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Heirloom Tomatoes
Heirloom– An heirloom is generally considered to be a variety that has been
passed down, through several generations of a family because of its valued characteristics. Since ‘heirloom’ varieties
have become popular in the past few years there have been liberties taken with the use of this term for commercial purposes.
Heirloom tomato experts, Craig LeHoullier and Carolyn Male, Ph.D. have classified down heirlooms into four categories: - Commercial
Heirlooms: Open-pollinated varieties introduced before 1940.
- Family Heirlooms: Seeds that have been
passed down for several generations through families.
- Created Heirlooms: Crossing two known parents (either
two heirlooms or an heirloom and a hybrid) and dehybridizing the resulting seeds for however many years/generations it takes
to eliminate the undesirable characteristics and stabilize the desired characteristics, perhaps as many as 8 years or more.
- Mystery Heirlooms: Varieties that are a product of natural cross-pollination
of other heirloom varieties.
(Note: All heirloom varieties are open-pollinated but not all open-pollinated varieties are heirloom varieties.)
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