Japanese Red

I may have stumbled across a "new" heirloom that the locals call 'Japanese Red'. It's been grown by a single family and sold locally as plants for at least 22 years. It was described as a large red-pink, some smooth, some rough, that was so good that the family refused to grow anything else. There are local stories that the seeds were sent from Viet Nam before the grower became a P.O.W., but a call to the family confirmed that his dad had been growing it long before the war. The family that grew it shut down their greenhouse a couple of years ago, but a young gentleman who is only in junior high school is building a greenhouse and picking up the gauntlet. The original family gave me his name and suggested I call him in April. I definitely will and will keep you posted with details as they arrive. Has anyone else heard of this tomato?

Has anyone else heard of this tomato?

Yes.

I found it listed in an SSE Yearbook.

The source given was Alfrey's Seeds which has been in business for many years but closed last year after the death of the owner.

Carolyn

Thanks. I'll submit a full description (either when I grow it or get more information) to see if this is the same tomato. Duplicate names can be a problem.

Duplicate names can be a problem

Yes, they can.

I can call the person listing it b/c I know him, and ask for a description b/c he says little after the name.

But the best way to see if two varieties with the same name are the same is to grow them side by side.

So if you're interested I can see if I can get some seeds from him in the Spring, or perhaps sooner.

If someone has an old copy of Alfrey's list around that's another source. And I can ask about that as well. I think I do know someone who might well have an old one around.

So give me a bit of direction on what you think is best.

You can take it from here yourself or allow me to help you if you wish.

Carolyn

Let's start with a description first. If the descriptions are fairly dissimilar (regular leaf vs. potato leaf, pink vs. red) then we'll know they're different varieties. If they sound similar, then some seeds would be in order to compare them next year. I'll try to make some more calls to find out what it's like.

I finally got some more information. The grower said that he'd grown three others that were offered as Japanese Red, but they were different than his. His is a large dark pink, fairly smooth and 1/2 to 3/4 lbs with potato-leaf foliage. How does this compare with the one in SSE?

Edited for spelling

This message was edited Dec 3, 2003 4:22 PM

How does this compare with the one in SSE?

I think I mentioned above that there was no variety description, just a reference to Alfrey's as the seed source. Very unlike Darrell to do that, but he did.

My friend Craig was away all last week and when I spoke with him yesterday he was going to try to fish out one of his old Alfrey seed lists to check it out.

I'd rather do that first than to call Darrell.

I'm not sure where your grower friend would have gotten three different varieties all named Japanese Red. Seems to me Alfreys was the source. So that confuses me, especially if it's being said to be an heirloom. There's something really wrong if a given variety, wherever it's from, isn't fairly stable. But then we don't know how different those were from your friends one.

Did you ask him what the sources were for the three different Japanses Reds?

And why would a variety called Japanese red be dark pink? A mystery to be solved here.

Will let you know when I know more.

Carolyn, who notes that there's also a Japanese Pink variety listed at SSE which has potato leaf foliage and 1-2 lb fruits.

Thanks. I'll probably get my best information when I go out and buy some plants in the Spring. Then I'll get a chance to sit down and talk instead of asking questions over the phone. Maybe you can get me some seeds of the others. I have a feeling that the young gentleman who will be growing the local Japanese "Reds" would be willing to grow some others for comparison. I want to do everything I can to keep him interested in growing OP tomatoes.