Surprise mystery cross!

[MOinMichigan]

I found a surprise mystery Kellogg's Breakfast cross this year! I've been growing the same strain of Kellogg's Breakfast since 2008, though I skipped last summer. In 2021 I grew the following: Kellogg's Breakfast, Jaune Flamme, Ultimate Giant, Pineapple, Marianna's Peace, Hillbilly, Brandywine (potato leaf), Sun Gold, Black Pearl, and Sweet 100.

I saved seeds from Kellogg's Breakfast (and others) from that year and grew them out this year. Also, as an experiment, I grew out a seed from my old packet of 2008 Kellogg's Breakfast to get back to the original fruit.

Check out this photo! The yellow-orange beefsteak on the left is the Kellogg's Breakfast I grew this summer from the 2008 seeds, the original great-great grandparent of all my KB.

The three orange-red things on the right came from the KB seeds I saved in 2021. Now, I know from photos the fruit I saved the KB seeds from in 2021 was yellow-orange like a nice, normal KB. I think one of our little bumblebee friends cross-pollinated for me!

I'm curious which tomato it crossed with. Because of the size (a little larger than a golf ball, like a small apricot), and the color (dark orange, ripening to a deep red), with large seed cavities and a robust traditional tomato-y flavor, I'm thinking maybe Sweet 100? It's possible one of the other red/pink beefsteaks crossed with it, but the size is throwing me. Either way, it's very cute and really tasty. I'm saving a lot of seeds and will grow out several plants to see what happens next year.

mystery cross tomatoes.jpg

[slugworth]

forget it.
F2 taste yucky and take forever to get ripe
F1 was wonderful,fast and red.
If possible clone the F1 plants to keep the tradition going.
viewtopic.php?t=2767&hilit=kelloggs+supper

[slugworth]

Mine was a cross with Bloody Butcher.

[MOinMichigan]

forget it.
F2 taste yucky and take forever to get ripe
F1 was wonderful,fast and red.
If possible clone the F1 plants to keep the tradition going.
viewtopic.php?t=2767&hilit=kelloggs+supper

Tips on cloning? Never tried that.

[karstopography]

forget it.
F2 taste yucky and take forever to get ripe
F1 was wonderful,fast and red.
If possible clone the F1 plants to keep the tradition going.
viewtopic.php?t=2767&hilit=kelloggs+supper

Tips on cloning? Never tried that.

Isn’t it basically sticking a cutting/sucker in some water? Or some clone straight into dirt.

https://www.ruralsprout.com/clone-tomat ... -cuttings/

[slugworth]

remember the 2 W's
wet and warm.
I use a wet potting soil mix, soil temp in the 70s F
Any colder and the stem rots.
Any warmer and the stem gets sauteed, no butter.
Try to mist the leaves and stems during the day,or bag the entire container if you can't babysit.
Some people use full shade,I use the grow light setup.
The F1 reds were faster and tasted good.
A see-thru 16oz solo cup is ideal,no holes.
Then you can check root progress.
Usually 2 weeks or a month and then you can use a container with drainage.
Ones that plant gets big, you can take cuttings from it.

[slugworth]

I use to grow mine indoors in a south windowsill for winter tomatoes.

[rxkeith]

i don't know much about tomato genetics, but i believe i have read that cherry tomato size is dominant, so your
f2 fruit is going to be all small size if the other parent was a cherry tomato. the size of future generations can vary
as i have discovered growing out an anna russian cross that happened in my garden. save seeds from the best tasting
of each generation until you have something stable that you want to continue growing.


keith

[Whwoz]

@MOinMichigan, there is going to be a majority of smaller sized fruit in F2, but with possibility of larger fruit also. Most likely not KB size, but larger than cherry. Plant as many as you have space for as F2 is generation that shows maximum variation. Keep seed from those that you like best and grow on from those lines. Keep lots of notes and take plenty of photos so that you know what you have as memory can easily be deceived over time. If you don't like any that you grow this year a lot, plant more F2 next year. Sounds like an interesting cross anyway.

[bower]

Yes, your mystery parent is definitely a cherry, based on the small size. It could even be Sungold, because I believe Sungold is a Beta orange, while KB is a tt tangerine orange. Those two genes are different, so they don't combine in the F1, you would have B/- and t/- and R red background in Sungold at least, because Beta requires a red background, so that would all fit with a red or orangey red F1. Same goes for Black Pearl, the green flesh is recessive so your F1 would be gf/- and red.
You should get a mix of sizes in the F2, and different number of locules. The cherry condition is 2 or 3 locules; KB has two genes that affect size through number of locules: 1) "locule number" is a gene that produces 5 or 6 locule fruit, and 2) "fasciculated" fas adds onto the locule number to produce large multi-locule fruit. There are several QTL's for fruit size as well which add up to give total size. The large size of KB means you could likely see some large cherry types, for example. If you want to get a large fruit back, you should look for at least the 5-6 locule sign in the F2, with fas being recessive as well it can turn up in a later generation.
Recovery of large size is difficult as the F2 tends to skew towards smaller sizes, because those cherry size QTL's add up to a smaller total, and you're almost bound to see a loss of size in the vast majority of F2s. I've heard one in ten large as a figure for probable size return.
This would be a fun cross to grow just for the color possibilities alone, with possible parents Sungold, Black Pearl, and Sweet Million. IDK if there's any way to tell which orange genes turn up if Sungold is the other parent. Backcrossing I guess! Or you might get different shades of orange segregating - I have no idea whether Beta would overrule tangerine if you had BB tt. Hmmm! And another question, is KB a red or yellow background? It looks yellowish to me. If so, rr would suppress Beta in some combinations.

[MOinMichigan]

@bower - Wow, that's incredibly helpful. Thank you! I agree the most likely parent is a cherry. When unripe the fruit has a definite orange cast but ripens to a dark red, inside and out. The gel around the seeds leans more yellow. I'll have to study the genetics of the likely culprits and see what I can come up with.

I'd be happy to share seeds if you want to give them a try. I have plenty to share. It's been a prolific plant.

[bower]

Thanks, I am personally swamped. But please post pics of your grow out! And share the fun with us.

[MOinMichigan]

Bower, I understand completely. I have way too many to grow myself. I'll certainly see what the F2 looks like with these and will post again if they're interesting!