Seed-saving question for you, Inge.

[DonnaZn2SK]

I'm growing Mortgage Lifter for the first time. There is one mother-huge tomato on it right now that could star in Chelsea's Ugly Tomato thread. I was wondering if I saved seed from that tomato, will all the resulting plants produce these cat-faced monstrosities? There are a few normal looking ones on the plant, but they aren't very big.

[OGrubber]

Yes and no Donna.
Your chances of seeing a higher number of those monster toms in the next generation is increased, but, you will also see the smaller ones. It takes many many years of "selective" seed saving [from year to year] to see any real consistency in fruit size and shape.... keeping in mind too, that there are many other factors influencing the development of fruit in any given year.

[DonnaZn2SK]

Thanks for answering my question, Inge. I haven't had a ripe fruit yet, so don't know anything about the taste. We'll see whether the seeds are worth saving. Apparently, there is two different strains(?) of Mortgage Lifter; I wonder if there's a way to tell which one I have?

[OGrubber]

I'm not sure if there are two strains or not Donna. I know it as Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter, but I don't have it in my collection. I have several outstanding reds so I'm more into looking for, and collecting other colours.
A couple of things I should add;
When I trial a new variety, I usually give it three years to prove itself because weather has a huge impact on taste. Wet years generally result in a watered down insipid taste, and cool years tend to give you a mealy texture as well as an insipid taste. Hot, dryish [not drought] summers with lots of sun and with warm nights usually bring out the best flavour a variety can give. As well, years like that tend to give you more uniformly shaped fruits - on the overall. [There's always an exception. laf]

[DonnaZn2SK]

Inge,
William Estler's ML was supposedly registered earlier than Radiator Charlie's (where do they get these names!). I was just wondering if it was the same exact tomato. There are several types of brandywine tomatoes...not sure how to differentiate those ones either.

Good to know that you should give a tomato a few tries before throwing in the trowel.