Potato Leaf Tomatoes

[mbrown]

My neighbor gave me a potato leafed tomato plant, Marianna's Peace.

I presume the growing procedure is the same as for regular leaf. Are there problems more associated with Potato Leaf varieties than regular leaf? What are the advantages, if any?

Mike

[bluelacedredhead]

I've never tried the Marianna's Peace, but I've heard good things about them. Good Neighbour you've got there Mike

A quick google search brought up this article from GardenWeb by Carolyn & Korney (Tomatovillians you should be familiar with by now). Note that they say that Potato leaf are thought by some to be more tolerant of foliage diseases.
faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/tomato/2004111539004321.html

[mbrown]

Thanks for that info. In the past when I have tried to grow tomatoes, I have had problems with disease. On another site someone says he feels they are more prone to aphids.

Mike

[jaliranchr]

They are not any more prone to aphids at all so don't worry about that.

[brook]

Because they are older types, potato leaf varieties tend to be tastier, with more of that complex flavor tomatoes are supposed to have.

Also, because they are older, they have extruded stiles. This makes them more prone to crossing, because their pollin is available to insect pollinators. So, if you intend saving seed, either only grow one potato leaf variety, or follow other isolation methods to assure purity.

I've never tasted Marianna's Peace myself, but every report I've had ranks it high up. My objection to it was the way it was introduced, with a legend probably made up by Gary Ibsen, and an incredible price put on the seeds.

Marinanna's Peace merely demonstrates, once again, that reality doesn't hold a candle to marketing hype.

[PapaVic]

Pototo leaf tomatoes seem to have a loyal following and almost a cult status. A tomato buddy of mine, Spudleaf Willie out in New Mexico, maintains about 700 varieties of mostly potato leaf and intermediate potato leaf types, and has turned me on to a few really cool ones.

Also, I obtained some Potato Top seeds from Doug Oster, gardening editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, who promotes and distributes the cultivar originally developed by Fred Limbaugh, a local gardener. However, I alway end up with more regular leaf Potato Top seedlings than potato leaf seedlings ... even when I sent some seeds to another buddy, TomTrees, who grew the potato leaf type and sent me back some seeds from his best plant. I gave up and planted the regular leaf type today just to see what's up ... you know ... whether I get a potato leaf out of the saved seeds next year.

Another cool potato leaf I'm growing out is Brandy Boy hybrid from Burpee. Last year I grew the F3 and had one plant that was really beautiful and productive of good flavored fruit. This year, I got four different potato leaf expressions so far ... slight differences, but four distinctly different shapes. I planted 3 of them today.

Another one I doing is from a buddy named Big Chief in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and is an accidental cross between Brandywine Sudduth and an unknown regular leaf type. I got some regular leaf and potato leaf seedlings out of these seeds and planted the healthies seedling of each type today.

Here's one that has me wondering ... Gigante-10 Novikov, also known as Novikov's Giant. Andrey Baranovski sent three seeds from Minsk, Belarus. I think Comrade Novikov was a famous tomato or vegetable breeder in the former Soviet Union. Two seeds sprouted and one produced a very nice smooth potato leaf expression and the other seed has made a slightly transitional leaf type between pototo leaf and regular leaf but leaning more toward PL. Pictures of Novikov's Giant appear mostly to show a transitional leaf type.

I've not grown Marianna's Peace yet, but am growing Marianna's Conflict, a regular leaf expression of the same tomato ... indicating that the original Marianna's Peace from Gary Ibsen maybe was either not stable when he released it or got crossed in his garden before release.

And TomTrees sent, along with Potato Top, seeds for something he calls Cherokee Purple PL, because it expresses potato leaf shapes. I planted one of those today and have 3 more looking for a home. They are extremely healthy.

As Brook said above, "because they are older, (potato leaf types) have extruded stiles. This makes them more prone to crossing, because their pollen is available to insect pollinators." Obviously I have some seeds that came from cross pollinated potato leaf types, as I hardly think such a rare occurence as "spontaneous mutation" has popped up so frequently as to make so much variation from the typical PL expression.

