Fla. 8455 is a heat-tolerant hybrid being considered for release
later in 2010. Jointless, crimson hybrid Fla. 8787 (listed last year as Fla.
216) yielded similar to ‘Sanibel’ in Dade County for a second year but
had superior interior color. It is being considered for release. Fla. 8611
and Fla. 8835 are plum tomato inbreds with bacterial spot tolerance
that will likely be released as breeding lines after trials this fall. As was
the case last year, hybrids with bacterial wilt tolerant parent Fla. 8626
did well in 2010 trials and will be tested further; some show tolerance
to bacterial spot. The firmness of these hybrids may be problematic
however. Fla. 8735 and Fla. 8736 are heat-tolerant inbreds that
both have shown promise as hybrid parent lines. Fla. 8808 is a new
heat-tolerant inbred derived from Fla. 8044 that has a superior vine
and it yielded about 33% more marketable fruit than Fla. 8044 in the
spring. Fla. 8044 has excellent heat-tolerance and has made hybrids
with excellent fruit set but the vines are often somewhat weak and
there have been too many unmarketable fruit despite good marketable
yields. Fla. 8834 is our first jointless inbred with an ideal compact
growth habit (CGH) that has early maturity, concentrated fruit set, and
large fruit that are smooth and firm. It will be trialed on grower farms
in Dade County this winter. Fla. 8647 and Fla. 8495 are bacterial
spot tolerant inbreds that showed some parental potential. Fla. 8820
looked good in the spring trial, it has tomato spotted wilt resistance
from the Sw-7 gene.