I learned something new. Cherokee Purple Heart! I didn't know there was such a thing!

Last year I grew Cherokee Purple, and it was the first large tomato to ripen in my garden. You could always substitute the non-heart for the heart version!

I'm planning to grow Fish Lake Oxheart this summer and I have heard that it's one of the earlier hearts to mature!

I can recommend Rose de Berne as a tasty mid-season tomato.

Linda

Just a quick scan down the tomatogrowers.com list of all the mid-season varieties brings up all sorts of suggestions. It is multiple pages long.

Of course the line between mid and late is pretty artificial and dictated by weather more than anything else.

Do you want only OP or are hybrids okay too? There are many great, so-called mid-season, hybrids like Bella Rosa and Jet Star. For OP look at Momotaro, Thessaloniki, Eva Purple Ball, and Magnus.

Dave

Sue,
If you're willing to grow a hybrid, I think Brandy Boy is great.
Two of my favorite early to mid-season OPs are Azoychka and Sioux. I'm looking forward to trying Maya and Sion's Airdrie Classic, Mr. Bruno, Tatjana, and Cyril's Choice this year...they all sound very good.
Paula

Linda, I grew Fish Lake Oxheart last year and really enjoyed it. It is listed by Victory Seeds, where I got mine, as 85 days. So it depends on what you consider early, mid and late season. I usually consider mid seasons to be less than 80 days, although I know it is imprecise and variable with weather. For some reason I tend to love the ones that take 85-100 days to mature, lol. Living in Connecticut that makes for some pretty close calls in a bad year to get any tomatoes. I did not get any until very late in August last year. In my journal I noted on Sept. 3rd that I had only had 5-6 tomatoes from the entire garden. That is why I am trying to give up a couple of those late ones for some mid season ones.

I found regular Cherokee Purple tomatoes for some reason had not done as well as in the past for a couple of years here. I tried the new heart variety and found it more vigorous and healthy for me and it tastes exactly the same, so I decided to go with it again.

Dave, Jet star is a common one around here, I can usually find plants locally. I have grown it in the past then started trying all the fun heirlooms and hearts. That is a good suggestion for a "sure thing". Momotaro sounds great, does it live up to its write-up? Are these all tomatoes you have grown? Do you have a personal favorite?

Paula, Azoychka sounds nice and I am putting together an order with Victory Seeds, who have it, so that is a good possibility.

Thank you for your suggestions. If anyone else has experience with these or other suggestions, let me know. I have gotten lots of great tomatoes recommended here.

One of the earlier varieties we really like is one that's not very often talked about: June Pink. They start bearing early but they are real troopers; we got tomatoes clear up to frost more than one year. I haven't thought about them in a while, I think I will have to grow them again this year!
Edie

Here is a link that might be useful: June Pink

ediej1209

That's interesting about June Pink. I looked it up and there are comments that the flavour seems to vary.

Do you remember where your original seeds came from?

Thanks,
Linda

Sue,

Sorry that all your tomatoes were so late for you last year.

I have researched Fish Lake Oxheart, and several people on another list made the comment that it was early for them, so that was what I was going by, rather than specific DTM from a vendor.

I'd rather not give space to plants that are only going to give me a few tomatoes at the very end of the season (if I'm lucky), so I hope that the comments come true about FLO for me this season, given whatever kind of summer we get this year (LOL).

Last year it was extremely hot for us for an extended period and the fruit just sat there and refused to ripen for weeks......

Happy growing!
Linda

Dave, Momotaro sounds great, does it live up to its write-up? Are these all tomatoes you have grown? Do you have a personal favorite?

Yes I grow them all and we like them all so have grown them for several seasons now. Wife is especially partial to Eva Purple Ball. If I had to pick one I guess I'd say Magnus. The Momotaro is very popular with the local restaurant we sell to.

Dave

Linda/labradors, it was several years ago; I got the seeds from Jungs. They quit carrying that variety a few years ago, darn it. However I did find them at Southern Exposure, which I linked to above. We really did like the flavor, as I recall.
Edie

Edie,

Many thanks for the info.

Linda

Mountain Spring and BHN 589, from TGS, were quite productive and the earliest of my "mid season" tomatoes this past season. They also bore fruit until frost.
Mountain Magic was early and prolific in the smaller fruited category.

I love the Golden Jubilees. They are a small cherry yellow tomato that is very prolific.

