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Post by Marches on Mar 1, 2017 3:59:25 GMT -5
Can Litchi tomatoes (Solanum sisymbriifolium) cross with normal garden tomatoes or any other species? I think a cross with regular tomatoes to improve size and get the plants closer to regular tomatoes whilst retaining the Litchi flavour would be useful.
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Post by philagardener on Mar 1, 2017 6:48:52 GMT -5
Growing wisdom would say you may not know until you try it! Maybe fewer spines would make harvesting less hazardous! ottawagardener was having fun with Litchis - maybe we'll get an update!
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Post by blueadzuki on Mar 1, 2017 18:37:16 GMT -5
I'm not saying don't try it, but it would be a long shot. Tomatoes are in the Lyopersicon sub section of the Solanum genera, Lichi tomatoes are in Melongena group Those aren't even in the same subgenus (the former is in the Sensu strictosubgenus, the latter in the Leptostemonum) That's really really far apart. I am well aware that there are successful crosses that wide or even wider (as in the few trans-generic crosses made) but odds are low.
Oddly, given that Lichi tomatoes are in the Melongena group, that means that, theoretically one might have better results trying to cross them with an eggplant (which is also in there).
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Post by zeedman on Mar 1, 2017 21:58:00 GMT -5
I grow litchi tomatoes every year (they volunteer when not grown intentionally), and they have yet to cross with anything in either direction. That is with multiple tomatoes, peppers, and several species of eggplant growing in the same garden. Given how attractive the flowers are to pollinators, this seems to support Blue's assertion that litchi tomatoes are too distant from commonly-grown Solanaceae for a cross to take. Wish that were not the case, it would indeed be wonderful to breed out the thorns. S. aethiopicum was directly adjacent to a large row of litchi tomatoes in 2016... guess I'll find out if anything crossed a few years from now, when I grow either of them again.
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