I'll keep y'all posted as the season moves along, and hope to show pictures of leaf shapes and ripe fruit for comparison and general fun.

Also as Brook has said above, the pototo leaf types are known for old fashion flavor ... and that has been true of the types I've grown so far ... sure hope it holds true for the ones that are new to me this year.

Gotta love this topic! Keep it coming.

Bill

[landarc]

I expect to be growing Marianna's Peace, and have high hopes for it. The afore mentioned Spudleaf Willie is of the opinion that MP is similar to Brandywine Sudduth and it's many pink brethren. We shall see. Actually, I hope he is wrong, as I am yet to pull a good tasting (even a average tasting) Brandywine Sudduth from my garden.

[Alan]

I haven't grown mariana's peace before, but will be growing about 20 plants this year just to see if it lives up to the hype with my customers. As far as potato leaf plants go my observations are that while the plants show a much more interesting growth pattern I can't say that they hold up any better to foliage disease from what i've seen (of course if you want a guaranteed producer, disease, frost or come hell or highwater you should plant yellow pear, which will not die), I have watched brandywine bite the dust long before plants like rutgeurs, jubille and yellow stirpe. My other two problems with potato leaf varieties are productivity and cracking (not catfacing or concentric cracking, like busted open cracking), the other problem of cross pollination has already been discussed. However with regard to taste, it seems that the potato leafed pinks will always be winners. Just my two cents. BTW, about half of my production fields are Potato Leaf varieties simply because my customers love the taste of these varieties!

[downinmyback]

My MP seedling died so i willnot be growing it this year. Keep me updated.

[mbrown]

Oh, No. After all the rain and windy weather of last week only one tomato plant was laid over, Marianna's Peace. Partially broken stem, used some tape and staked it. Hope it lives!

Mike

[giardiniere]

I'm growing Marianna's Peace this year Mike. It was a free packet of seeds from TGS. In addition to MP, other potato leaf varieties I'm growing are, Green Giant, Earl's Faux, Kimberly, Stump of the World, Flathead Monster, and Spudatula Black.

[mbrown]

Dave,

I am new to gardening and did not know there was such a thing as Potato Leaf Tomatoes. I have since done a little research and have learned there are many varieties. In your experience is there any advantages or disadvantages to them. It would seem to me the leaves might shade the fruit more than the regular leaves.

Mike

[PapaVic]

Mike,

Dave may have other ideas, but in my experience the major benefit of potato leaf varieties is their beautiful foliage.

There is such variation in the density, shape, vigor, etc., of different potato leaf types that I can't say definitely that all potato leaf types provide better disease tolerance, shade, and other attributes than regular leaf types. And here we're not even considering rugose type leaves which share many of the beneficial attributes of potato leaf types ... more verdant, lush, thick, puckered leaves that seem to provide more shade for fruit, more disease tolerance in many cases, more munch material for caterpillars, and the ability to outgrow such pests.

But then there are regular leaf types that apparently share some of the same characteristics of heavy, dense foliage that provides improved shade protection ... Shady Lady for example. Or maybe some folks consider many varieties to be "intermediate potato leaf" types. But that's a whole 'nuther ball game.

Anyway, as time moves along, I've become more and more fond of potato leaf and rugose leaf type tomatoes basically for their beautiful foliage and their ability to shade their fruit and withstand mild to moderate attacks of pests and pestilence. Of course that's a very broad generalization, because I've found a few potato leaf types not so great and a few regular leaf types that are superior to any potato leaf type I've grown.

This year I intend to cross a few of the better PL types I've found with a few of the rugose dwarf types I like and see what I get in subsequent generations.

Good growing,

Bill

[mbrown]

Bill

Thanks a lot for the informatiion. I think next year I will plant several RL and PL varieties to determine if I can tell a difference in performance.

Mike

[PapaVic]

Mike,

Another topic I would love to see covered is whether potato leaf types inherently produce sweeter or more tasty fruit.

I'm wondering if greater leaf surface enables more efficient/effective photosythesis, and where more efficient/effective photosythesis translates into more sugars and flavinoids in the fruit. Hopefully there is someone around here who can answer our questions.

Bill