basilisk

Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable
Gardeners,
by Suzanne Ashworth and Kent Whealy
http://www.amazon.com/Seed-Growing-T...deners/dp/1882
424581/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238951517&sr=1-1
(Reference to Amazon isn't an endorsement. You may find the book
cheaper, somewhere else.)

p. 155-156

POLLINATION, CROSSING AND ISOLATION
The extent of cross-pollination in tomatoes has been a controversy among
seed savers for a long time. Some say that crossing is rampant, while
others have reportedly never seen crossing after years of growing
different varieties next to one anollicr. Charlie Rick, whose tomato
breeding accomplishments are legendary, describes the evolution of the
tomato in Potential Genetic Resources in Tomato Species (1952). "The
ancestral tomato species could not reproduce by self-pollination.... .
It had a long style, extending far beyond the anther tube, to facilitate
cross-pollination by insects. . . . .As this ancestral species evolved
into the wild predecessor of the cultivated tomato it developed the
ability to self-pollinate. . . . .With this development, the style
became shorter but still protruded beyond the anther tube. . . . .As the
tomato migrated northward, the style continued to shorten and in some
species totally retracted inside the anther tube, precluding any
possibility of insect crossing. . . . ,"

Tomatoes are inbreeding plants. Most modern tomato varieties have
totally retracted styles. Such flower structure severely limits (and may
totally preclude) any crossing between these varieties. Three groups of
tomato varieties have been found to have protruding styles, however:
currant tomatoes, L. pimpinellifolium; all of the potato-leaved
varieties of L. lycopersicum', and any fruit formed from double blossoms
on beefsteak types of L. lycopersicum. Potato leaved tomatoes have
rampant vines and smooth-edged leaves that resemble the leaves of a
potato plant.

Although not all tomato varieties have been examined. most modern
varieties available commercially will not cross with one another due to
their retracted styles. Seed savers should therefore have no problem
with cross-pollination when growing one currant tomato (or one
potato-leaved variety) and any number of modern varieties with styles
that are
covered by their anther tubes. Caging can be used to prevent crossing
when more than one variety of L. pimpinellifolium or more than one
potato-leaved variety of L. lycopersicum are grown in close proximity.
Double blossoms, commonly seen in amongst the early flowers of beefsteak
tomatoes, often have exposed stigmas, making them more prone to insect
cross-pollination. Seeds should not be saved from double fruits for this
reason.

To determine the style position for any given tomato variety, choose
10-20 new blossoms from several different plants. Examine each blossom
with a magnifying glass to see if the style is recessed or protruding.
The anther tube will open as the fruit forms, so it is important to
choose newly opened blossoms

Most tomato varieties will set more fruit if their flowers are agitated
or tripped. This increases the amount of pollen traveling down the
anther tube. The wind usually provides sufficient agitation, but fans
are often used to simulate the wind in greenhouse situations. Daily
shaking can be used to increase flower set in caged plants.
--

- Billy
"For the first time in the history of the world, every human being
is now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the
moment of conception until death." - Rachel Carson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En2TzBE0lp4

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1050688.html

Thanks, good information

I have three areas that I garden in, well seperated from each other
but I didn't give it a lot of thought before I set my plants out,
I will need to be a little cautious about what I save this year.

Hopefully I'll have my varieties better organised next year.

basilisk