2018 ASHS Annual Conference

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) is native to South and Central America and extensively cultivated throughout the world as a rich source of vitamins and antioxidants valuable to human health. Americans consume nearly 80 pounds per capita each year, making tomato the 2nd most popular vegetable crop behind potato. Most cultivars, however, are adapted to tropical and subtropical climates. These varieties take between 60 and 95 days to mature. Currently, only a few cultivars have been introduced for use in the high northern latitudes. These northern cultivars can reach maturity in 45 days, making tomato production feasible for areas with a short growing season. However, these cultivars often have low yield. This limits growers’ choice of economically valuable fresh tomato cultivars for production in short-season farms and home gardens. Researchers at the University of Minnesota aim to breed cultivars for the Upper Midwest region. Since 2008, the University of Minnesota tomato breeding program has selected 4 dwarf, short season cultivars with high yield and good flavor, including Ground Jewel™, Ground Dew™, MTX851, and MTX956. In this presentation, we report the results collected from our initial selection and farm and home garden trials of these newly developed tomato varieties.