I found out about this Early-Mid season Tomato today: the name is LEGEND: Here is a description:

Quote:
"68 days. If late blight has been a problem in your garden, you should try growing Legend. Legend has shown strong tolerance of late blight fungus US8 and US11. So even in the most virulent areas, gardeners have a great chance of harvesting ripe tomatoes. Legend not only demonstrates tolerance of late blight, but is also one of the earliest maturing slicing tomato we know of. Legend produces amazingly sweet tomatoes, with just the right amount of acid flavor. The big 4-5 inch parthenocarpic fruit are glossy red, with a uniform round shape. Please keep in mind that being tolerant of blight is just that: tolerant-not immune. Bred and released by Dr. Jim Baggett at Oregon State University. Determinate."
end of quote.

Because of my proximity to where it was developed (oregon State University) and also because it is OP and DET. I am going to try it

BTW: Ed Hume is selling the seeds,

I am trying Legend this year too. Because it is parthenocarpic I hope to continue to get fruit through the hottest part of the summer when normal pollination is not possible. The fact that it is relatively early for a good sized, full flavored tomato also sounds pretty good.
My seeds came from Wintersown.

I looked up parthenocarpic tomatoes and found an old thread from GW. I posted a link, but unfortunately, I posted it to the old thread by mistake instead of on this thread. Sorry about that.

Linda

ABlindhog,

You should try to have a second late summer planting of LEGEND, just in case. I think a lot of Taxans do staggered planting. .
I have gardened in zone 8a in GA. some maters would just shut down production. But I think a good soil, keeping it moist and mulched can help. I used to water later afternoon, to cool off the roots

@ Lina

I didn't even notice that LEGEND is "parthenocarpic". But I like its LB resistance. That is rare in OP tomatoes. Plus it is Determinant.

Black from Tula is around 65-70 days and I really liked it. Anna Russian can be around 65 days too. Another good variety.

Thank you. Anna Russian I have tried 2-3 yrs in row after many recommendations, and it just hasn't done well for me, darn it. Black from Tula I have heard about, I will definitely consider it. I will probably go with whatever varieties that are recommended that I can find at one or two sources. Then I will just get a few. All recommendations are appreciated!

Talking Early / mids, I added another to my grow list:

-- Bush Steak
this is a DETERMINANT hybrid with nominal DTM of 65. Both of these features( shorter DTM and being DET) sound appealing to me: so here are my nominees:

BLOODY BUTCHER,
MATINA,
SILETZ,
EARLY TREAT,
BUSH STEAK,
LEGEND,
SIBERIA.

Any comments on these varieties ? I am pretty sure there are many other good ones too but I cannot afford to try too many. Another thing is that I am not aiming at the ABSOLUTELY best tasting and the most productive ones. I should be happy with just the above average.

I should mentioned that, in addition to those mentioned I will grow other varieties of cherries, beef steaks like Mortgage Lifter, Cherokee purple and few more.

Happy 14 Grow Season !

This post was edited by seysonn on Thu, Jan 30, 14 at 15:50

I grew Bloody butcher last year, and it was the first tomato to ripen - around 60 days. The tomatoes are not large, but it was fairly prolific and they had good flavor. Not sure if I'll grow them again this year just because there are so many I want to try and not enough space!

Thanks Sharon. What you commented sounds good to me.
I think I will start germinating in couple of weeks.

Sue,

I don't know how Black Cherry makes it onto your early list. It's always been mid to mid-late (75-80 dtm), for me.

For very early tomatoes (~55 dtm), I like Early Wonder (Pink) Sophie's Choice, Kimberley, and Beaverlodge Slicer.

Pruden's Purple is my absolute favorite for the earliest of the mid-season (~70 dtm) types.

Gary

Thanks, Gary. Black Cherry was not early for me but it was a very bad year. Three other seed sites all listed it as 65 days. Sophies Choice was good for me in a pot, early and tasty, but like most early varieties it is a little small. I was hoping to find some larger varieties in the early mid seasons. Pruden's Purple I have not tried, is it the same size as Sophies Choice? The others you mentioned I am not familiar with and I will have to look them up. I could always go back and add Early Girl back in, lol. ;)

I had Early Girl last season. It was my earliest but took like 70 days. It grew REAL huge. It had inconsistent fruit size and the taste wasn't that good. So I decided to replace it with smaller determinants or smaller indets like bloody butcher, matina .. so fort.

