The Well-Travelled Tomato - Part 1

This is the story of a very, very, VERY special tomato seed. (sounds like the beginning to a kids book)


The Background: I have grown 4 seasons of tomatoes. They all do beautifully for the first few months, then die due to disease. I've tried a half dozen solutions ranging from switching garden locations, to topical disease control, to hanging baskets, to upside down baskets.

The Story: I ended up at a website that provides experimental, geneticically modified plants/seeds to farmers, scientists, and home growers. Everything is free while supplies last. The catch is that you need to provide them with a report about how they fair while under your care. There are lots of other rules and procedures because these seeds (in my case) came from Taiwan and had to pass through all kinds of clearance due to the organic matter of the package.

I ordered several varieties of tomato seeds that are supposed to be resistent to all the diseases to which my garden has fallen victim. I'd normally be 100% opposed participating in genetically modified seeds, but I'm kind of desperate to grow some tomatoes. Plus, as much as I don't want to admit it, most of the fruit from the grocery store is genetically modified and most of our seeds are modified as well.

So, this first seed I planted does not have a name other than CLN2768A. I don't know if it's determinate or indeterminate...doon't know if it's vining or clustering, don't know if it's red, green, or yellow. It's kind of fun not to know anything about this little seed.

Progress: The good news is that it sprouted in three days. I planted it Jan 28, and noticed that lastnight, it broke through the soil with two baby leaves.