Two new AVRDC tomato varieties released in China

Sharing techniques and genetic material between AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center and Qingdao Academy of Agricultural Sciences in the People’s Republic of China is bearing fruit: In late June, Prof. Huang Ting-Ting, tomato breeder at the Qingdao Academy of Agricultural Sciences, announced the development of two tomato lines, F2-21 and F2 X 04-3, that are derived from AVRDC’s late blight resistant inbred line CLN2037, with resistance to late blight, Tomato mosaic virus (ToMV), Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) and leaf mold. Read full article at the CheckBiotech site>

Heirloom tomatoes

Amy Greacen wrote in a recent Oakland Fresh Foods Examiner article on heirloom tomatoes. In comparison to the ubiquitous supermarket variety, an "heirloom" tomato is technically an old, open-pollinated variety and not in commercial production. Heirloom varieties like 'Brandywine', 'Black Frim', and others are characterized by their flavor, texture and uses. Read full article from Examiner.com>

By Tammy Sharp
Leesville Daily Leader

Leesville, La. - Ann Walker is no wall flower when it comes to growing her own. Despite having only a few square feet in which to work, Walker makes the most of what she's got, producing towering tomato plants, statuesque sunflowers and zippy zinnias in her tiny garden. A resident of New Llano Senior Apartments, Walker's garden stretches even into her neighbor's small yard. Of course, it helps that he's her own son. But even as the garden reaches into the courtyard they share with other residents, no one is complaining. Read more>

Carbon Dioxide Enrichment of Iron-Stressed Tomato Plants

Reference: Jin, C.W., Du, S.T., Chen, W.W., Li, G.X., Zhang, Y.S. and Zheng, S.J. 2009. Elevated carbon dioxide improves plant iron nutrition through enhancing the iron-deficiency-induced responses under iron-limited conditions in tomato. Plant Physiology 150: 272-280.

What was done: The authors grew twenty-day-old plants for an additional seven days within controlled-environment chambers maintained at atmospheric CO2 concentrations of either 350 or 800 ppm in an iron (Fe)-sufficient medium with a soluble Fe source or under Fe-limited conditions in a medium containing the sparingly soluble hydrous Fe(III)-oxide, while measuring a number of pertinent plant parameters.

What was learned: Plant growth was increased by the elevated CO2 in both the Fe-sufficient and Fe-limited media, with shoot fresh weight increasing by 22% and 44%, respectively, and root fresh weight increasing by 43% and 97%, respectively. In addition, Jin et al. report that "the elevated CO2 under Fe-limited conditions enhance[d] root growth, root hair development, proton release, root FCR [ferric chelate reductase] activity, and expressions of LeFR01 and LeIRT1 genes [which respectively encode FCR and the Fe(II) transporter in tomato], all of which enable plants to access and accumulate more Fe." And they add, as would be expected, that "the associated increase in Fe concentrations in the shoots and roots alleviated Fe-deficiency-induced chlorosis."

Read more>

A variety of vegetables can grow well in county

Cynthia Wall

Rankin Ledger Correspondent

Houston Therrell squats by one tomato plant, twisting one almost ripe piece of fruit in his hand.
His brow furrows. He frowns as he pulls one tomato closer, a small hole gnawed in its side. "I think a squirrel got to this one," he tells visitors, scorn, disappointment and a little disbelief in his voice. Disappointment that the produce isn't perfect. Disbelief that anything would touch this prize patch he planted to demonstrate what different tomato plants could produce. Pity that squirrel should he catch it. Read more>

Scientists probe tomato for key to feeding millions

Australian scientists have found a way to boost crop yields in a move they say could help feed and clothe millions of people in a time of climate crisis. Researchers at the University of Newcastle have found that by knocking out a gene from the genetic code of a tomato plant, it grows sweeter fruit and longer-lasting leaves. Associate Professor Yong-Ling Ruan, from the University's School of Environmental and Life Sciences, says the same technique could be used in a range of plants to boost crop yield and shelf-life. Read more>

A few solutions to those pesky tomato problems

Aphids, I was extremely distressed and depressed to learn, are born pregnant. And they have started to invade my greenhouse with a vengeance. Wondering if you have them, too? They are small, usually greenish but can be dark hued, and are found in clusters on the stems or underside of the leaves. They suck the lifeblood out of your plants, and the leaves can start curling and becoming discolored. You may also feel a sticky sap left behind. Read more:

It's Time To: Stop end rot

By Rhonda Stansberry

WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

If the first tomatoes of the season have an ugly black spot on the bottom, don't despair. This season's crop isn't ruined.

Those tomatoes — which have blossom end rot — have to go, but later tomatoes should be fine with a few adjustments in watering and mulching.

Blossom end rot is also a common problem of peppers, eggplant, squash and watermelon. It occurs as a flat, dry, sunken, brown rot on the blossom end of the fruit, opposite the stem end.

