Good afternoon, my reader. Many breeders promise miracles and incredible yields by offering their products. But are all hybrids as “wonderful” as we are promised? Is it true that tomatoes can be grown on potato bushes, are there apple-flavored tomatoes and other incredible hybrids?
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First, let's figure out what a hybrid is. This term refers to organisms that are obtained by crossing various genetic forms. Plants are crossed in different ways:
- Manual method (pollination, panicle removal).
- With the help of chemistry (gametocide).
- Genetic methods (self-incompatibility, male sterility).
You can cross plants of the same species and make hybrids by mixing different species. But everything happens within one kingdom - plants. That is, you can cross carrots with potatoes, but this method will not work with mushrooms or rabbits.
But there are plant specimens called chimeras. Such hybrids are created under scientific experimental conditions, they are treated with mutagens, chemicals, physical crossing and other tricky influences are carried out.
IMPORTANT! All the properties of chimeras are preserved only during vegetative reproduction, seeds cannot be obtained from them, they grow only for one season.
Now let's move on to the most interesting hybrid tomatoes on the market.
Potato tomatoes (tomatoes + potatoes)
This wonderful hybrid was developed by British scientists. On top of the plant are tomato tops and juicy tomatoes, potato tubers grow in the ground. In English it is called Tomtato, in Russian it can be freely translated as Pomidofel.
On top of the hybrid, up to 500 pieces of cherry tomatoes are formed, and at the bottom there are white potato tubers that can be boiled and fried.
In fact, Pomidofel is nothing out of the ordinary. Potatoes and tomatoes belong to the same genus of nightshade, so scientists have routinely grafted potatoes with cherry tomatoes. Parts of the plants grow together to form a single whole, and then you supposedly get two incredible harvests.
Apple tomatoes (tomatoes + apples)
The Swiss gardener Kobert has been doing strange things for the past 20 years - growing vegetables that look like apples, but inside are tomatoes. This vegetable-fruit is called Redlove.
But this is not the result of crossing an apple and a tomato. This fruit has nothing to do with tomatoes, these are red apples. That is, they grow on apple trees, they just taste different from apples. Michurin has developed similar varieties for a long time.
Lemon tomatoes (lemon + tomato)
Israeli scientists claim that they are the only ones in the world who managed to bring out lemon tomatoes, and even with the smell of roses. The fruits turned out to be a delicate pink color, because they have less lycopene than standard fruits. Also, gardening scientists have found that these tomatoes are stored better and longer than conventional varietal ones. Israeli scientists are not going to stop there, they want to add other varieties with original tastes and aromas to the lemato.
There are several dubious details in this story:
- How can you cross a lemon from the rue family and a tomato from the nightshade family?
- How can a smell or color indicate that a genetically new plant has been bred?
Also lemato costs a lot of money. Since it is claimed that unique genetic developments and innovations were used to breed the vegetable. But these are not specifically mentioned anywhere.
Rainbow tomatoes
Recently, the Internet has been flooded with photographs of tomatoes, which are painted in literally all the colors of the rainbow. But before you happily give money for this miracle, take a closer look. Alas, all these photos are Photoshop and have nothing to do with breeding and hybrids, such tomatoes do not exist in nature.
Tsifomandra (tree tomatoes)
Many people mistakenly consider cyfomandra a tomato, but only the nightshade family has in common. This tropical plant can be grown in a pot at home, its fruits really look like tomatoes, but do not be fooled, this is not a miracle of selection, but a separate vegetable. The taste of the fruit slightly resembles unripe tomatoes, but in general it is neutral.
Spicy pepper tomatoes
Five years ago, scientists found that tomatoes, in the process of evolution, stopped producing capsaicin, a pungent substance, but they still had the genes necessary for its synthesis. Now scientists are able to breed hot tomatoes, literally with the taste of hot peppers.
Recently, this hypothesis has been confirmed. You can spice up tomatoes by grafting hot peppers into them. But so far this method is not widespread and not very successful.
Unusual varieties obtained without crossing
Sometimes gardeners mistakenly consider some varieties to be hybrids obtained by crossing different vegetable crops. But in fact, these are unusual varieties of tomatoes without other impurities:
- Blueberry-Indigo - this variety was bred by American breeders, the fruits have a rich dark purple color, the bush grows up to two meters.
- Cafe Blue is another American variety that is quite rare. The fruits are shaped like pears and have a sweet taste, so some sources mistakenly write about their crossing with pears.
- Grapefruit - In the cut, these tomatoes really resemble citrus. They have red and juicy flesh, bright orange color. But also no grapefruit participated in the breeding of this variety.
Do you plant hybrid tomatoes?
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