Re: Indeterminate/determinate

On Fri, Mar 26, 1999 at 05:40:43AM -0800, Steve Thorson wrote:

I'm not Dr. Harold but I'll take a shot at these questions, since no one
else has.

> I'm hoping Dr. Harold will comment on this question/theory. I've grown 
> hydroponic tomatoes for a few years and will get 7-9 months growth from 
> same plant using indeterminate seeds. Question is, #1. are these hybrid 
> seeds or are certain types of tomatoes just indeterminate? 

The latter.  Some tomatoes are determinate while others are indeterminate.
There are determinate and indeterminate types of hybrid, open pollinated,
and heirloom varieties.  (For those that don't know, determinate tomatoes
grow only so much, then set all their fruit at one time--which is
conventient for large scale growers and home canners--while indeterminate
tomatoes keep growing and producing fruit until they are killed (usually
by frost).  I understand that tomatoes are actually tender perennials
in areas with sufficiently mild winters but I have never personally
seen a tomato plant live more than one season.

> #2.What ever 
> the factor is that makes one indeterminate, could you bring that into 
> the pumpkin genetics and some how get the pumpkin to grow say for 
> another 30-60 days by doing this? Just thinking out loud.But imagine if 
> you could get another 4-6 weeks growth out of your pumpkin.It almost 
> scares me to think about it.

:-) I would say that AGs are already at least partially indeterminate
since they continue to set fruit continuously until they are killed,
although the vines do seem to peter out toward the end of the season
while the plant concentrates on whatever fruit it has.  

In general it is possible to move genes from one species to another
(e.g. tomatoes to pumpkins) but doing it in such a way that you get
the trait you want is both tricky and a lot of hard work.  There are
also other impacts you might not have thought of: for example, people
(or animals?) with tomato allergies might have an allergic reaction
to such a genetically engineered pumpkin.  Also, the new genes might
inadvertently transfer susceptibility to tomato diseases or pests
(like the tomato hornworm, which is a HUNGRY creature) to your pumpkin.
This might not seem too serious, as people generally don't eat AG's,
but remember that there are other Cururbita Maxima varieties that
are eaten by people and are important commercially, and bees and
other insects do cross pollinate all C. maximas, given the chance,
so your tomatoified pumpkin genes can escape via bee-carried pollen
into the general populace of maximas and cause unforseen problems.
I'm not saying it shouldn't be done at all, just that if it is, it
needs to be done carefully.

Shaun in Spokane

-- 
Poor animals! How jealously they guard their pathetic bodies.. that which
to us is merely an evening's meal, but to them is life itself. -T. Casey
Brennan
polaris@wolfenet.com  ++  PGP email welcome

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