WV '63 tomato seeds ready

I have the seeds from my WV '63 heirloom tomatoes dried, tested for viability, and ready for shipping. If anyone would like some of the seed, send me a PM (private message) here on the forum and I will let you know where to send a SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope).

Description...
Other names: West Virginia Centennial or West Virginia '63
Heirloom / Open-pollinated type
Indeterminate / 80 days

Resistant to late blight, verticillium & fusarium wilt. Vines are vigorous, fruits are medium to large, meaty, oblate to globe in shape, smooth, resist cracking. All purpose tomato, excellent for eating fresh or canning.





There are more pictures of them in my forum gallery:
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/gallery/Personal-album-of-pattipan-cat_u115.htm

Patti (pattipan)

Pm'd you, Patti


Rhonda

I tried to post a couple of days ago but am new to this site and did not see a reply. I would love to have a few seeds for next year. No rush, obviously. Where do I send a SASE? Thanks! Card6467

Hi Card, welcome to the forum.

You have responded to a thread that hasn't been active since September of last year. More often than not, you wouldn't get a response.

But it must be your lucky day. The original poster offering the seeds is pattipan, who is still active on the forum. She is the one to contact. I think that tomato is one of her favorites, so I'll guess that she'll have some seeds available this year too.

At the moment, she's doing family vacation/weddings/reunions things. You could write her a PM and be patient for her return (I don't know when that is), or watch for her name in the Latest Topics list and then PM her. She's a Regional Host, so her name shows up in blue and is easy to see.

Happy Gardening

(don't those tomatoes look wonderful?!)

for the reply and info. Yes those tomatoes look wonderful. I have been battling early blight here in NJ for 15 years. One web site claimed the WV 63 seeds offered tolerance. I have had luck this year (tolerance) with Defiant and Matt's Wild Cherry (both from Johnny's). Do you know of other varieties that might be tolerant? Thanks. Card

I have returned! Just got home this evening from the last of my travels -- at least for a few weeks!

I still have a gazillion WV '63 seeds from last year. And I'll have more saved later this month from this summer's crop. I have just picked the first 3 ripe ones and someone ate them already.

I am sure the 2010 seed are still viable. Send me a private message if you want some and I'll reply where to send your SASE.

I'll try to catch up on the forum (if that's even possible!) and the PM's this coming week.

pattipan

Here's some more info on the WV '63 tomatoes (pedigree, disease resistance, etc.) for those of you that interested in the seed. There are two Adobe Reader files. One has excellent instructions on saving tomato seeds -- no matter what heirloom tomato you are growing. Teh other is the pedigree info and disease resistance.

http://anr.ext.wvu.edu/sustainable_agriculture/wv_63

To card6467: I did not see anything about Early Blight resistance in the info given in the above article, however, it may be true though, because I have not seen signs of any type of blight on my WV's '63's. Bottom leaves turn yellow like any tomato plant, but I remove those. They have suffered a little from the record heat in July, but I'll still have a decent crop.

pattipan

I can't post a link because I am too new. But if you search for "early blight resistant tomatoes" you will find a Rutgers site containing Cornell University research on resistance of various tomato plants to early and late blight. This is where I learned about West Virginia 63. Cornell is working on developing a tomato variety that is resistant to both early and late blight.

I have had luck in the past in my New Jersey garden with Matt's Wild Cherry (Johnny's Selected Seeds) and this year with a new Johnny's variety called Defiant. They are not completely resistant but both are tolerant. I also planted for the first time this year grafted tomato plants I bought from Territorial Seed Company. They are tolerant as well.

I live in the southern part of Pa. and want to know were to purchase seed for these plants?



Thanks,



Floyd

floyd1440 wrote:I live in the southern part of Pa. and want to know were to purchase seed for these plants?
Floyd

Floyd,
Send me a private message (P.M.) via this forum and I'll let you know where to mail a self-addressed stamped envelope. The seeds are free, just the stamp will cost ya.

pattipan

Hey Patty, when the seed comes in this year would you like to trade for some Gilbertie seed?

PM ed you Patti. How to you save the seeds for the next season? I am NEW this so any help in SFG will be always welcome


Floyd

At the moment, one good description about saving tomato seeds is by quiltbea, it can be found here:
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t8557-seed-saving#79032

We've recently begun a thread with instructions on how to save different types of seeds; it can be found here:
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t8573p15-member-collaboration-seed-saving#79616

floyd1440 wrote:PM ed you Patti. How to you save the seeds for the next season? I am NEW this so any help in SFG will be always welcome
Floyd

In a previous post I gave a link to page on WVU Extension's site that had more info on the pedigree of the WV '63 tomato and that also had a link with illustrated instructions on how to save tomato seed.

This is the method I use, except I use a wide mouth quart jar and I dry them on parchment paper (no sticking!) laid over on a tray, I also add something to weigh the paper down, incse it gets bumped. I try to remember to test the seed after they have dried. I place ten seeds on a damp paper towel, place it in a plastic baggie and see how many sprout. So far I've had 100% germination. Not sure if that's scientific, but it works for me.

