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| First year for me here in my little Zone 10 extreme heat and humidity microclimate. It's been a prolific producer, beautiful orange grape, thin skinned and really great taste...curious how others have done with it. Silvia - Smarty F1 has been a winner here too ;-) I only set one plant this fall but I've started four plants for the spring :-) Tom |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Hi Tom Sounds like the Nugget tomato is a winner, I have not tried it yet. The Smarty tomato does well in any conditions, can take the heat, humidity and cold. It is also very resistant to disease and bugs. I am almost at the end of my season but the Smarty tomato and the other tomato Indigo Rose are still pumping tomatoes. The Smarty is usually the first to ripen and the last one to go, I also like the compact and smaller size. The Indigo took a longer time to ripen and has a little bit of bland flavor but roasted in the oven is good, also in a salsa roasted or fresh. This morning Smarty in the front and next the Indigo tomatoes
Silvia |
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- Posted by happy_fl_gardener 9a, near DeLand (My Page) on Thu, Dec 6, 12 at 19:46
| Tom, I've never grown Nugget but it sounds like I should. Sounds similar to Sungold, only grape shape. You and Silvia have convinced me to try Smarty too. Your post is reminding me that I had better get my order ready for tomatoes and peppers since starting time is only a few weeks away. Any other favorites? |
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| I also like the compact and smaller size Huh Silvia? My Smarty is putting out tentacles like an octopus, if I didn't know better I'd swear it was crossed with the Everglades tomato, it's spreading everywhere :-) :-( Definitely now my favorite red grape. Another good one this season is the Italian cherry.... Did you grow Sweet Baby Girl? If so how did it compare to Italian Cherry? SBG is still my favorite red cherry. I have a pack of those Indigo Rose seeds but have not tried it yet, maybe I'll start a few this weekend. Any other favorites? I started quite a few yellows and oranges this fall Christine, bored with reds ;-) I really liked the taste of Flamme but the plants are not hardy at all. Looks like it's replacement from this fall is going to be Tangella, good production and much stronger plants. Sorry there aren't many Nuggets in these pictures I snapped this morning, we ate most of them this week in a tomato-cucumber salad. Tom
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This post was edited by tomncath on Sat, Dec 8, 12 at 8:07
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- Posted by happy_fl_gardener 9a, near DeLand (My Page) on Sat, Dec 8, 12 at 10:04
| Tom - What a nice looking harvest. I didn't plant many tomato plants this fall but worst of all, I got a late start. The plants are loaded with green tomatoes. I have to cross my fingers in hopes that most ripen soon. What is the variety of the large tomato? Are they meaty? Those are impressive. Great sliced in sandwiches. I need to grow some of those types too. Christine |
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| Hi Christine, fingers crossed for you. The big reds are mostly Beefmaster (my workhorse), and First Prize (new trial). The slightly pink one in the middle plate is Monomakh's Hat. Of these I'm always happy with Beefmaster. First Prize taste great and is productive but I've experienced a lot of cracking with this variety. Monomakh's Hat taste great also and set very well in here in the heat and humidity, and is very early at about 60 days but for my first experience with it it does not keep well at all. I have 5-6 in the frig right now because they go bad so quickly. Of the fifty or so larger reds I've trialed my favorites are still Beefmaster, Jetsetter, and Big Beef. Tom |
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| Tom - Now that you mention the Smarty having tentacles,lol, yes they do but it is still shorter in size than the other tomatoes. I also grew the Sweet Baby Girl and I really liked the flavor, I will grow them again. The Italian variety is the most productive and taller but it has thicker skins that helps with them not cracking in the rain and also last longer after harvest. In my experience none of the heart tomatoes and bi-colors are good keepers, they have to be used quick. I make a tomato sauce and roasted tomato salsa with them or I freeze them. Here is some of my tomatoes today
The small tomatoes
the reds
yellows and black
Silvia |
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| Tom, just want to tell you how good those yellow currant 'maters are, and how prolific... that you sent me the seeds for...those and the everglades reds are my faves.....Thanks, sally |
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| I just wanted to comment that my sweet baby girls are doing great and seem to love it here! Yours look beautiful! I have yet to eat them as they are still green. It is so hard being so far behind you northern growers. LOL have only eaten a couple roma's so far. Christmas I must wait for Christmas! I always think I should have fruit by Thanksgiving but it is too early for me, I must wait till Christmas. |
