Try, try again

The first attempts at cross-pollination were a bust, though I really didn't try many.  The IRs didn't take and fell off. One of the KBs might have been developing but broke off at the base of the stigma.  Note to self: They are fragile, dummy.

Learning

Things to improve on next year:

1. Stake higher

2. Prune suckers

3. More space between rows.

The plants are getting big.

Cross-pollination attempts

Today I tried cross-pollination for the first time, between Indigo Rose and Kellogg's Breakfast.  The problem with IR Is that it's got small flowers that yielded little pollen, and had small stamens and anther cones' so I had trouble emasculating them without damaging the stigma.   KB was much easier as it's got large stigmas (stigmae?) and it was easy to peel away the anthers.  

Update 6/22/13

Indigo Rose is a wow.  Also Coyote is coloring up! (shown) as is HC.  Here also is a big Airyleaf, and some great Gogosharis.

Physalis

Ok, this isn't a tomato but it's a cousin.  This is growing as a weed near my front steps.  It's a Physalis species, in the nightshade family like the tomato.  This genus includes the ground cherry and tomatillo, which are edible , and some that are not.  I may keep it going till I can identify it for sure though I don't think I'll take a chance on eating the fruit.

Mixup??

Well, now one of the KBs looks like it is setting beefsteaks,  while the other "KB" has the pear shape fruit. E.g red pear. So maybe I did mislabel one of 'em.

In other news, one of the Airyleaf fruit looks full size.  It's sort of in between a Roma shape and an oxheart.

Whatsit

So the Kellog's Breakfast, which is supposed to be a big yellow beefsteak, ain't lookin like no beefsteak.  They look like small pear shape fruit to me.   I'm bummed as I was really looking forward to the KBs, but they are probably really a yellow or red pear.  
I do have a red pear plant but I'm pretty darn sure I didn't mix the seeds up...

Recent photos

Indigo Rose coloring up nicely; prolific flower truss on Ildi.  

Update 6-13-13

Fruit set on gogoshari; flowers on Zapotec, which are also quite big plants now - ~5 ft - but no fruit set yet.  Black cherry has some flower buds finally.

Update

Fruit set on Airyleaf and PPP.  Black Cherry may be a bust - no flowers, and (my bad) I didn't string them up in time, they flopped over and have such weak stems that they bent when I tried to get some string on them for support.   Hmm.   

This is cool - Indigo Rose is showing purple where the sunlight hits. Same fruit as the photo from a few days ago.

More fruit set

On Better Boy, Black from Tula, kellogs, flamme, green zebra, Hawaiian currant.  

About those aphids

A follow-up to the aphid situation: Not too long after I noticed the aphids, I spotted many tan/brown aphidy-looking things among the live aphids.  I'd assumed these were some sort of normally empty skins cast off at a late stage molt, but actually they were aphid mummies.  These are aphids that have been parasitized by wasp larvae that kill 'em, eat them from the inside out, then "hatch" out a small hole in the dead aphid's husky skin. !

Well, after about a week, there really were plenty of these aphid mummies to be seen and the aphid numbers seemed to be diminishing noticeably.  Score one for biological control.  Thank you, unknown parasitic wasps!

First fruit set

 Coyote and all three Indigo Rose plants have some fruit setting.  The IR flowers have very noticeably purplish stems.  I have been late in stringing up all the plants properly, so several are flopping over a bit. Oddly the better boy plants are among the shortest of the lot, but are quite sturdy.   The ~80 degree weather for the past few weeks has really helped growth.  Also, I set up a soaker hose which seems to work well, though we've had quite good periodic rain showers so it's been hardly necessary.  

This is fruit on Indigo Rose, 6/4/13.   Note the dark stems.