Has anyone here grown Laura #5 or MicroTina? If so, what can you tell of your experiences/results?

Second, is the "Short and Sweet" project still active? I haven't been able to find much info here or at "that other tomato site." The last info that I saw, a green when ripe variety was released, and then nothing else.

I have grown Micro Tina. And I have to say, it tastes terrible! The skins are quite thick. They are watery with little to no sweetness and have an extremely unpleasant pine-needle aroma.

Based on that Short and Sweet thread, it seems like nothing was active in the last 2 years. I think my project might be a spiritual successor to it, since I am trying to breed micros with better flavor and sweetness.

I have grown Laura 5 and I liked it and was a heavy producer for me . Grew it outside.. wasn’t to sweet not to tart it was one I would grow again indoors this time .. Tina didn’t like it wouldn’t grow it again

I post on my own page.
Northerngardenercanada.

5 released dwarfs so far from my short and sweet dwarf breeding project and numerous more in progress. Feel free to Google Karen Olivier tomatoes.
No “ successor “ for MY short and sweet project dwarf breeding project is required quite yet.
Anyone interested in my work is invited to check it out on my socials on FB and IG. I don’t post in these forums much anymore.
Happy new year.
Karen Olivier.

Happy new year, KarenO.

Not to seem argumentative, but my wife and #2 daughter have been enjoying my indoor hydro Orange Hat and Micro Tina. Sweetness in particular has been mentioned more than once (“Wow, that was sweet!”) as a strength ; however, the possibility that I am being humored or even mocked cannot be ruled out. But, it would mean I have the world’s first 15-year-old daughter who can resist an eyeroll at her father.
I got no disagreement about the thickness of the skin nor the pine-ish odor from the foliage. I do leave them on the plant until angry red, and usually let them sit in a bowl for a day before they get et. YMMV.

Oh for sure, Orange Hat and Micro Tina can be sweet when the conditions are right, at least compared to a grocery store tomato. But compared to a great tasting cherry tomato, it is quite lacking in that department. There's not much aroma in micro tina, and orange hat is at least somewhat flavorful.

Those two are, admittedly, the only two cherries we’ve yet harvested in any quantity. I have a variety of other seedlings overdue for transplant, so hopefully I’ll be able to assess OH and MT in better context in a couple of months.

I've ordered a couple of dwarf cherries created by Karen O. I'm curious to see how they do and compare to Patio Choice Yellow F1, which is currently my "gold standard" of mini-dwarfs.

KarenO wrote: ↑Sat Jan 04, 2025 2:58 am I post on my own page.
Northerngardenercanada.

5 released dwarfs so far from my short and sweet dwarf breeding project and numerous more in progress. Feel free to Google Karen Olivier tomatoes.
No “ successor “ for MY short and sweet project dwarf breeding project is required quite yet.
Anyone interested in my work is invited to check it out on my socials on FB and IG. I don’t post in these forums much anymore.
Happy new year.
Karen Olivier.

Facebook has temporarily blocked me from accessing your page, claiming I attempted to go "too fast". Going too fast is impossible, for me.

Facebook does that to me periodically for no reason that I have been able to tell. Mostly on days when all I have done is open the app....
Give it a few hours to a couple of days and it will be nice and let you back in.

I bought a couple of Karen O's mini dwarfs from the Secret Seed Cartel. I had heard of the SSC before, but don't think I knew they operated from France. Neat! I got Ruby Slippers and Sweet Baby Jade, and I'm eager to try them in another month or so.

Good luck with your tomatoes.. let us know ruby slippers did.. I grew it last year with yellow brick road.. ruby got only 14 inches with some tomatoes but I never got to try either one because they didn’t take off until it was to late for me.. will just grow them inside next time

How big of a container did you use for Ruby Slippers? I'll probably grow it in an EarthBox, so it may get bigger. When I grow Patio Choice Yellow in a 12" basket, it gets 14-16" but in an EB, it can push 3 ft. As I understand it, these varieties from Karen O. are potato leaf varieties. Are they still rugose?

Greatgardens wrote: ↑Fri Feb 07, 2025 10:30 am I bought a couple of Karen O's mini dwarfs from the Secret Seed Cartel. I had heard of the SSC before, but don't think I knew they operated from France. Neat! I got Ruby Slippers and Sweet Baby Jade, and I'm eager to try them in another month or so.

Terri, at SSC, once operated out of Ohio (I think), and moved to France several years ago.

While not a tomato breeder (that I'm aware of), she does more hunting for rare and new varieties than almost all others, and should be compensated for that work. Her new listings are varieties I'd like to see delayed from being in the MMMM for one year. But, I can't keep up with everything new.

From what I'm seeing, there are some tomatoes from Bill Jeffers, Kazulas and Jarsons (maybe others?) that are released/sold before being stable. I'm under the assumption that those breeders welcome the trading of their unstable varieties, in order to give a greater chance of special varieties being selected. So, those breeders tomatoes are welcome in the swap.

@Greatgardens I was using a 2 gallon pot I’m sure if I used something bigger it would have done better I used a 1 gallon also indoors it still stayed small ..but I had an issue with tiny totums this winter my tomatoes turned out mushy and I was surprised.. I don’t remember it being that way years ago so maybe my own fault I’m gonna restart them soon