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- Posted by happy_fl_gardener 9a, near DeLand (My Page) on Sat, Dec 8, 12 at 21:11
| Silvia - What a nice harvest you also have. If I remember right, Willie said that he likes the black tomatoes the best. He should be very pleased with today's harvest too. Tom - Yes, I do remember that you like the Beefmaster the best. I think I bought some seeds last winter but I didn't end up planting any tomatoes at all. I have grown Jetsetter and First Prize many times. In fact, I have a couple of Jetsetters in the garden right now. First Prize was recommended very highly to be, along with Big Beef by the owner of Tomato Growers Supply. I found them to be okay but not my favorite. This spring I will surely grow Beefmaster. I will look into Monomakh's Hat. Christine |
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| Thank you, that was my morning tomato harvest, in the afternoon I had to pick more with the warm days that we are having they are ripening fast. Dinner plans were switched and we had BLT's again.:)
Here is a feedback about some of the tomatoes this season from different people: Silvia |
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| Silvia - Very nice! What yellows and blacks are you growing? I've had no luck with the blacks other than Black Cherry. I'm growing Japanese Black Trifele now but I'm not impressed so far, I'll definitely start some Indigo Rose today. Did you like Flamme? If so I highly recommend Tangella. Sally - I'm glad you like the yellow currants, I like them a little better than the Everglades red and I think they are slightly hardier. Keiki - You're going to love the taste of Sweet Baby Girl and the thin skins ;-) Christine - you'll be happy with Beefmaster, my favorite for taste and great production and disease resistance is a definite bonus. I'll have to pick another batch today too, pictures to follow.... |
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| Bucs lost :-( Picked a few more maters today before football started :-) Tom
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| Tom - That is a wonderful harvest! I see some pretty peppers too, what kind they are? And it looks like the Monokah's tomato? Some friends that like fried green tomatoes said that they make the best because they are so meaty. I made roasted tomato soup with them and put it in the freezer... Depending on the season, the weather and other factors sometimes the same variety of tomato does good or not, that is the reason that if I like them or others do, I grow them again. From the blacks I grow Pol Robeson which is a medium size black, there is another variety bigger size Paul Robeson. From the yellows and oranges I grew Kellog's Breakfast, this season I tried a beefsteak Tangerine, was not great but so-so, Pork Chop is so productive this season that I made a lot of roasted salsa with them. I like the Flamme tomatoes and I roast them till they are like raisins.:) And I think I like better than the Tangella that I also grew before... Silvia |
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| WOW lots of beatiful toms! Now I am sitting here craving a juicy tomato sandwich. Has anyone tried Florida 47? If so how did it do for you and did you like the taste? This is my first year with it. I have 2 plants one is growing like its on steriods and the other is just plugging along. |
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| Hi Silvia, I see some pretty peppers too, what kind they are? Since my neighbor two doors down put a rose garden in back of her yard I have not been able to grow any sweet bell peppers due to thrips :-( These are Orangesicle, a little larger than Yummy and thicker walls, one of the few sweets that can survive these little buggars.... And it looks like the Monokah's tomato? It is, they were the size of softballs, we've made some great salsa from greenies, maybe we'll do that. From the blacks.... Never tried PR but IS and BK were duds here, probably due to the humidity since my garden is only 8' from the lake, I have NO business trying to grow tomatoes here but that doesn't stop me :-) :-( From the yellows.... I'm trying Kellog's this spring and have your Pork Chop seeds to try in the fall. I like the Flamme.... I like Tangella, I guess the difference is again probably the humidity here. Hi R, Has anyone tried Florida 47?.... Never even heard of it, time to go take a look. Tom |
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| Keiki - When you make your next tomato sandwich have some aioli sauce on the side, it is great like that. About the Florida 47 tomato, I have not grown but I read the review on another site and one of them is from the vegetable guru that is also a farmer and I value his opinion, he said that is a commercial tomato with some diseases resistance. Other person said that it does not have tomatoey taste and is crunchy. Smoky chipotle sauce with heirloom tomatoes, really good!
