Tomato - Snow Fairy

**sanderson** 6/22/2017, 1:59 pm

One Snow Fairy tomato is 20" high and has either 36 or 37 set fruits. No, I am not going to count a third time. I think it would make a great patio tomato. Tomato - Snow Fairy Tomato10

yolos 6/22/2017, 2:21 pm

Wow, you are right about a patio or potted tomato. Short but loaded with fruit.

**trolleydriver** 6/22/2017, 2:24 pm

yolos wrote:Wow, you are right about a patio or potted tomato. Short but loaded with fruit.

+1

CapeCoddess 6/22/2017, 4:49 pm

Nice! Looks like a seed saver to me.

quiltbea 6/22/2017, 6:11 pm

Lookin' good. Tomato - Snow Fairy 3170584802

**sanderson** 6/21/2018, 9:14 pm

I love these little compact tomato plants with their smallish fruit! A tad bit over a foot high. Tomato - Snow Fairy Tomato10

BlackjackWidow 6/22/2018, 9:38 am

Ooh, they look beautiful. Going on my list of things to try next year!

ispinwool 6/22/2018, 10:29 am

Wow!
that thing's packed full of maters! love the idea

**shuffles off to write down the name for next year**

**sanderson** 4/4/2021, 12:34 pm

Snow Fairy is no longer being sold. I'm thankful I saved seeds from the last 2 summers. Last fall (2020), I removed the lower dead/ugly branches and they grew 2' tall in their little cages. With the unusually warm winter, they were still growing in January. Maybe that's why they are called Snow Fairies. Very Happy

This year I have 11 plants of just this variety. They are the first and last to produce.

yolos 4/4/2021, 2:06 pm

sanderson wrote:Snow Fairy is no longer being sold. I'm thankful I saved seeds from the last 2 summers. Last fall (2020), I removed the lower dead/ugly branches and they grew 2' tall in their little cages. With the unusually warm winter, they were still growing in January. Maybe that's why they are called Snow Fairies. This year I have 11 plants of just this variety. They are the first and last to produce.

I would like to try some of those snow fairy seeds next year if you have a lot to spare. I figure if they grow good in your climate they may do well in mine also.

**sanderson** 4/4/2021, 3:15 pm

PM me with your mailing address. The seeds sat in an open sauce bowl in the kitchen all winter and they still sprouted. I don't think it's too late to start them. That way you will have new seeds for next year if you like them.

I don't know if you remember that I got a weird tomato seed in the last of the seed packet from Baker Creek. Here is what grew. I could tell by the way the seedling grew that I had something different. SunGold and SF verses the 4 giants. I called it Ox and the fruit was pithy and bland. Not worth cutting away all the hard stuff for the usable part. Nor, any good for sauce.

**sanderson** 6/12/2021, 3:04 am

Yolos, update on your Snow Fairies? We just started eating them 3 days ago. The only other tomatoes blushing or red are a handful of small San Marzano.

yolos 6/12/2021, 10:45 am

sanderson wrote:Yolos, update on your Snow Fairies? We just started eating them 3 days ago. The only other tomatoes blushing or red are a handful of small San Marzano.

My notes say I seeded small pots indoors on 4/24. Did not document when I planted outside. It is now about 2 feet tall. Just got flowers. No diseases yet.

Just started eating my Juliet grape tomatoes that I seeded indoors on 2/16 and planted in my SFG on 4/7.

**sanderson** 6/12/2021, 5:30 pm

markqz 8/6/2021, 2:07 pm

I hope the "large" pot has enough space. I'm thinking of sending it with my daughter when she goes to school in San Luis Obispo this fall.

**sanderson** 8/6/2021, 6:04 pm

They sprouted!! bounce

They already have the compact shape. A 5-gallon bucket filled to the lower reinforcing ring is = 1 sq ft of 6" high Mel's Mix.

**sanderson** 8/6/2021, 6:16 pm

Yolos?

I'm saving more seeds as I hate to see this heirloom disappear. The SFG who gave me my first seeds overwintered them in her giant green house when temps got down to 20*F or less. Latitude 37*, altitude 1,500-2,000.

OhioGardener 8/7/2021, 8:35 am

sanderson wrote:Yolos?

I'm saving more seeds as I hate to see this heirloom disappear. The SFG who gave me my first seeds overwintered them in her giant green house when temps got down to 20*F or less. Latitude 37*, altitude 1,500-2,000.

I noticed that Annapolis Seeds introduced Snow Fairy seeds to their catalog this year. Are these the same as the ones you grow?

https://www.annapolisseeds.com/Snow-Fairy-Tomato-p/818.htm

**sanderson** 8/7/2021, 5:44 pm

I sliced open one of my Snow Fairies and it has the same pattern, so they are probably the same variety. I think the name came from their size (compact plant with medium sized fruit) and it's cold tolerance (for a tomato plant). "Annapolis Seeds - Heirloom and Open Pollinated Seeds - Grown in Nova Scotia Canada."

markqz 9/1/2021, 5:44 pm

This variety doesn't seem to mind being in a small container:

Tomato - Snow Fairy 59BAoyb

If you're wondering why I'm letting them get so big, it's because I'm waiting for squares to become available! I have plenty of squares in the front yard, but most everything there does poorly. But this is the 2nd to last plant awaiting a home. Once they find a home, they don't seem to be stunted per se.

