Demystifying Your Tomatoes
Henry King
OMG
– it must be GMO if it is not an heirloom variety! The goal of this article is to demystify the various types of tomatoes that are available to you, the consumer, so that you are able to make an informed decision when you arrive at the garden centre to buy your tomato plants or seeds. Let’s start with the heirloom varieties. There is discussion about the exact definition of what constitutes an heirloom variety, but in general an heirloom is a variety that existed before the Second World War. If you think logically, what is a family heirloom? It is something that has been passed down from generation to generation. This also means that heirloom varieties are open-pollinated--meaning that, unlike hybrids, seeds you collect from one year will produce plants with most of the characteristics of the parent plant. And that’s key to their survival. The drawback to some of the heirlooms is the exact dichotomy of their strength; there have been no “improvements” to them over the years. Sometimes (big generality here) heirlooms may produce smaller crops and take longer to mature, though you may rest assured that no breeding has taken place that may jeopardize flavour. Some of the most common heirloom varities are Mortgage Lifter, Black Krim and Brandywine.
Essentially there are 4 types available: Heirloom types, Hybrid, Grafted and Genetically Modified. A hybrid tomato is created when plant breeders intentionally cross-pollinate two different varieties, aiming to produce an offspring (hybrid) containing the best traits of the two parents. This does not mean they are GMO. A simple way of explaining it is that a hybrid variety is one that has been cross bred from a Mother tomato and a Father tomato (by the birds and bees method) so that the best traits of each are preserved and you get the best qualities of both parents. Usually hybrids offer some combination of the favorable traits that breeders and home gardeners are looking for dependability (you always get the same size of plant and fruit), early maturity, better yield, improved flavor, specific plant size, or disease resistance. Some very strict organic gardeners will suggest that a hybrid is taboo, suggesting that it’s a genetically modified plant. That is incorrect. In hybridization, pollination is carefully controlled to ensure that the right plants are crossed to achieve a combination of characteristics and the process of developing a hybrid typically requires many years. Cross-pollination is a natural process of crosses within the same plant species. Hybrid tomatoes tend to be very consistent within each plant, whether it’s tomato size, taste or number of days to maturity. In 18 ) SPRING 2014 HOME & GARDEN MAGAZINE