Originally Posted By Kitties-with-Sigs:My first prediction is that you won't be able to find the tomatoes because of the hundreds of walnut seedlings coming up.
That said, I admit that I'm skeptical because of the level of juglone you've built up there. Of course I don't expect the Rutgers to do well. Do you have any more of the SWIRE line of seedlings? Would love it if you would ALSO do an experiment outdoors in soil that is not so heavily augmented with the juglone. Like a "normal" level of juglone.
Here's the thing--
I have not been able to find any really good research about how long juglone persists in the soil. I believe it is persistant, but not FOREVER persistant. I think, were it forever persistant, that you'd have old-timers saying, "don't buy that land. It's contaminated with walnut and nuthin good will grow," etc etc.
They don't. Which means that over time, that chemical will lose efficacy through leaching and through normal root cycling and soil processes, and we can once again grow intolerant species in that soil.
Combined with that theory (and it is only a theory) you have to take into account, what if the trees are still there, leaching hydrojuglone every time it rains, which then fixes in the soil and here we go again....?
So it's not a simple "this or that" scenario, but we have to reduce it to simple questions to properly experiment.
To develop a tolerant tomato that would grow in, say, a planter box that was filled with, maybe, peat-based potting mix, but that was UNDER a
Juglans nigra would be an accomplishment indeed! And what if that soil mix was not removed and replaced, but simply augmented with compost the following year, and the tomatoes still grew and produced. That would be life changing for some gardeners.
So there is so much to unpack, it's almost too big to think about.
I really like that you still have this going on, and I love that you are trying to develop a juglone-resistant variety.