EXCLUSIVE! ALL ABOUT DWARF TOMATOES FROM ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF THE DWARF TOMATO PROJECT! 

Yes, Dwarfs are amazing! 🙂👍

🙂 I hope you will like them all!

@LUCKY GARDEN Thank-you!😊

That's great! Last year I only managed to do one successful cross, but the tomato died because of a late blight. This season I plan to cross more different varieties.

@@LUCKYGARDENTOMATOES It's addictive! In order to honor OSSI pledge breeder desires, which is oddly restrictive if you think about it, I had to get source material from seed banks whose pledge is to offer genetic material for breeding and crossing to those credentialed. They don't put restrictions on how the material is used. That's true breeder freedom. Fortunately, all you really need for dwarfism is the recessive gene which comes easily in F2. If you breed with material that has an OSSI pledge, while you may not be legally bound to it, you may find your reputation in the future may be questioned. For that rationale, I would suggest that you don't use Dwarf Tomato Project cultivars as breeding material unless you are dead sure to follow OSSI initiatives. Something to think about.

I understand your point. I think the OSSI requirements you are referring to are that whatever you breed from these varieties should also become OSSI pledged so that any genetic properties down the line do not get patented. It’s not complicated but some people might not want to take time to do it. I’m always happy to help!

@@dwarftomatoproject First, and honestly, I admire you and Craig. Long time fan. I completely respect your OSSI choice. It is your work and you should be able to make that choice as a breeder ideally. But, the point of patents and pvps are to protect the intellectual property of people. All people, not just corporations. IOW, the hard work of anyone. As stated in their literature, it promotes competition and innovation through protections. And, some 20 years or so down the line, that protection becomes automatically available to all as the price for that protection. Who would want to spend extraordinary amounts of time creating something only to have it stolen or taken advantage of unless, of course, they start out with that intention perhaps, and then, that's the intention of their work, eh? It's a real close-to-home issue for me. I weighed all the options. In the end, I decided I won't come forth with my seedless tomato genetic capability without protections. It is my work and I worked very hard to get where I am--literally blood, sweat, and lots of tears over years. From my understanding and research, corporations don't buy up seed and keep it to themselves to hoard. They produce their own material, as you've done, through tons of work creating unique cultivars and offer it up. It's the demand of their hard work (disease prevention, better plant structure, better insect deterrent, etc) that attracts folks to buy their seed. Well, more marketing actually. Mostly, corporations, big ag, and even our well-known breeders at university and seed companies, protect their work with hybrids (vs patents) because they know people will have to come back to them for seed as the F2 will not be the same. It's a much more attractive model over patenting. The secret is keeping highly inbred parental lines secret and out of the hands of the public. Then, in that model, they can add new cultivars over and over just like Apple does with their phones every year or two, using those inbreds (OPs). It's business, but it's not restrictive on anyone. For example, Cornell is using their latest early blight, late blight, and septoria leaf spot in crosses to make new cultivars that are being released in coordination with seed companies. Listen, these "higher-end" breeders are doing good work even if driven by profit. The work needs to be done by somebody. Still, we need breeders that make highly inbred cultivars too so the public can make that choice as well. I'm definitely for inbred material for home use and consistency. There's no need to pledge anything though cause any OP that is unprotected is open game for breeding. Pledging is submitting. Btw, people are using your cultivars as open sources without pledging. I don't think that's right as I think the breeder should have controls, but they're doing it. I even commented on it in a couple of their own videos. As far as material for breeding purposes, we already have public-use seed banks all over the world that protect and generate tons of unique germplasm. My dwarf lines are from it along with some other lines. All one has to do it ask (and justify). I'm guessing that's where the Dwarf Tomato Project germplasm originated as well. If this gentleman (video owner) wants full immunity to do what he likes, he can skip using OSSI work for now, and later, if he likes, make the pledge. Personally, I respect and won't use OSSI material because it's a desired condition of yours that I respect and because I don't want to pledge or be held to someone else's standard. I want free reign and control over my own work and, I really want to make a difference for everyone. I've spoken with Craig a few times over the years. Great guy. He even sent me seeds! I am not a hater. I am a advocate for breeders doing what they want--all of them.

Yes I understand your direction, thank you for further explanation and I know that some people will take zero notice of the OSSI pledge. Nevertheless as an amateur breeder I’m happy with my work remaining under the OSSI umbrella, my wish simply being to bring these varieties to home gardeners like me. There are so many dwarf varieties now that you have plenty other material to work with 😀 Good luck with your breeding ventures!

Thank you! Yes, I tie the plants to metal wire. It's a very easy way to do it. Many of my tomatoes grow in the greenhouse, so I didn't plan to use cages from the beginning. But even outdoors, I built a structure that also allows me to use the method of tying tomatoes to metal wire. So there is always full access to the plants, which can be somewhat limited by the cages. I'll be sure to share this in the summer.

Not yet, but I've grown some cocktail dwarfs such as Round Robin or Sarandipity, and I liked them!

Thank you! Australia is always welcome here!

Thank you!

Thank you very much! 🖐️