Thinking About Tomatoes Already

[catjac1975]

There is that adventure some of the North American and Australian tomato aficionados went on! There are a number of these new tomatoes. I had read some things by Craig LeHoullier over the last few years about their efforts and the introduction of several dwarf varieties.

Victory Seed (link) will be selling them .

Steve

I guess if you are limited for space dwarf would be a great form. Personally the less bending while picking is what I like!

 

[digitS']

Dr LeHoullier grows all of his many varieties in containers, I believe. So, this was "fitting."

I've wondered about dwarves but have tried only the New Big Dwarf. With a greenhouse, I could start more plants.

Something that surprises me, however, is that they don't seem to have any advantage with days-to-maturity. But, here we are! Modern crosses, not always stabilized but they must be well on their way. Note how it is a collaboration with 12 months of growing seasons.

Steve

 

[Lavender2]

One year I grew 17 different open-pollinated varieties. That was one of the summers where we had record heat and dry. The only ones that produced were Mr. Stripey and Black Krim. That was after spending a fortune watering them and keeping them alive. That production came after the heat broke and it cooled off. The rest did practically nothing. But other years Mr. Stripey and Black Krim do practically nothing. My climate is so varied here that a typical summer doesn't mean a lot. Sometimes I'll get an open pollinated variety that does well really well. Parks Whopper has been a decent producer for me most years. Interesting with the difference in your climate in Minnesota and mine that we both like that one.

The hybrids don't always produce really well for me either, though they usually do OK. Each year it is a crap shoot. What should I plant and how much of each. Some of the hybrids have really good flavor. The ones I grow taste a lot like a tomato. But some of the open pollinated have their own unique flavor or appearance that makes them worth growing.

I've had Parks Whopper in my garden for many years, it's never let me down. Some years the tomatoes are a bit smaller but always a good producer. Two months of rain last year slowed them down, harvest was about half of a good year. I remove the bottom leaves at planting but I don't prune them during the season.

My friend down near Texarkana grew a few early girls in pots last year and they produced great for her all summer, though she said it was an unusually cooler summer. She doesn't do a veg. garden but was happy I convinced her to grow a few tomatoes. Good to know the Whopper might be good for her to try if she gets a garden in next year.

 

[Lavender2]

And, here's another idea, @so lucky !


Since you are thinking about heirloom crosses. How about a cross of Cherokee Purple and Pruden's Purple? Vorlon (link)

I'm not sure what to think about ordering it from Baker Creek ... Bulgaria?? Here is what Tatiana has to say about it and there are several choices in "seed available." TomatoBase.

@Lavender2 may want to think about this one, too.

Steve
who hasn't figured out why Pruden's is called purple ... since it is pink

Thanks for the recommendation, Steve. I just can't seem to find a black/dark purple tomato appealing. There are so many pretty red and pink ones out there... I just hope I'm not missing out on something great because my eyes can't handle it.

You have mentioned so many, can't remember all of them ... have you ever grown Costoluto Genovese?
Like so many other tomatoes, the reviews are from one end to the other...

 

[digitS']

I have not grown Costoluto Genovese, @Lavender2 .

The days-to-maturity often don't show much connection to reality but I shy away from those 80-day varieties. Also, the fluting ... you know what Mozart said, "what is worse than a flute? Two flutes."

No. If the tomato catches sprinkler water it seems to split so much easier. Right along those flutes!

Steve

 

[Jared77]

@Lavender2 do you have a farmers market near you? Try some black/new tomato varieties there. You'll know right away if you like them or not and you're not out any garden space that way either.

 

[Lavender2]

@digitS' , I will admire Costoluto Genovese in photos. While I didn't read any complaints about cracking I can see where that could be an issue, also the thought of peeling.

@Jared77 ... it's not so much my taste buds, it's my habit of tasting with my eyes first. The thought of black stuff floating around in my salsa... reminds me of those leftover containers that get lost in the frig for a really long time.

 

[seedcorn]

Finally a voice of reason on black tomatoes..

 

[thistlebloom]

Oh, nice visual @Lavender2 , I like blacks, but now I will be seeing them in a different light. Ha!

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Well, to be fair, comparatively few black tomatoes are still "black" once they are actually chunked up. They tend to be dark red/pink with greenish skins/streaks And the "blue" ones are only "blue" on the skins; inside they're red or green. Pureed, or made into chunks, most are more or less the same color red wine is.

Of course there ARE some exceptions to the rule. One of the few "black" tomatoes I actively HATE is Purple Calabash. Part of the reason is that I just plain and simply don't like the flavor, but another big part is that I could never get used to eating a tomato which, to me, is more or less the color of a bruise.

There is a pretty good chance I will be making a LARGE tomato seed order soon. Probably mostly to the Secret Seed Cartel. I just found out about the site. They seem to have a lot of green when ripe tomatoes and I am a sucker for those. I keep continuing in my quest to have seed for every kind of green tomato there is despite the fact that
1. It's impossible, given how many new tomato strains are found/developed every year.
2. I already HAVE enough tomato seed to last me until the end of the NEXT millennium (there's so much I need a little file cabinet to keep all the packets)
3. with my space and conditions, the absolute maximum number of tomato plants I can have in a year is about seven (so ONE seed packet lasts me several years)
4. Most tomatoes don't really do so well for me. With no cold frame (or place to put one) and a grow lite array that really doesn't work that well, direct seeding is pretty much my only option (any seeds started indoors get so leggy no matter what I do they collapse and die as soon as they are taken outside) so my plants wind up so far behind that most don't make their first flowers until it's pretty much the end of the tomato season. Even when I DO get one to grow (say by using a pre started heirloom plant) most tomatoes tend to go into immediate death mode for me. They flower, make one tiny (and I mean tiny) tomato (if that) and then keel over. This seems to happen with pretty much any tomato above cherry sized (the cherry's don't make the number of fruits they are supposed to, but at least there are usually more than one of them, and they are normal sized with normal seeds (a lot of the tiny ones are all aborted inside) The last "reasonable" crop I got was from the near wild Ramito Dulce's I grew three or four years ago, and I HATED their flavor (I was ok with the Ramito Dorado's, but there were a lot less of them)
5. That "seven plants max" only applies if Tomatoes are ALL I grow on the patio. Every time I need a pot for something else, that's one fewer max tomato plants. And since by now pretty much EVERYTHING needs to be put in pots on the patio to keep it from being destroyed by now, most years I set out NO tomatoes. That probably includes this year as well; I need the spaces for the barley, the wheat (both of which will at least grow) the beans (while I try and figure out which ones will) and so on. With all that, the tomatoes (which I can pick up at the Farmers market (and will have to even if I DO grow any) don't rank high.