The solution is to get water to the plant so that it can take up more calcium.

Read more:

"According to us this is the first hothouse in the world which is energy neutral"

Director Casey Houweling stands high above the plants in one of his new hothouses. By means of hi-tech facilities tomatoes are grown in a sustainable way, water is collected and electricity generated. Eight times more tomatoes are grown per hectare than in the traditional American nurseries. But the expenses are also substantially higher. In the hothouses of Houweling the varieties Success and Tricia of De Ruiter Seeds are grown.

Read more:

Pinch your tomatoes for better fruit production

Tomatoes, though off to a slow start with this year's cool weather, can run rampant in any garden. If they are not guided, tomatoes can spend a lot of their time growing roots, stems and leaves, but not fruit. This is why we stake our tomatoes - keeping them upright prevents them from flopping. Anywhere stems touch the ground, new roots will form. Any time a plant's energy is spent on forming roots (or anything other than flowers and fruit), that energy is diverted from creating what you really grow the plant for. Read more:
Pinch your tomatoes for better fruit production Source: examiner.com

lhc sent this using ShareThis.

Pruning Tomatoes - Fine Gardening Article

by Frank Ferrandino
www.finegardening.com

The intrinsic vigor and hardiness of tomatoes almost always guarantees a successful harvest. However, the rapid growth of a healthy tomato plant can also lead to problems.

A tomato is a solar-powered sugar factory. For the first month or so, all of the sugar it produces is directed towards new leaf growth. During this stage, tomato plants grow very rapidly, doubling their size every 12 to 15 days. Eventually, the plants make more sugar than the single growing tip can use, which signals the plant to make new branches and to flower. This usually happens after 10 to 13 leaves have expanded, at which time the plant is 12 to 18 inches tall. In the next few weeks, the entire character of the tomato plant changes. If unsupported, the increasing weight of filling fruit and multiple side branches forces the plant to lie on the ground.

Once the main stem is horizontal, there is an increased tendency to branch. Left to its own devices, a vigorous indeterminate tomato plant can easily cover a 4- by 4-foot area with as many as 10 stems, each 3 to 5 feet long. By season's end, it will be an unsightly, impenetrable, disease-wracked tangle

Read more:
Pruning Tomatoes - Fine Gardening Article

Posted using ShareThis

St. Louis students learning agriculture to plant urban farm with Science Center's help

By Associated Press
4:02 AM CDT, June 18, 2009

ST. LOUIS (AP) — They may be city kids, but a group of St. Louis students are creating a farm.The youths, who are members of Future Farmers of America, will plant their urban farm outside the St. Louis Science Center.Crops to be planted Thursday include corn, cotton, soybeans and tomatoes. Vegetables harvested from the farm will be donated to St. Louis-area food banks.The students from Clyde C. Miller Academy will plant the crops with help from the St. Louis Science Center and representatives from biotech business Monsanto.The urban farm will also be used during the Science Center's "SciFest" event in October, when programs will be given on farming and plant science.

Salinity Stress in Tomato Plants

ReferenceTakagi, M., El-Shemy, H.A., Sasaki, S., Toyama, S., Kanai, S., Saneoka, H. and Fujita, K. 2008.

Elevated CO2 concentration alleviates salinity stress in tomato plant. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica Section B - Soil and Plant Science: 10.1080/09064710801932425.

What was done
The authors grew well watered and fertilized tomato [Solanum lycopersicum (formerly Lycopersicon esculentum) L. cv. Momotarou] seedlings for two weeks at two different levels of irrigation-water salinity (0 or 100 mM NaCl) in 3-L pots inside the greenhouse of Hiroshima University, Japan, at atmospheric CO2 concentrations of either 370 or 1000 ppm, while measuring various plant properties and physiological responses.

What was learned
Takagi et al. report that "salt-stress treatment severely decreased whole-plant biomass," as well as "leaf photosynthesis and transport of carbon assimilates," but that "the impact of stress on these activities was alleviated under elevated CO2 concentration." This alleviation, as they describe it, "was promoted when sink activity relative to source activity was higher," which they say was "probably owing to improvement of oxidative stress," due "at least partially to the higher constitutive antioxidant enzymes' activities," as well as improved water status "through stomatal closure at high CO2 concentration."

What it means
The seven scientists state that their study "corroborates earlier reports that the interaction between salinity stress and CO2 concentration result[s] in the alleviative effect of elevated CO2 on the negative effects of salinity on plant growth," for which conclusion much additional evidence is archived under the heading of Salinity (Effects on Plants) in our Subject Index. Hence, we have yet another indication of the ability of earth's plants to function ever more robustly and to successfully overcome various environmental challenges as the air's CO2 content continues to climb ever higher.

Reviewed 17 June 2009