Tiny tomatoes

I want to try a homemade soil mix that I developed for my olive plants on tomatoes, but I do not want to grow a full size plant. In my cold seed storage I found seeds for Florida Petite tomatoes that were there for several years. It is said that these can be grown in a four inch pot, so they seem ideal for what I want to try. Out of the four seeds I tried, only one germinated.

At one time this was supposed to be the smallest tomatoe variety in the world, however, seeds for this variety are now really hard to find.

Florida Petite, the culmination of 10 years of breeding by three Florida geneticists, was the first truly dwarf tomato to appear. Its parent species were two extremely determinate(bush-type) plants, one with yellow, pear-shaped fruit and the other with cherrylike fruit.

The little plant grows four to eight inches tall and spreads almost as wide. Its foliage is dark green and the fruit is the size of cherries. The first taste can be expected about two months after seed is planted. Over the course of the ripening period the yield will be about 25 tomatoes a plant.

I don't think this is a hybrid, so I will probably save some seeds for future use.

 

Looking forward to watching your progress Hydro

 

I planted a miniature tomato variety to test a soil mix I developed recently to see how it would perform with tomatoes in the greenhouse. The variety is Florida Petite, which was supposed to be the smallest variety in the world at one time. So far the plant is doing fine, with the variety living up to its reputation; it is two and a half inches tall and has two trusses with flowers. This would make a great project for a child.

 

It'll be interesting to see how it develops Hydrogardener.

 

The seed was started on November 22, 2014.

 

This is Micro Tom, another miniature variety that is supposedly "the smallest in the world". It reaches a maximum height of 10cm!

 

The plant is just under five inches high and has plenty of blossoms and some immature fruit. So far, so good.

 

Brilliant Hydro,plenty of blossom on there

 

I think these would really take off in England, anyone agree?

 

The seeds are impossible to find now. I have had them for a number of years in cold storage and only one germinated out of four seeds. That is another reason I am growing them, to save some seeds. They are not hybrids, so I should get some viable seeds. It would make a great project for young children, as it grows well indoors in pots.

 

Both, I understand were bred by The University of Florida, I wonder if they are closely related?

Even if the plants from saved seeds aren't dwarfs, don't chuck them as seeds from those plants will still stand a reasonable chance (25%?) of producing dwarfs, and then those plants will have the reccesive trait fixed.

 

The plant is still under five inches high, but it has so many tomatoes I had to give it support. Hopefully some of the tomatoes will ripen soon.

 

Hi there.
Maybe you could give us an insight as to what conditions you're growing these in? I imagine it's still quite cold where you are?

 

Sure Freddy. My cousin in County Durham explained your avatar to me, cute. Quite cold would be a major understatement; we received 18 inches of snow the day before yesterday, with another 18 inches coming tomorrow, and snow every day through Wednesday, then Thursday and Friday it will clear with the high temp expected to be 2F and the lows well below -10F.
As per the plant, it is ideal for indoor growing, I am only using a 90 watt red/blue LED grow light, as shown below. The plant under the dome is a Souri olive seed that has germinated and is progressing nicely.