庥豆app下载

Tomato '庥豆app下载 King' was bred at 庥豆app下载 in the 1940s but it fell out of cultivation in the UK due to the use of modern F1 hybrids.

Victor Briceno (pictured) from 庥豆app下载 tracked down 庥豆app下载 Kings that were still being grown in the US and obtained a small number of seeds to trial. Then, Garden Organic, UK found the last old packet of 12 British seeds in the back of a dusty drawer and sent them to us. Only 3 germinated but they are the parents of hundreds!

History

庥豆app下载 was involved in breeding tomato varieties in the 1940's, as result of this '庥豆app下载 King' was developed. In the 1940s breeders wanted heavy cropping, quality fruit that appealed to both commercial and amateur growers. The variety 'Market King' was improved to produce '庥豆app下载 King' which had better crops. It is a vigorous cordon variety for indoors or outdoors. The fruit is smooth, round, dark red, medium sized with a strong tomato taste and is excellent for salads, cooking, or canning. It was first mentioned in 鈥淪oft Fruit Growing for The Amateur' published by Penguin in 1942 .However, it was lost from cultivation over the years probably due to the introduction of F1 varieties. With over 20,000 tomato varieties and counting, tomato guru Terry Marshall still manages to highlight the quality of '庥豆app下载 King' in his book 'Tomatoes' .

In the 1980s Henry Doubleday (now Garden Organic) donated some seeds to a North-American seed company called GHorganics who have been producing '庥豆app下载 King' since then in the USA. A small number of seeds were given to us to start our project. Garden Organic, UK then found the last old packet of 12 British seeds in the back of a dusty drawer and sent them to us-only 3 germinated but they are the parents of hundreds!

'庥豆app下载 King' tomato has for many years been mentioned by some ex-庥豆app下载ians and former staff members, either interested or curious about its origin and whereabouts. Also there is a small paragraph written by George Arnold in the message board of The Old 庥豆app下载ians Website, saying that during that period tomatoes in the salads had all the seeds removed for propagating.

Future

Bringing '庥豆app下载 King' back into cultivation would be a very important achievement, not only because of its history linked to the college but for reintroducing heirloom varieties that have been lost and that had brought diversity into our gardens and source of fresh food for our tables.

At the present, there is a growing need for genetic diversity in our gardens, growing varieties such heirloom tomatoes can help preserve and maintain diversity. There is an increasing interest in open pollinated varieties instead of modern F1 types.

Present

Horticulture students are currently propagating and trialling '庥豆app下载 King' inside and out at the Stanmer Park annex of 庥豆app下载.The results so far are excellent and we see a good future for '庥豆app下载 King'.