Husky Red Hybrid or OP?

[Bronx]

I've seen Husky Red called both OP and hybrid on different sites, and was wondering if anyone knows what they really are.

The main reason for my curiosity is a few years ago I bought some Husky Red seeds from a well known reputable seed vendor and the tomatoes have all been cherry size. I wanted the Husky size plant in an indeterminate for growing in a container but wanted the larger than cherry size tomatoes. I assumed I got Husky Cherry Red by mistake, but have been growing them anyway because I like them too. Last season one tomato on my Husky plant grew to about Stupice size so I saved seed from it to grow out this year. What are the odds I'll get the same size tomatoes from the plants I grow from these seeds this year, and do you think the plant will stay compact like the parent?

Thanks

[Nan6b]

It's a hybrid. Seeds from an F1 hybrid make F2 plants. You should expect to get who-knows-what. Although, dwarf is recessive so you probably will get dwarf plants. It takes until the 8th generation (F8) for what you grow (starting with a hybrid), to be stable (will breed true).

[Shule]

Husky Red is supposed to be an F1 hybrid, as Nan said. I would pay attention to what vendors say, when they say a variety is a hybrid (because they have to buy their hybrid seed; they don't just grow it themselves, normally) They don't always say when it's a hybrid, but when they do, you can normally believe it.

However, that being said, I've grown Husky Red F1, and mine didn't entirely match the description. So, I'm guessing mine was actually the mother of Husky Red F1 (it wasn't rugose, but it was still stiff like a rugose dwarf). Each of the parents of the hybrid is most likely open-pollinated and true-to-type. I saved plenty of seeds, but haven't grown it more to find out how true-to-type my off-type is.

Husky Red F1 should definitely give you much larger than cherry fruit (my off-type's fruit were maybe 3.5" wide). They probably sold you Husky Cherry Red F1, and just neglected to put the 'Cherry' in the name.

I've grown Husky Cherry Red F1, too, and plenty F2, F3, F4, F5 and such seeds. Here's what you might get, if my experience is indicative:

* More flavor than in the F1 (in some cases a *lot* more), but different flavor on every plant, every year.
* A variable level of sweetness. It may be super sweet in the F2s.
* RL and rugose plants.
* Tiny plants, medium plants, and large plants.
* Fruits mostly the size of Husky Cherry Red F1s (but sometimes smaller). It should be noted, however, that the F1's fruits can get bigger than cherry size sometimes, and one of my F2s had fruits like that, but my F1 never did (even though it's capable of doing so), nor did the F3+ fruits.
* Variable fruit firmness (but all firmer than the F1)
* Most fruits should be round, but plum-shaped fruits are a possibility. It could just be that Roma cross-pollinated my hybrid, though the first year, which pretty much invalidates the results I'm telling you, if so.
* The future generations haven't been as prolific as the F1, except in three cases (and two of those were after it crossed again with Sweet Orange Cherry).
* Fruits less prone to splitting than the F1.
* Nice-looking plants.
* Variable level of earliness, but generally not nearly as early as the F1. One of my F2s was extremely late.
* They seem to do well in containers (I only tried it twice).

[Bronx]

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to plant 1 of my saved F2 seeds and see what comes of it. I know 1 plant won't be a true test but I have a small space for growing tomatoes so I don't want to waste too much precious space on an unknown. Just curious to see what I might get.