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christie_sw_mo

Has anyone planted tomato seeds this late?

christie_sw_mo
15 years ago

I know I'm late but I just got some tomato seeds this week from Trudi and thought I'd try. I planted a few in a flat over the weekend. My dad thought the cherry tomatoes might have time to finish but not the larger ones so I only planted the little ones.

I planted Black Cherry, Chocolate Cherry, Coyote (a yellow cherry), and Green Grape.

I got Cherokee Purple and Brandywine seeds from her also but will just hang onto those for next year I think. I didn't want to waste them. Should I have planted a few?

Comments (12)

  • ceresone
    15 years ago

    Christie, I know it is late, but some people just start theirs in the garden, instead of the house, so I would try a few. We have a long growing season, and it will be a month before I set my plants in the garden, so give it a try.
    I've grown the Black Cherry for last few years, my favorite cherry is still Isis Candy.

  • Violet_Z6
    15 years ago

    My black cherry volunteers and does fine. I just let it do what it wants, when it wants.

    I've seen cherokee purple commonly sold at garden centers at very inexpensive prices, including places like Lowes. The farmer's market is a great resource for heirloom tomatoes if you can't make it out to Baker Creek.

    What are the flavor/texture differences between Isis Candy and Black Cherry?

  • gldno1
    15 years ago

    ceresone is right. You are just about 14 days behind my planting and all that means is your tomatoes will show up 14 days later in the season.

    I had an elderly neighbor lady that always planted several seeds at the end of the row and then just pulled up the clump, separated the seedlings and planted out in the row. I keep meaning to try that some time.

  • ceresone
    15 years ago

    violet, in my estimation, the flavors are as different as the colors!
    Isis Candy, is, as normal for me, a multi-colored cherry, its a blend of orange and red, with the trademark star on the bottom. Its a sweet, fruity taste-which I think is the best cherry ever.
    The Black Cherry is almost a red/black color, and while I've heard it said that chilled, it resembles a Concord Grape, since I HAVE Concord grapes-not in my wildest dreams does it taste like them. Best I can say for it, is that it has a tomato taste, rather bland.
    I'm sure theres other opinions on the taste-anyone?

  • christie_sw_mo
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Yay Ceresone! I'm glad to hear that Isis Candy is your favorite because that's another that she sent me. I spent some time looking up opinions on the web, and Isis Candy was a popular one. Also, several people recommended Black Cherry and Coyote. Sungold was the only cherry that I wanted that she didn't have but I should have plenty so that's ok. I have an itch to try some cherry tomato salad recipes and I wanted different colors.

    I have unnamed red cherry tomatoes that volunteer every year and they haven't come up yet. Some are only marble sized but I like the small ones anyway. I was tempted to order some of the very tiny ones, like pea sized, but I didn't find many people that actually liked the way they tasted.

    Question:

    If I have four or five kinds of cherry tomatoes and save seeds from them this summer, will they cross? I think they're all heirloom varieties.

  • helenh
    15 years ago

    Carolyn on the tomato forum recommended Sara's Galapagos for a current tomato. I have never seen those but I planted some seeds this year. The tomatoes are supposed to be so tiny that several fit in a spoon. The current tomatoes are supposed to be likely to cross with others.

    I would plant a seed or two of each kind. I'll bet yours catch up to the early planted ones. It isn't really late because tomatoes like sun and warmth better than basements.

  • ceresone
    15 years ago

    LOL--Do you actually KNOW how hard it is to pick the tiny ones??? 'course, if you have little ones yourself-then they love picking them, mine did.
    Did you ever plant Sweet Million? If so, it might be your volunteers-they came up for years after I quit planting them.
    Some experts say they are hard to cross (the Isis, etc) and some say otherwise. I've about decided if they're only for me, no trades, it dosent matter much.They are acclimatized(?) to your garden too.

  • christie_sw_mo
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    I had never planted cherry tomatoes when I found the first volunteer so I don't know where it came from. My neighbor across the street used to put out a few veggies so maybe something carried it from there.
    Ok Cereson it might be wiser for me not to plant the pea sized ones. Those would take forever to pick. They so cute though. : )

  • kjfmz
    15 years ago

    Resurrecting an old thread I guess. So tomato seeds might actually still work (St. Louis, MO)

  • christie_sw_mo
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    I am starting to see a few green sprouts from the seeds I planted April 12th.
    I'm not sure whether you could still plant tomatoes from seed KJ but you could try just a few and save the rest of your seeds for next year. Tomato seeds will usually keep for a few years. I put my leftover seeds in freezer bags so they'll stay dry and just stick them in a kitchen cabinet. If your tomatoes don't have time to ripen, I think there was a discussion on fried green tomatoes awhile back. We may both need to try those this fall. lol

  • mulberryknob
    15 years ago

    Tomato seeds planted this late even the big varieties will give you good fall tomatoes. The problem with tomatoes is they don't like to set fruit in hot weather so they may not bear well until fall unless you cool the plants with a misting of water and then shake the blossoms to get them to pollinate.

    In years past I had a neighbor who planted his tomatoes outside where he'd burned a brush pile about mid April. I think they were Rutgers. He had lots of tomatoes in August and September.

  • kjfmz
    15 years ago

    I think I might just give it a try... what harm can it do? :) I'll let you know how I get on. Thanks!