Here's a direct link to the .pdf with the seed saving info:
http://anr.ext.wvu.edu/r/download/51437

pattipan

Thanks for the link. I book marked it for future use and am looking forward to using them next spring and will need to find out how often you plant your plants apart, in weeks, to get a continous harvest as you climate is similar to ours.

Unfortunately I planted all three plants at the same time and have to many at one time

Floyd

floyd1440 wrote:Thanks for the link. I book marked it for future use and am looking forward to using them next spring and will need to find out how often you plant your plants apart, in weeks, to get a continous harvest as you climate is similar to ours.

Unfortunately I planted all three plants at the same time and have to many at one time

Floyd

Floyd,
I plant each variety at the same time because I want the tomatoes to get ripe at the same time so I can make them into sauce, salsa, soup, etc. I need at least of 8 quarts (a peck) at picking time to make it worth heating up the kitchen.

If you want to stagger the tomato harvest, you'll need to start seeds indoors at two weeks intervals. The number of days until first harvest you see on the tomato seed packet starts counting at the time you set out the seedlings. That should give you a ballpark figure. The WV '63 is 80 days. Since they are an indeterminate tomato, the first cluster of tomatoes will be around 80 days.

This a first fruit cluster last year on August 3:


Yesterday I picked almost a peck of WV '63s from the first fruits that formed...minus the ones that we ate. That was from 12 plants, mind you. So if you only have one or two plants you may only get one or two tomatoes at a time at the first first picking.

See the Upper South Tomato Tuesday thread for more pictures of my 43 tomato plants!

pattipan

Like your gardens!!! I am thinking of starting smaller next year as there are only three in our family and have not started thinking about canning yet but perhaps in the future.

I have built 2 gardens 4x8 and have to build two trellises this fall that are more substantial. My next question is cherry or grape tomatoes as I puchased some grape tomatoes and they took up a LOT of space so is there a vining cherry version?

Thanks

Floyd

I just got my WV '63 seeds in the mail today! Thanks Patti for sharing. I love your packaging as well. I was concerned about how you were going to be able to send loose seeds in a SASE. Gardeners are so resourceful! I'll keep you updated how they do in the Spring. When would you recommend starting indoors for an average first frost of April 18th?



Thanks again!





Rusty

braim5 wrote:I just got my WV '63 seeds in the mail today! Thanks Patti for sharing. I love your packaging as well. I was concerned about how you were going to be able to send loose seeds in a SASE. Gardeners are so resourceful! I'll keep you updated how they do in the Spring. When would you recommend starting indoors for an average first frost of April 18th?

Rusty

I bought a box of those little kraft paper envelopes at Staples -- they're coin envelopes. Perfect for seeds!

My last frost date is around May 15 and I usually start my tomatoes indoors around March 15 (about 8+ weeks). So you should start yours around February 22. Here's neat website with calendar calculators. This link is for one you can put in a date and then add or subtract days, weeks, etc.

http://www.timeanddate.com/date/dateadd.html

pattipan

Thanks for the link. I've bookmarked it. I've never been very good at following the recommended dates. I get Spring fever as soon as the Crocus comes up and then as soon as I start seeing garden plants, I tend to start planting. That doesn't always play out too well for me. I'm going to try following recommended dates better this year.



Oh, and I did mean that my average LAST frost date is April 18th (not first )

Thanks for the link Patti and I will start my seeds about the same time indoors as you do. The only variation is perhaps planting some a few eeks apart to stagger my harvest, unless I decide to can. Since we live in the same area how late could you start plants and still get tomatoes in the late summer/fall?

floyd1440 wrote:Thanks for the link Patti and I will start my seeds about the same time indoors as you do. The only variation is perhaps planting some a few weeks apart to stagger my harvest, unless I decide to can. Since we live in the same area how late could you start plants and still get tomatoes in the late summer/fall?

WV '63s are indeterminate tomatoes, so you will not need to worry about staggering the harvest. In other words, all the tomatoes won't ripen at the same time. The first bloom, lower tomatoes will ripen first, and then the second set will ripen the next week...and so on. Mother Nature is not always exact on this, and some will ripen out of sequence, but out of my 12 plants I get almost a peck every week. Sometimes I let them sit awhile inside until I have enough for whatever I am canning. We eat a lot of them too! My hubby loves cottage cheese & tomatoes, and unless I warn him ahead that I am going to can those 'maters, they can disappear real quick.

I still have lots of these tomatoes hanging on the vines now. We had a cold spell this past week, but the temps are supposed to warm up again this week and next. At this time of year, I lop the top of the main stem so the plant will concentrate on ripening those last tomatoes. I leave them on the vines until I see hard frost in the forecast.

pattipan

Thanks for the advice Patti as that makes starting my seeds indoors easier and will not have to worry about staggering them. My wife like to make tomato salads with onion, cheese, and basil pesto. We cannot seem to get enough of it.

Also thanks for that advice on seed saving and have done some with some grape tomatoes, which we got transpants at a road side stand, and they are bigger than grape tomaoes and are good on top of pizzas, salsa, etc.

Floyd