FEATURE/In Time for Valentine's Day, Amelia Makes Appearance at San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.

Lifestyle Editors/Food & Feature Editors/Home & Garden Writers

FEATURE...

SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 13, 2004

New Tomato Hybrid is Plump, Available and Sweeter than Average

Big, juicy, offering sweet flesh and immediate availability, Amelia, a new tomato hybrid two years in the making, makes an exclusive and short-term engagement at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.

And the best part? She's TSWV negative.

The buxom hybrid is naturally resistant to the dreaded Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV) and is a prolific producer of large fruit. Transplants will be on sale ONLY at the Master Gardener's Trail Pavilion, starting this Friday, February 13, and on the weekends until the Rodeo ends. Because she is new and so rare, Amelia will not be available at most nurseries, so these final weekends at the Rodeo will be your only chance to have her grace your garden.

"Amelia produces some of the largest fruit we've ever seen. She's TSWV resistant, and is really sweet -- perfect for the home garden," says Dr. Jerry Parsons, Professor and horticulture specialist with the Texas Cooperative Extension in San Antonio, who monitored the hybrid's two-year trials. Parsons says Amelia's three-and-a-half-inch fruit is too large for commercial production, since commercial growers are interested in easy packing and shipping.

Since tomatoes are the number-one vegetable crop for most home gardeners, the Texas Trail Pavilion is anticipating high demand for the productive newcomer. Only a limited number of plants will be available at a cost of $5 per super six-pack (6 transplants/each in 3 1/2-inch containers), or $1 each.

WHO:    "Amelia," a new tomato hybrid

WHAT:   Sale of this rare plant, which is unavailable
        at most nurseries

WHEN:   Weekends only, until Rodeo ends on February 22

WHERE:  San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo
        Master Gardener's Trail Pavilion

If you miss the plant sale, Amelia's less glamorously named cousin, "Tomato444," offers similar characteristics and should be available as transplants at local garden centers. Parsons recommends growing the transplants in gallon-size containers until mid-March before transplanting outside. Information about doing this can be found at:

http://www.plantanswers.com/tomato444.htm

TSWV manifests itself as black, yellow or green ring spots on the foliage, leaf distortion, brown necrotic lesions and mottled, off-color foliage, brown stem lesions, plant wilt and plant death. There is no cure for TSWV. Gardens succumbing to the virus, which also affects peppers and peanuts, are often best treated by pulling everything up and starting over.

'Amelia' and 'Tomato 444' have been tested for several years by the Texas Cooperative Extension with the help of Gardening Volunteers of South Texas and Bexar County Master Gardeners and "have never NOT produced a large crop of quality tomatoes," says Parsons. The winning hybrids actually yielded more fruit and larger fruit than their older, well known hybrids such as Merced, Celebrity, Whirlaway, Bingo and Heatwave.

For more information on Amelia and 444 go to:

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/vegetables/2003 falltomatotrials/index.html

or

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/vegetables/2003 tomatotrials/index.html

(NOTE: Due to the length of these URLs, it may be necessary to copy and paste the hyperlinks into your Internet browser's URL address field.)