William. All planted the same day. Same conditions as starts and in the garden. We did just come through a heat wave so I’m assuming some of the lack of fruits is what would have been ramping up but dropped in the heat. But I have alot of others with tiny new fruits starting so… nature… :woman_shrugging:

All starts seeded March 13 inside under grow lights. Transplanted in garden May 21.

MMG 1. Very slight plant. A couple small fruits starting. Few flowers.

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MMG 2. Very slight plant. One fruit starting to form. Few flowers. Antho.

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MMG 3. A few fruits at the bottom. A couple just barely starting at the top. Some flowers. Antho.

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MMG 4. A few small fruit starting. Maybe cherry size?

MMG 5. Lots of fruits growing. Antho. Ribbed fruits. Some flowering. This one needs tied up more.

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MMG 6. Lots of fruit. Somw flowers.

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MMG 7. Just loaded with fruits. Possibly determinant? Antho.

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MMG 8. Some fruits at the bottom. Some flowering. This one pre-trimming had alot of branching with no flowering.

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MMG 9. Potato leaf. Dwarf. First ripe fruit July 3. Antho, orange. Nice stocky stem. Several fruits. Some flowering. Good sized plant and didn’t get too jungley. Much better looking plant than any of my dwarf tomato project plants are.

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TheOne x 1. Vigorous plant. No fruit, few flowers. I trimmed this plant alot but none of the branches had flowers except the odd one at the bottom and at the very top.

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TheOne x 2. Some flowering. No fruits.

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TheOne x 3 culled for disease.

TheOne x 4. Few flowers. No fruits.

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TheOne x 5. A couple fruits at bottom.

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TheOne x 6. Flowering. No fruit.

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TheOne x 7. Flowering. No fruit.

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Exserted Orange. You probably don’t need more feedback about this one, but thought it was good for comparison. Since it’s full domestic. Lots of fruit. 2 plants in one spot still didn’t get as jungley as some other single plants did.

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147

There was extensive hail damage to my main tomato garden from a storm that rolled through Friday night. The plants will recover but they lost set fruit of which there wasn’t much yet because of the June 8th frost. Daytime temperatures are hovering around 90 F for the foreseeable forecast which is supposed to be the temperature at which pollen deactivates. I suspect that there will be just a few tomatoes and then a very late larger harvest. Oh, also bumblebees appear to be few this year perhaps because of the weird snowless winter.

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148

That is great. How are they doing compared to say a standard Ohio tomato variety? They tend to be quite small plants in my garden but that is with 7 inches of topsoil over a clay accumulation layer so I’m curious if the small size is genetics from the early parents or my soil. I don’t mind hearing about Exserted Orange. Though Exserted Orange and really most of these are a few years of crossing behind most of my current work. Some of them are pure domestic x domestic crosses. I decided after 2025’s awesome crossing year that I would mostly grow out crosses that are at least 50% indigenous and or wild germplasm mostly from South America where most tomato diversity is after realizing I was up to 70 lines like that. I’m still growing out The One x MM which is a potato leaf blue bicolor dwarf with 12.5% wild genes from Joseph- it’s got to be getting closer to stable but will see if the percentage of really good tasting plants goes up this year! It crossed a little last year because one of the best tasting plants was in the main garden- so I am rouging out regular leaf plants. Found another one yesterday.

Your MMG9 plant looks like it would fit into The One x MM grow out just fine but it could also be a different line entirely.

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149

I got my first five tomatoes from three of the new 2025 F1’s today. Plants that got some extra protection from a thick layer of sand for the June 8th frost. Cherry tomatoes.

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150

Compared to a standard Ohio variety… I don’t have a standard Ohio variety, because I’m always trying things out. But I can compare them to what I’ve grown in this garden this and last year. It seems a split between 1) no production, because genetics or because heat wave when they should have been ramping up? 2) high production, more compact plants. 3) tiny plants with 3-7 fruits that seem to just not grow?? I have considered this could be environmental too because the runty plants of MMG and Wildling are on the same end of garden beds. But not entirely environmental because the next plant in the row is growing perfectly normal. For comparison these plants are now smaller than my volunteer plant that I pulled and used to replace a plant that died. That was about June 11. And I started everything inside mid March. And the volunteer is loaded with fruits.

I feel I was right to cull the diseased plant (MMG 3) because nothing else has had any troubles.

My Exserted Orange seems to be one deep orange fruited and one orangey-yellow fruited.

MMG 1- waiting on fruits to ripen. Tiny runty plant.

MMG 2- waiting on fruits to ripen. Tiny runty plant.

MMG 3- oblong, red, antho. First ripe fruit July 24. Runty plant.

MMG 4- oblong cherry (grape?), red. July 21.

MMG 5- red, antho. July 23. Had few seeds??

MMG 6- orange. July 15.

MMG 7- yellow, low antho. July 7, LOADED with fruits! July 17. Most fruits so far!

MMG 8- oblong cherry, red. July 7.

MMG 9- red, antho. Potato leaf, dwarf.

TheOne x 2- first ripe fruits July 30. Neat color. Warm pale yellow with a blush of like coral shade on the sun side.

TheOne x 1, 4-7 - waiting for fruits to ripen.

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151

Linking to my post to not clutter this post with non related pics. This post and the next two are pics of fruits. I forgot to take separate pics of MMG fruits.