Subject says all. There are a couple different varieties. I
have the classic small green type, a similar sized purple
type (called conveniently "Purple") and a large green type
that gives a fruit about the size of a beef tomato. Most,
but not all, are in a greenhouse (I am near Uppsala, Sweden).
For now temperature in greenhouse is holding between 20-30
degrees C, but maybe not much longer, at least at night.

I cross-pollinated with a brush a couple weekends ago (bees
did not pay much attention to the plants, butterflies a
little more). There are now obvious signs of fruit. I wish
to obtain seeds for next season, as this is my first effort.
That is all relvevant info I can think of.

Any suggestions on how to determine when tomatillos will be
ripe? Other suggestions, like fertilizers, are welcome (plants
look healthy for now).


Dominic

On Wed, 10 Aug 2005 18:31:14 +0200, Dominic-Luc Webb
wrote in rec.gardens.edible:

I cross-pollinated with a brush a couple weekends ago (bees
did not pay much attention to the plants, butterflies a
little more). There are now obvious signs of fruit. I wish
to obtain seeds for next season, as this is my first effort.
That is all relvevant info I can think of.

This does not sound good. Tomatoes are self pollinating and to
get the same strain a "sock" (well, panty hose) should be placed
over the developing flower whose seeds you wish to keep. Do not
let it cross with other types of tomatoes.

If the air is still, flick the flowers gently over several days
to make pollen fall and fertilise the flower. The brush will
work, but it is hard to prevent cross-pollination on the ones you
wish to keep the seeds.
--
Gardening Zones
Canada Zone 5a
United States Zone 3a
Near Ottawa, Ontario

Jim Carter wrote:
On Wed, 10 Aug 2005 18:31:14 +0200, Dominic-Luc Webb
wrote in rec.gardens.edible:


I cross-pollinated with a brush a couple weekends ago (bees
did not pay much attention to the plants, butterflies a
little more). There are now obvious signs of fruit. I wish
to obtain seeds for next season, as this is my first effort.
That is all relvevant info I can think of.


This does not sound good. Tomatoes are self pollinating and to
get the same strain a "sock" (well, panty hose) should be placed
over the developing flower whose seeds you wish to keep. Do not
let it cross with other types of tomatoes.

If the air is still, flick the flowers gently over several days
to make pollen fall and fertilise the flower. The brush will
work, but it is hard to prevent cross-pollination on the ones you
wish to keep the seeds.
--
Gardening Zones
Canada Zone 5a
United States Zone 3a
Near Ottawa, Ontario


Tomatillo plants are self-sterile. You need at least 2 plants to get
any fruit. (it surprised me the first year I tried to grow one)

But for OP's question, just pick up fallen tomatilloes at the the end of
the season for seeds. (you will probably have thousands of volunteer
plants next year anyway)

Bob

Thanks bunches Jim Carter and zxcvbob!

Your combined remarks left me a bit confused (I am certainly no
expert). On the one hand, Jim is claiming that tomato (presumably it
is same for tomatillo) is "self-pollinating". On the other, zxcvbob
says they are "self-sterile". These seem diametrically opposed. My
understanding (maybe wrong?) was that pretty much all plants in the
tomato/tomatillo family (many different food plants) must be cross-
pollinated. To me, this means at least two plants of same variety
are needed. Pollen from plant #1 pollinates plant #2, but plant #1
cannot pollinate itself, etc. Am I missing something?

Within similar discussion, reading up lately on bees, I learned that
many plants are wind-pollinated or that bees cannot access the nectar
or the nectar is not of a type interesting to the bees, so other
insects end up pollinating the flowers. Other times, there is simply
the matter that bees already found plenty of nectar from other nearby
flowers and have tendency to stop exploratory behavior once they find
a plentiful source they are happy with. In many such cases, insect
pollination is not critical. Upon examining my tomatillos
more closely, like when trying to cross-pollinate with a brush, I
found that the pollen is quite small and easily made airborn,
suggesting wind pollination is possible. The pollen is readily
accessible due to the flower geometry, but bees mainly ignore the
flowers. Other insects, especially some butterflies, have thus far
spent considerably more time actually landing on the flowers and
accessing nectar. Interesting point, there were a number of bee
exploratory events, but it was clear they were not actually stopping,
landing and accessing nectar. So the question comes up, what are
typically the dominant mechanisms for tomatillo pollination?

Finally, nomenclature question. When I say "cross-pollinate", I am
meaning crossing two separate plants with separate roots, stems, etc,
but exact same variety of tomatillo. Is this correct terminology? I
presume if crossing with different varieties, one would say they are
hybrizing or some such. Not sure about these details.

I have already asked a few questions. I'll stop here.

Dominic

Dominic-Luc Webb wrote:


Subject says all. There are a couple different varieties. I
have the classic small green type, a similar sized purple
type (called conveniently "Purple") and a large green type
that gives a fruit about the size of a beef tomato. Most,
but not all, are in a greenhouse (I am near Uppsala, Sweden).
For now temperature in greenhouse is holding between 20-30
degrees C, but maybe not much longer, at least at night.

I cross-pollinated with a brush a couple weekends ago (bees
did not pay much attention to the plants, butterflies a
little more). There are now obvious signs of fruit. I wish
to obtain seeds for next season, as this is my first effort.
That is all relvevant info I can think of.

Any suggestions on how to determine when tomatillos will be
ripe? Other suggestions, like fertilizers, are welcome (plants
look healthy for now).


Dominic


Check this site out.
http://www.floridata.com/main_fr.cfm...s/contents.cfm



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