Wow, Junglegal, they are beautiful! They almost look like little, round eggplant. How is it that your tomatoes are still looking so good? Thanks for posting.

Anna

WOW Brenda, those things are magnificent!!!! I can't wait to hear your report on how they taste, are they hybrids or can you save a few seeds for me?

Tom

Pretty! I was also thinking they looked like eggplants.

All I can say about them so far is that they are vigorous growers! On 4 plants, there are over 90 medium to cherry size toms. A gorgeous plant that seems pest resistant so far too. The more they age, the better the plant colors up over all. Fruit, stalks included with the purple.
Google OSU blue tomato and you'll find out more. They are a non GMO hybrid. I got them in trade earlier this year. I don't believe they are offered in catalogs yet. I may be wrong though.
Don't know how they taste yet but they are supposed to be higher in antioxidants than blueberries. I will have plenty of seed to share. I got six in trade & 100% germ. I gave 2 away & they are doing just as well.

Anna,
Here in St. Pete, we really haven't gotten too cold yet. I measured mid-high thirties for a couple hours for a couple nights.
All my veggies are against my house facing south blocked from the northern winds. My bananas, heliconias are looking pretty fried though. Like Ricky says, 10 day rule is still out for palms and a lot of the other plants. veggies look unfazed except for my basil. Leaves look stressed.

I did find seed available from Quebec, looks like $3 shipping to the U.S. Says when ripe the bottom half will turn red and they show a picture of that...very interesting. You all know me, I won't be able to resist, I'll wait a few days before ordering a pack of 10 seeds ($2.99 Canadian = $2.95US), if you're interested in a pack drop me a line.

Tom

Or if you can wait, I'll have plenty of seed to share. When can seed be harvested? I'd gladly pick one off the vine for you.

Or if you can wait, I'll have plenty of seed to share. When can seed be harvested? I'd gladly pick one off the vine for you.

Thanks Brenda but if they're hybrids your seed will revert back to one of the parental lines won't it?

Also, is it determinate or indeterminate?

Tom

Tom,
I have NO idea about the seeds. I've read indeterminate but again, there is so little info online that I don't really know.

They are cute and beautiful, wonder how they taste..

Brenda, how do they taste?

Tom

Tom,

The cold set them back some so I don't know yet. I have tons starting to get reddish on the bottom so it's close. Will let you know!

Solana seeds says they are determinate and open pollinated:
-All tomato varieties are open pollinated (no hybrids)
-All are indeterminate unless stated otherwise

Here is a link that might be useful: seeds here

Those 'maters look really lush, but does that Solana say they accept only Canadian money? How do you order them then ? sally

Maybe paypal will convert it. did you try it?

Wow! Those are really good looking tomatoes. I want some seeds if you have extra. I will google them and see what I can find out.
Sharon

I tried ordering the blue tomato seeds from one person who is on ebay and never got them grrr. I am gonna try the catalog.

I have them :-) One pack is spoken for and I'm keeping a pack for myself, that leaves 10 seeds up for grabs ;-)

Tom

ME ME ME!! Tom I sent you an email

Hi Brenda! Great looking toms! Thanks for showing them to us

SJN,
I ordered the tomato blue (25 seeds) on eBay and they arrived within the week.
I've yet to plant them up as my schedule for starting tomatoes is closer to the end of this month.
Waking up to this easy steady rain this morning reminds me of the springtime rain up north.
My cats don't seem to share my enthusiasm for the steady rain.

Lou

Well, I can finally say I got to taste them last night. I think they are a fine salad tomato. Not the best I've tasted but certainly worth growing again. Very attractive and a tinge of cold makes their foliage a nice purple too.

That's what I thought Brenda, most reviews were about the same, I just wanted to hear you didn't hate them.

My last pack is gone, to Cindee.

I'm glad we got the rain Lou, we sure needed it and my rain barrels are full again :-) I can't wait to see how you do with these maters, they may not be genetically stable yet so I'm actually glad your getting some from a different source to try.

Sharon and Sally, I can give you three seeds each if you'd like to try them, it's getting too late for me now, I'll save the last few seeds for the fall.

Tom

Tom, I don't need so many, share some of them with the other gals, too! Thanks buddy-o-mine!

I'll have plenty of extra seed IF they grow true to form.

If someone can post a good way to collect and dry them out, I'd appreciate it.

I'm no authority on saving tomato seeds but I am trying to do it for the first time right now with my Cherokee Purple seeds.

What I have done is to scrape out the seeds, gel and all into a small olive jar as I slice and use my tomatoes. The jar has a few inches of seed, jelly, and juice and is forming mold on the surface as it is supposed to.

I will allow the batch to ferment for about four days and then fill the jar with water letting the mold and bad seeds float out and wash away. It is said that the good seeds will settle to the bottom and this seems to be happening.

Once I get rid of the yucky stuff I will rinse and dry the seeds on a paper plate.

Those are GORGEOUS!!!!!

RE Saving Seeds....I just squish out the seeds and jellystuff from a ripe fruit onto a paper towel and let it dry....the seeds germinate just fine. I have all types including the Cherokee and Lemon Snap (tiny yellow cherry)...to plant I just tear off bits of paper towel and water them into the soil.

I'm no expert either as far as seed saving, but I skip the fermenting all together and use Trudi's method, from Seed Savers. I rub the seeds lightly into my palm with some all purpose cleanser(Comet-Ajax) to get the gel off, rinse thoroughly and spread out on a styro plate or wax paper or coffee filter. Allow to dry completely, put in paper envelopes. Been working fine for me for a couple of years now. If I use coffee filters, I will save in a spaced row. Next season you can lay out the filter in soil or rip off pieces of seeds and plant.

I just got my tomato seeds today in the mail. I guess they took longer since he had them hand cancel the envelope. I'm so excited to grow these. I already have 100 seedlings up of different tomato varieties. My peppers are just starting to come up too. They always take longer. My tomatoes are going either in pots or growbags this year. They didn't do so well last year in the ground. The peppers did great that way though.

SJN,
It sounds like you got yours from a different vendor on eBay than I did. That will be great to have three different sources just to see how all our different ones turn out. My seeds were from a Harris Seed Co. packet.

Lou

Yes that would be a good idea if we all post pics of ours when they get tomatoes on them. We can compare notes :) Mine came from James Campbell.

I can't wait to see how this turns out. Brenda says they've had an indeterminate habit but everything I've read is mixed on this issue. I hope they are indeterminates because determinates are not my bag....

Tom

Just curious...what color are the flowers on these tomatoes? Anyone know? I tried looking at different pics on the internet and couldn't find any. Are they purple or yellow?

How did these end up tasting?

I didn't care for them, they were on the sour side.

They were not the best tasting but they sure were beautiful.
I ended up tossing them in salads. I found them more tasteless than anything. This year I decided not to grow them.