Shokoladka F1 (Little Chocolate) Dehybridizing, Segregations & Off-types

I thought about it for a long time… And decided to create a thread in the Varieties section. After all, I sent these segregants to many of you. If anything gets clarified later, we can move them to their proper variety names.

The seeds were originally sent to me by Natasha Rizaya. She grew this wonderful green tomato instead of the Shokoladka F1 she planted. I ended up with 5 bushes of these tomatoes. Two in the greenhouse, two in a covered bed (low tunnel), and one just outdoors in open ground.

Type 1: The Brown Round
In the greenhouse, two identical bushes grew with tomatoes ranging from 40g up to 70g (1.4-2.5 oz). Dark brown color, almost perfectly round like balls, and with stripes. A truss tomato, beautiful, with thick fleshy walls, but thin skin. The bush is indeterminate, but not too tall and not heavily foliated.

Type 2: The Green Elongated
In the covered bed, one green bush grew. A tall determinate, also producing trusses, fruit shape is elongated with a beak/nipple at the blossom end. Here it is unripe, then ripe, and its weight:

Type 3: The Red Elongated
The second one in the covered bed and the one in the open ground were red — though it probably belongs to the dark varieties, it is more red compared to the brown one. Also indeterminate. And an aggressive one at that, producing tons of suckers. The fruits are also elongated, with a beak, growing in trusses. By the way, this one looks the most like the original Shokoladka F1 packet picture.

Comparisons & Cross-sections:
Brown cross-section, Red cross-section, Green cross-section, and all together:

All three are quite thick-walled, with a marmalade-like jelly texture, and very tasty. But with thin skin. They cracked during canning for me. They fruited for a long time in the greenhouse; I even harvested the green ones right before the frost in late September.

So, here is what I am thinking: if Natasha originally had seeds saved from an F1 hybrid, then I was growing the F2 generation. Can we hope that going forward each line will stabilize and preserve its traits? Or, if Natasha’s was already an unstable F2, then my seeds are F3 and might segregate again?

Mine turned out like this, grown from Ninulia’s seeds. Inside they have brown flesh with greenish seeds.

Quote from Lana_s_Kavkaza:
Mine turned out like this, grown from Ninulia’s seeds. Inside they have brown flesh with greenish seeds.

They look exactly like dyed Easter eggs lying there!!!!

Yes — they are absolute beauties 👍🌺

And I ended up with a green tomato that is very sweet… I saved a bunch of seeds—even though it was an F1—and planted about a dozen plants. I honestly kept waiting for them to turn red; I only learned about Green-When-Ripe tomatoes here on the forum 😳 Who knows what will come of them now, but it sets fruit very well and diligently))

Over here, private collectors sell it as a stable heirloom named “Chokoladka, aus Russland” (Chocolate from Russia), for example, Manfred Hahm-Hartmann with his 1,000 varieties.

I’ve been planting Shokoladka F1 for 5 years. From one packet, they were all chocolate-colored. Last year I bought a new packet—I had 2 bushes: one was chocolate, the other green. The green one tasted sweeter. I wasn’t smart enough to save seeds. This year I planted one bush—I’ll see what color it turns out this time.

I had green ones growing last year. And I think I’ll have them this year too. Because the seeds sent to me were taken from a green tomato. But who sent them, I need to check my records. I don’t remember.

Last year I planted Shokoladka F1, and they grew brownish-green, but very tasty. Some had a beak, some didn’t. This year I am growing them from my own saved seeds.

Seeds from Dukhov (Ukraine).
Round Shokoladka Segregant:

• Bush description: Late season, semi-spreading, sturdy.
• Fruit set: Continuous without skipping blossoms; the top trusses are ripening last.
• Height: In open ground on Aug 19th – 1.7m (5.5 ft).
• Trusses: 5-7 fruits per truss.
• Overall yield: High.
• Fruit: Round, burgundy-purple with neon stripes; the coloring is very unusual and mesmerizing.
• Density: Medium when ripe.
• Taste: Tomatoey, slightly cottony (you cannot let them overripen on the vine), meaty, sweetness is a solid 4+.

First impression: A beautiful tomato for canning.
Cons: Overripens quickly on the bush, slightly lacking in juiciness.
Ratings: Seedling – 3, Bush – 4, Fruit – 4, Overall Variety Rating – 4.

Ninulia, your Green Chocolate line is completely stable for me. Only this year it grew a bit shorter, maybe it’s just the weather. Many of my varieties started small and then took off. And since Shokoladka is one of the very first to ripen, maybe that’s why it stayed short. Photos in order: 2014, 2015, 2016. (2015 and 2016 grown from my own saved seeds).

My brown off-type sent by Ninulia grew into exactly the same brown, striped, small round tomato. Tasty, beautiful, unusual coloring. Thank you, Ninulia (no photo). It went into canning jars and salads.

My Green Chocolate grew green… It grew outdoors, the bushes were not tall, about 1.4 m (4.6 ft). The only “but” — after prolonged heavy rains, the tomatoes cracked, and very severely at that…

I also grew Green Chocolate this year. In such a difficult summer, it turned out productive and sweet. The first small fruits cracked from the constant rain, but the subsequent ones were eaten with great pleasure 😋 The seeds were from LenaV.

We tried Green Chocolate this year. I received the seeds from Tomatinka. I really liked it: sweet, and on the cross-section, it truly looks like marmalade/jelly. In my conditions outdoors, it was very productive. I saved my own seeds. I will definitely plant it again 👍