[MtnClimber]

It has really been raining here. Real gullywashers. The potatoes I planted in the trenches are getting really big. Yesterday afternoon was the first afternoon this week without nearby thunderstorms so I got out the hoe and mounded dirt on the potatoes and filled in the area either side of the mounds with pine needles to prevent the rain from washing the dirt away. I will have my first harvest today, turnip greens to go with the ribs that I am slow smoking on the grill.

I have been interestedin heirloom tomatoes. Do I need to be careful to grow only one variety to prevent cross-pollination from producing hybrid seeds for the next year?

Happy Independence Day to all FReepers and gardeners!

[Red_Devil 232]

Hey JerseyJohn61 maybe you could answer MtnClimber’s question, in his post #68, about cross-pollination in heirloom tomatoes.

[JerseyJohn61]

From your post #68 you are concerned about cross pollination when growing different varieties of open pollinated, heirloom tomatoes.

Don't be. Yes they can cross pollinate, but according to the expert Dr Carolyn Male, there is only about a 5% chance of this happening naturally. She has grown thousands of varieties over decades.

Even if you do get a natural cross, it would not show up
in this years tomato crop, rather in the seeds of the next year's generation. This is how all the new varieties come about though, either through natural or intentional crossing.

To be absolute that your varieties don't cross, you can alway “bag” the blossoms. Blossom bags(i’ve never used them)are extremely fine mesh little sacks, that get placed over and blossom and tied. Once the tomato set forms, the bag is removed. This will ensure no outside pollen interaction.

However, blossom bags are a little expensive, hard to find and tedious to work with.

I've grown about 40 different varieties of OP tomatoes in the last five years, all in close proximity, and so far I've have no crosses that i know of.

JJ61
Check out tomatoville.com