The Pros and cons about T-Ville and the Aftermath

Here we are going to discuss The Pros And Cons About T-Ville and the Aftermath. I know this is going to be unpopular with some people who used to be a part of T-Ville or still are there, especially the cons part. But we are also going to explain the aftermath from the cons. From decisions made a few years ago to over almost 20 years ago. In what to do going forward.

The Pros

First we will start of with the pros many people could find rare and unique tomatoes here. Also, there were new and interesting tomatoes being created and developed as well. This was new and interesting place to not only collect tomato seeds, giant tomato seeds swaps, but also learn how to breed tomatoes too. Even things to help grow and diagnose tomatoes etc. This place had everything for the tomato head. It was a very active place in its hay day. There were a lot of knowledgeable and great people there as well. One of the most well know people was Dr. Carolynn Male who was also an author who wrote a great book about heirloom tomatoes. I had the pleasure of chatting with her a few time back in the day before her passing in 2019. This was the hot spot for tomato people back in the day. I am not sure if it is now days. But there are still post with a lot of valuable information that spans over almost 20 years.

The Cons

Now for the unpopular cons. A lot deals with the breeding of tomatoes that was going on back then and the sharing of unstable seeds. There were crosses that were shared with many people with a name on the packet that were not stable and were early generation crosses. Some people who received the seeds kept the same name. Weather they got them from the person who did the cross or in a swap/trade. This is how there are a couple tomatoes with the same name that look completely different.

Or a breeder would cross a tomato and trust a few growers to grow them out so they could get a stabilized tomato faster. But the growers that were trusted to grow them out and return seeds to the breeder. They would end up releasing the variant before it was stable or what the breeder wanted it to be. Let it be they released on their own or in a trade/swap. Or it was released to early and still was unstable or both. This is how you would get different looking tomatoes with the same name. Or so many versions of these tomatoes like a name of the tomato with dark, black, large, small, striped, yellow, or red (etc.) at the end of the name.

The Aftermath

Here we are in 2024 almost 20 years later from when T-Ville started. When these people and breeders made decisions to share these non-stable varieties. Then some collectors kept them and never grew them. Or some were received in swaps and they never got around to growing them a decided to years later. But some grew them out a couple of times and kept the name. No matter which way it happened. What it stems back to the decisions made by people back in the day in T-Ville. It is not the growers /vendors fault today for the decisions you all made back then.

Personally I dread any tomato that comes up in my research that goes back to T-Ville. Especially if its the only source to go by when listing. This past year I heard from 3 people about 3 different tomatoes. All 3 tomatoes stemmed back to T-Ville. They were upset with me for the information I provided about the varieties. I provided where I purchased some seeds from, links in the descriptions to the forums, or Tatiana’s who was a member in the early days of T-Ville and kept notes of some of it. She also had some of it added to her database as a reference too. An example of this is from a forum or thread from Tville for the newly named Matt.Sue E Small Red Tomato.

This tomato we renamed due to the creators comment on a video we posted. In which we emailed them that same day with no response from them. Then a review was left on our site 45 days later we did not publish but saved it. Even though you can read it in his own words on a T-Ville thread he wrote back in 2021. We provided a photo of this in the gallery and the description of the newly named tomato above. But this is what prompted this blog to be written.

Going Forward  

In closing about The Pros And Cons About T-Ville and the Aftermath. Please if you were a part of this back in the day in T-Ville please do not blame the growers for the decisions you all made. Also please do not get upset with us if we have the information wrong. Why I say this, because if you would provide the growers / vendors with the information. Let’s say on a Facebook page file or even a thread on T-Ville with all your bred tomatoes and information (both of these are free platforms).This way were are not just relying on where we bought the seeds or third party information online.

If this information was available there would be a lot less mistakes instead of just blaming the vendors, growers, and traders for not having correct information. Then demanding everyone to change their information they have right now. Even though it matches someone else, where we bought our seeds from and that have been selling it for years this way, or from threads. So if you took the time to create these wonderful and exciting crosses. Then please take the time to post the correct detailed information you want everyone to know about these wonderful tomatoes somewhere (example – Facebook, Tville, etc. for free).  All people have to do then is put the name of the tomato in the search bar and it pops up, this how we found threads of these tomatoes on T-Ville. We all love tomatoes and want to know more about them.

But if this information is not available and everyone has to use the above research places. Then if something is not correct please do not demand people to change the descriptions they have. Just because you did not want to take the time to create an informational post, thread, or file (for free) on the tomato or tomatoes you created.

New Growers/Vendors

For new growers be sure to research your tomatoes before listing or trading to make sure the information is correct even though there maybe a few kinds. But make sure it matches so it does not add to the confusion there already is. If you are working with an unstable variety let it be a cross from someone else, breeder, or one you discovered be sure to change the name to make it different. This would help not to add to the confusion there already is. We try to give the person who did the original cross credit. An example of this would be a variant we found from a breeders seeds that were suppose to be stable or even unstable they named. We say they did the cross and found this variant but give it a new name since it is a new tomato variant.