Hopefully the plants won't mind that we don't have that Nova Scotia cold nor those Nova Scotia long days. There are lots of flowers now (on the planted ones), but I don't see any setting. They may be all males.

Am I right in thinking this is a determinate, not indeterminate variety?

OhioGardener 9/1/2021, 6:23 pm

markqz wrote: There are lots of flowers now (on the planted ones), but I don't see any setting. They may be all males.

Am I right in thinking this is a determinate, not indeterminate variety?

Tomatoes don't have separate male and female flowers, they are self-pollinating. The flower structure is such that the petals form a closed tube around the male and female parts of the flower, so that any small amount of movement will cause pollination of the flower. Some people assist with pollination of tomatoes by physically vibrating the plant.

The Snow Fairy seed description says that it is determinate, and grows up to 20" tall.

markqz 9/1/2021, 11:24 pm

OhioGardener wrote:
Tomatoes don't have separate male and female flowers, they are self-pollinating. The flower structure is such that the petals form a closed tube around the male and female parts of the flower, so that any small amount of movement will cause pollination of the flower. Some people assist with pollination of tomatoes by physically vibrating the plant.

The Snow Fairy seed description says that it is determinate, and grows up to 20" tall.

Thanks! That was interesting. Can all the flowers then become fruit? And does this mean I don't need to worry about cross-pollination with other tomatoes?

So when tomatoes are hybridized, growers must have to take extra steps to prevent self-pollination?

Guess tomorrow I'll be out vibrating tomatoes. You know, the Vibrating Tomatoes would be a good name for a rock and roll group.

OhioGardener 9/2/2021, 8:24 am

markqz wrote:Thanks! That was interesting. Can all the flowers then become fruit? And does this mean I don't need to worry about cross-pollination with other tomatoes?

Yes, and somewhat. Yes, all blooms can become fruit. For the most part there is no problem with cross-pollination. However, there is a chance that bees will visit tomato flowers to get nectar and spread the pollen, but most times they stay on the same plant. I have saved tomato seeds for many years, and only once or twice ended up with a strange variety that had been cross-pollinated.

So when tomatoes are hybridized, growers must have to take extra steps to prevent self-pollination?

Yes, it is not a trivial exercise.

Here is an interesting blog on hybridizing tomatoes, should you get bored one day: How to Hybridize Your Own Tomato

**sanderson** 9/2/2021, 6:32 pm

OG, Wonderful article on creating a hybrid tomato. The photos in the article are very clear.

Can you make a thread with the link under Seeds and Plants "Creating a Hybrid Tomato"? Thank you.

Mark, Aren't Snow Fairy tomato plants the cutest? Very Happy

I don't up pot any of my seedlings from their 2"x2" x 3" pots.

Yolos, How are your SF doing?

yolos 9/2/2021, 8:05 pm

sanderson wrote:OG, Wonderful article on creating a hybrid tomato. The photos in the article are very clear.

Can you make a thread with the link under Seeds and Plants "Creating a Hybrid Tomato"? Thank you.

Mark, Aren't Snow Fairy tomato plants the cutest? I don't up pot any of my seedlings from their 2"x2" x 3" pots.

Yolos, How are your SF doing?

I planted them later than I normally plant tomatoes. All of the space in the SFG garden was already used. So I planted the one plant in a barrel next to the pool. Unfortunately it did not do so well. Too little water, too much water. It got a disease as did the other tomatoes in the row of potted plants. I did save two tomatoes and saved the seeds so I can plant them next year. The plant was so diseased I did not taste them. I did not realize the plants were so small. I kept waiting for it to grow bigger. I bet they would be perfect planted on my tomato wagon early next spring.

Sponsored content

Tomato - Snow Fairy

Tomato - Snow Fairy

Re: Tomato - Snow Fairy

Re: Tomato - Snow Fairy

Re: Tomato - Snow Fairy

Re: Tomato - Snow Fairy

Re: Tomato - Snow Fairy

Re: Tomato - Snow Fairy

Tomato - Snow Fairy

Re: Tomato - Snow Fairy

Re: Tomato - Snow Fairy

Re: Tomato - Snow Fairy

Re: Tomato - Snow Fairy

Re: Tomato - Snow Fairy

Re: Tomato - Snow Fairy

Re: Tomato - Snow Fairy

Re: Tomato - Snow Fairy

Re: Tomato - Snow Fairy

Re: Tomato - Snow Fairy

Re: Tomato - Snow Fairy

Re: Tomato - Snow Fairy

Re: Tomato - Snow Fairy

Re: Tomato - Snow Fairy

Re: Tomato - Snow Fairy

Re: Tomato - Snow Fairy

Re: Tomato - Snow Fairy

Re: Tomato - Snow Fairy


	Hello Guest! Welcome to the official Square Foot Gardening Forum. There's lots to learn here by reading as a guest. However, if you become a member (it's free, ad free and spam-free) you'll have access to our large vermiculite databases, our seed exchange spreadsheets, Mel's Mix calculator, and many more members' pictures in the Gallery. Enjoy.