Luckenbach Orange

Description

Subtly striped orange cherry tomatoes found in densely spaced clusters of six or seven on bushy semi-determinate plants with compact node spacing. This tomato surprises on several fronts.

Despite the smaller clusters, the fruit density on an unpruned plant is amazing. Very dependable fruit set on a very hardy plant with great flavors that seem to improve as the season marches on, Luckenbach Orange is sure to become the go-to non-hybrid orange cherry tomato for some growers.

Luckenbach Orange is open-pollinated

This line is a selection from Tom Wagner’s Luckenbach Zebra.

This is what Tom has to say about its background:

“Luckenbach Zebra was named for the segregating population of Texas Wild and New Green Zebra. Why the name Luckenbach. Simple the mother genes are from Texas Wild and if you were ever in the German Hill country of Texas you know the appeal.

I drove a Land Rover out of the deer hunting lodge rented by Frito-Lay back in 1969 when the hunting season was over and the deer knew the time was gone to be shot as they were everywhere…not scared of anything!

The Luckenbach I remember was settled in part by Silesian Germans much like my own grandmother Anna (Peuker) Wagner. Her mom and dad were cousins out the that part of Germany…now Poland.

Doesn’t hurt to live in Texas and hear Jennings sing the song LUCKENBACH TEXAS.”   -Tom Wagner

With that bit of story for inspiration, this journey began with Tom’s F3 Luckenbach Zebra tomato seed and a freshly plowed field.  Overall it was a challenging season for tomatoes, but the Luckenbach Zebra plants proved worthy of exploration, withstanding summer heat and maintaining good health despite the pest and disease pressures.

When grown, the next generation of plants looked somewhat uniform with compact node spacing, and clusters of six or seven ¾” tomatoes set at every other node, and ripening to either orange with faint orange stripes or red with subtle yellow stripes. There was a single tomato plant that was a flavor standout.

Now known as Luckenbach Orange, what resulted is a compact branchy plant that exhibits reliable fruit set of orange cherry tomatoes with faint ghost stripes on a hardy plant and intense flavors that improve as the season progresses.

I don’t live in Texas, but that doesn’t stop me from playing Waylon and biting into a Luckenbach Orange.

A nod to the simple life and a smile guaranteed every time.

(Grown unpruned: expresses little apical dominance, manageably branchy, semi-determinate)