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Re: Cross Pollination of multiple varieties of tomatoes

Hi Janet,

Depending on who you want to believe, you get "virtually no cross pollination
between tomato variety planted next to each other" to "you need 200-300 meters."
I think 30 meters is probably considered sufficient by most.

Best bet in a small garden is to make spun or woven polyester bags (Agryl P-10
or P- 17, Reemay, etc.) that fit over unopened flower clusters until fruit is
set, marking the cluster with flagging tape upon which you can write whatever
details you want.  Shake the bagged flower truss regularly over a several day to
week period to ensure good pollination.  The bags keep bumblebees and other
potential pollinators at bay.  Wind isn't much of a consideration except for a
few varieties which have pistils extending beyond the fused cone of stamens -
these would be many heirloom varieties or varieties with wild species in their
ancestry - but the bags should also limit the percentage of cross pollination
due to wind.  BTW, it's possible to inbreed many OP types of plants in a small
area this way, including ones that are strongly cross pollinating.

Generally, modern varieties of tomatoes are considered to be strongly self
pollinating by the nature of the flower structure - the pistil never emerges
beyond the fused cone of stamens.  The stigmas become receptive to pollen
about a day before the flowers open.  Pollen releases just after the stigma
becomes receptive, but still before the flower opens.  They suffer no depression
of vigour from annual inbreeding.

A great read on breeding and making/saving seeds is

_Breed you own Vegetable Varieties_ by Carol Deppe, published by Little, Brown

It's really fascinating and adds a whole new dimension to gardening.


Bob

   ____________________
  |                    |
  |     Bob Carter     | Kootenay Bay, BC, Canada
  |  bcarter@awinc.com | Zone 6b
  |____________________|


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