Has anyone ever come across a determinate or dwarf Bloody Butcher? I only ever saw one reference to a determinate version and that was on T'Ville and thus is not accessible at present.

In 2022 I sowed two seeds of BB as usual - it's my go-to early tom. One plant developed as expected but the other stayed short. Very short. I quite like oddities so I didn't bin it and was very pleased that I kept it on. Planted outdoors in open-ish ground (narrow flower bed), it only ever made 70cm in height but it chucked out fruit like nobody's business. I isolated some blooms and saved some seeds so see if it would reproduce. Sure enough, I got stunties. The stems are slightly flattened and the pant seems to curl in on itself a bit and become congested with leaves. Some flowers are moderately fused. Early fruits are often seedless or have very few seeds. I'm still saving seed every year and getting the same results.

Throwback? Mutant? All insights welcome!

Very interesting! Haven't heard about a dwarf Bloody Butcher before. Do you have an image of a 2-3 weeks old seedling?

Very interesting indeed @eatenbyweasels . I haven't heard of a dwarf Bloody Butcher myself, but there are dwarf plants that have cropped up in a similar fashion about.

How is the taste if I may ask, is it the same as Bloody Butcher or vary from it?

Whwoz wrote: ↑Sat Apr 05, 2025 5:18 am Very interesting indeed @eatenbyweasels . I haven't heard of a dwarf Bloody Butcher myself, but there are dwarf plants that have cropped up in a similar fashion about.

How is the taste if I may ask, is it the same as Bloody Butcher or vary from it?

Tasted the same to me.

Frosti wrote: ↑Sat Apr 05, 2025 4:57 am Very interesting! Haven't heard about a dwarf Bloody Butcher before. Do you have an image of a 2-3 weeks old seedling?

I have this pic where they were just over four weeks. ( The potato leaf ones. The others are micro dwarf varieties)

That is very interesting are you gonna save seeds and regrow it?? I grew Vilma all winter like 24 plants but there was one that was only 4inches with larger cherries I called him half squat..the leaves were a little different but it taisted like vilma seeds and will be growing it out again

AKgardener wrote: ↑Sat Apr 05, 2025 1:01 pm That is very interesting are you gonna save seeds and regrow it?? I grew Vilma all winter like 24 plants but there was one that was only 4inches with larger cherries I called him half squat..the leaves were a little different but it taisted like vilma seeds and will be growing it out again

I've grown it every year since it cropped up and will continue to do so, to convince myself that it's stable. Sounds like you have a similar situation with Vilma. Bigger fruits on a tiny plant is a a good variant upon which to stumble. Here's to little oddities!

Can’t wait to see how they all turn out I’m in the process of growing only 1 indoor variety at a time to keep it true so I can save seeds..

Here's one of this year's plants, already fruiting merrily. I've put a "chastity bag" on a truss of buds in case BB tries to get romantic with the Groovy Tunes in the neighbouring pot.

I vaguely remember the mention of a compact Bloody Butcher plant at T'ville. Vaguely, because I have no intention of growing BB a second time.

I know the feeling Tormato! The temptation of growing a small-fruited EARLY tomato with "rich taste" (according to Tania) was too much to resist, but the flavour wasn't anything earth-shattering for me.....

Look at that little guy go!! U saving seeds

Fun find!

AKgardener wrote: ↑Tue Apr 08, 2025 5:53 pm Look at that little guy go!! U saving seeds

Yes, I'm seed saving every year. Seems stable so far but I'll be watching what it does over the next few generations.