Sunday Gazette-Mail: Researchers growing tomatoes by the thousands

This article originally appeared in the March 23, 2008, edition of the Sunday Gazette-Mail.

By Sara Busse

Dr. Barbara Liedl likes her tomatoes tart. A bit acidic. And as she's growing dozens of varieties in the name of science, trying to find the best ones for the public, she invites others to taste tests to make sure they will please a variety of palates. I was happy to help out.

I visited Liedl at her greenhouse at West Virginia State University, where she's a researcher with the Agricultural, Consumer, Environmental, and Outreach Programs of the Gus R. Douglass Land-Grant Institute.

One of her specialties is breeding greenhouse tomatoes. "A niche market within the tomato field but growing like gangbusters," she tells me. While most of us just put a plant into the ground or in a pot on the deck, Liedl works on a much larger scale.

"We do a lot of the work in a hydroponic setup, but it could also work with tomatoes in pots or in the ground," Liedl explains. "The big difference is the environment. In a greenhouse or high tunnel, the temperatures and humidity can be higher. Also the plants are in that situation longer than tomatoes grown in the field (in a hydroponic greenhouse like Gritt's Midway they will have the tomatoes in the greenhouse for six to nine months). Since the environment is so different, you need plants that are suited for that environment versus a field."

Human hands originally did the breeding, with workers gathering pollen using electric toothbrushes. Now, she orders bumblebees from Belgium every couple of weeks. There's another helper - Bling, the rescue cat. He's in charge of keeping out mice and voles and other pests.

"I am always looking to keep as much of my work as possible sustainable. For instance, this spring we are going to try out a new media for hydroponic substrate: parboiled rice hulls, which can be composted after use. If that works, we will be using it in all of our hydroponic work," she explains.

"We are not certified organic. And as a research location with several people using the greenhouses and field plots, it isn't in our best interest to be certified. So instead I contract out with farmers across the state to do any organic trials I need," she said.

Now she's using a grant to breed disease- and pest-resistance into heirloom tomatoes, and she's working with researchers from Ohio State, University of Minnesota and North Carolina State University on grafting tomatoes for use in organic and high tunnel research.

I asked Liedl to give some advice to us plain home gardeners. First, I asked if she had heard of the "old farmer's tale" of planting tomato plants with the lowest section of leaves buried to form better roots.

"That's not actually an old tale," she replied, "but one I have often had to do in the field. If my transplants are too leggy, I plant them deep, but I strip off the leaves below ground as they will just rot and lead to more problems. If they would need to be planted really deep, you can also plant them horizontally."

She suggested a Web site from her alma mater, Purdue University, about planting leggy tomatoes: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/leggy_tomatoes.htmlleggy_tomatoes.html.

Now, for the big question that I ask every tomato grower I meet: What species does she recommend?

"Recommendations are tough. Everyone has their own idea about what tomato tastes best. What I like personally is something with a little bit more acidy bite than the typical American palate, so I am careful when I taste tomatoes for my breeding program to have at least one other person around when I am selecting to make sure I am not biasing the selection." That's where I came in.

Liedl's two awesome assistants, Kristen Wilfong and Melissa Smith, have already chosen tomatoes to be tasted. They are marked with a Sharpie so they know which plant produced the beauties. They then measure them for size. They check the color using an expensive meter. They take a reading that measures soluble sugar. Then, they slice. (I love this greenhouse - three of its most important tools are a knife, a cutting board and a box of unsalted crackers!)

I tasted several tomatoes that were quite good. One called First Prize was aptly named, as it was great.

I never thought I could hate a tomato. But, being brave, I taste-tested one even after I saw Liedl grimace after her bite. It was awful!

The tomatoes I tasted were greenhouse wonders and most of us don't grow them like Liedl does.

So, I still wanted to know which ones I should put in my little home plot. Liedl admits she doesn't grow any tomatoes at home. Check out the list with some favorites of Liedl's staff from the past few years of working in the greenhouse and in the field.



Tomato suggestions from the experts
These tomatoes are favorites of Dr. Barbara Liedl's staff from the past several years. They are suitable for growing outdoors, not just in a greenhouse setting.

Large, red: Delicious, Terrific, Jetsetter. The staff also like greenhouse tomato lines Cabernet and Caruso, which may not be adapted to field conditions.

Large, orange: Orange King was one tried for the Organic Seed Partnership last summer and was a big hit.

Saladette or large grape: The staff loved Juliet Hybrid in the field last summer.

Heirlooms: Lots of people say Brandywine is the best. The staff hasn't been impressed with Brandywine. However, some of the hybrids grown last year with it were the best of that bunch, so the staff is continuing on with it. Liedl recommends the book by Carolyn J. Male, Smith & Hawken: "100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden."

Various colors: The staff hasn't found a yellow tomato it all likes, but not many were tried. The staff has also had bad luck with the "purple" tomatoes, Cherokee Purple and Prudens Purple.



Sara Busse is a Charleston resident and master gardener.