Silvia |
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- Posted by gardenbear49 Melbourne Z9B (My Page) on Thu, Dec 13, 12 at 15:10
| What is your secret for long growing tomatoes? As soon as mine start to produce, the leaf miners set in, and I'm lucky if I can get a few weeks before the plants decline. I grow them in pots under the car port where they get sun 9A-2P. Have tried Early Girls and cherry types with same results, so have given up. Peppers do great in same area! |
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| I was given 6 florida 47 plants and gave away all but 2. The gardener who gave them to me said they are growing in all the upick places around Homestead. I have high expectations for them, LOL. I agree with you Silvia as long as they ripen it wont be bad. A home grown tomato is always enjoyed here. |
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| Tom - Sorry to hear about your neighbor and the roses. I am afraid to go and check the bugs in the community garden sometimes.:) Keiki - Yes, you cannot beat the flavor of a homegrown tomato. Either roasted or made into a sauce. My all-purpose tomato sauces to go on the freezer to be used in various dishes. The yellow tomato sauce
The black tomato sauce
And the red
Silvia |
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| The yellow tomato sauce is so pretty! I might have to reshuffle my garden plans to work some yellow plants in. The look on my kids' faces when I call them to a spaghetti dinner and present the sunshine yellow sauce would be priceless. What are some of your favorite yellows for growing in Florida? (Sorry for jacking the thread!) |
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| L in FL After finishing the sauces, I tried them and the family did too. Surprisingly the favorite one was the yellow that has an almost fruity flavor, the black one has a deep, rich flavor almost smoky and the red one was the least liked even tho it was still packed with fresh tomato flavor. To give you a better advice on the varieties, I would have to know what do you and your family like, big varieties, medium, small, hybrids, heirlooms or a combination. In my house we like a lot of varieties and I always grow a big assortment, small, medium, big. I grow mostly heirlooms, few hybrids. Each season I tried to grow some of the same varieties and some different or new ones. For a cherry the ones that come to mind would be Sungold and Yellow Submarine. For a medium, Jaune Flame, Chang Li For a big variety, Kellogs Breakfast, Pork Chop. The coming season I am growing some new yellow varieties... A past harvest
Silvia |
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| Wow, nice tomatoes Tom and Silvia! I usually grow the same old stuff except for an occassional new 2-4 plants. My taste is similar to Tom's. My best producer is beefmaster and I like the taste too. Sometimes I grow Jetsetter, sometimes Rutgers, sometimes black cherries, and frequently a pink beefsteak heirloom I love but is not a great producer. I may try the smarty this time at your suggestion. It would be nice to try something new that has worked well for some of you. Anna |
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| Hi Anna! I am glad that you are back posting! When the gardening friends are missing, it is not so much fun. The diversity and style of the posters is what makes this forum interesting. Silvia |
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| Silvia - Thanks for the reply. I'll look into those varieties. I am not particularly hung up hybrid vs. heirloom, as long as it tastes great and produces. I do like a size and type assortment, for different things: bite size tomatoes for snacking and salads, meaty types for saucing and salsa, and of course some great slicers. I grow SunSugar (a spinoff of SunGold) most years, and it usually does well and one plant makes as many grape tomatoes as we can eat fresh...and then some! But because they are tiny and juicy, they're no good for slicing and sauce. So I will look into some of the mid-size and larger varieties you recommend. A lot of people seem to really like Kellogg's Breakfast. It must be pretty good. Laura |
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- Posted by alexcortez 10b (My Page) on Sat, Dec 15, 12 at 0:59
| Thanks for all the beautiful pictures. I was drewling all over them:-) I am in France for the year and have no garden and have been shopping at a local store that tries hard to buy local and in season.. so there have been no tomatoes around for the last three weeks almost.. I usually use carambolas as substitute but none here either obviously although the tree in Miami is full of it. Enjoy all the beautiful tomatoes. |
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| Laura - You should grow a variety of yellow cherry and other colors for your kids. They are best when dried in the lowest set oven for a long time till they are sweet and tasty like raisins for them to snack. After drying them like that, I put them in the refrigerator to be used as a topping for salads or any other dish. They are the easiest to grow... Alexcortez - Lucky you! Enjoy your time in France and the local cuisine, maybe learn new dishes to make. Forget about the carambola,lol. I am sure that you can find a lot of interesting things to do and eat. Report to us when you come back, at least we can take a virtual trip.:) Silvia |
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| I've enjoyed Nugget but I think the new variety I'm most pleased with from this fall has been Tangella. Golf-ball sized orange, good taste and production and the thin skin has been a bonus, perfect for salads. Tom |
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