Pruden's Purple gets MUCH larger than Sophie's Choice. The largest ones harvested each year, in my garden, are usually about 28 ounces.

In 2013, Pruden's Purple was also the most productive plant in my garden. However, this plant was an extremely rare quadcot that grew two main stems. So, it was almost like being two plants, not one.

Gary

Thanks, Gary, I may just have to add it, then. Good info.

Tatiana website is very slow today but few varieties are well worth investigating even if some of them have mouthful names. They also listed at Double Helix Farms.
Malinovoye chudo which is Raspberry Miracle translation.
Here is description from Double helix farms
èI almost didnâÂÂt plant this one this year. IâÂÂm sure glad I did. It was in my top 10 for sure. The color is striking and the production was pretty good. The flavor was out of this world. I tasted this tomato side by side with some of my favorites and Raspberry Miracle out did them all. Over the top on flavor. Solid blend of sweet and acid for that perfect complex taste we all chase after. Another great introduction from Double Helix Farms.

*2012 UPDATE:
I wanted to update this for 2012. I canâÂÂt stop singing the praises of Raspberry Miracle. It is outstanding. Last yearâÂÂs beautiful scarlet pink round fruits could not even come close in size to what I got this year. I lost track of how many 1 pounders I got. I posted some new pictures so make sure you click through and look at all of them. To have a tomato that produces this well, has large fruit, tolerates just about any condition, and it has outstanding flavor is just unheard of. Raspberry Miracle should be the first thing you put in your shopping cart.
Seed Quantity:
20
Pink Tomatoes
Large Tomatoes
Mid-Season Tomatoes
Regular Leaf
Indeterminate
è
cross referenced with Russian tomato forums- it grows well across the globe and produces fruit for Chicago end of July.
Out of other mid season I would say look into Budenovka, Tsar Kolokol, Mikado pink, Em Champion, Kermit, Monomach hat.

also if someone looking for early varieties and does not mind det couple that really deserve better recognition are Aurora and Taimyr, both avail from tatiana website.
Another tomato I am very curious to grow this year is Maya and Sionôs Airdie Classic which is a cross of Brandywine and Stupice and is on earlier side that Brandywine with really great tomato flavor. As it happens, one of my buddies grown plants from same original cross distributed by Carolyn while ago. She attest to great taste, except I think she never stabilized her line fully. Seed is avail from Caseyôs heirloom seeds.
And donôt forget Milkaôs Red Bulgarian if you like your beefsteaks on sweet side. Those are winners.

OK all you helpful enablers, lol, I just placed a 30.00 seed order that started out as a 10.00 order because of you. Fortunately, Victory seeds has quite a few of your recommendations. The others will have to wait for another year. Groooaaan, I still haven't tried all the varieties I bought over the last 3 years. But thank you for taking the time to share your recommendations. Now I need to budget in more smart pots and a ridiculous amount of potting soil. :)

Sue, as your thread got longer and longer I just forgot to post, and that b'c I have a huge seed offer going elsewhere, now closed.

So are you satisfied with what you ordered, at least for now.LOL

Again, I apologize for not listing some of my faves, but to be honest there have been years when my lates ripened before my midseason ones and my mid season ones before my earlies, well you know how it goes as in:

Just too many darn variables. LOL

Carolyn

years when my lates ripened before my midseason ones and my mid season ones before my earlies, well you know how it goes as in:

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
We can then may say that , possibly some of your lates ripened before some of your earlies !

No, the late season ones never ripened before the earlies. LOL

Carolyn

Thanks Carolyn. If you want to add any recommendations, you know I always appreciate your input and will save the post for next year. I remember one recent year when Brandywine was the first to ripen for me, lol, so I do know what you mean. But I am sure I didn't plant any real early ones that year.

I ended up ordering:

Earliana
Anna Banana
Moravsky Div
Pruden's Purple

As well as some that are not early, including Indian Stripe, which you recommended and I have been meaning to try for a while, and more Fish Lake Oxheart, Cherokee Purple Heart, Orange Minsk, and Black Cherry.

I like Pale Perfect Purple. It is a medium sized pink, tastes good and is productive here. It is similar to Eva Purple Ball in size, shape and color. I like Eva too. I have planted it every year since I bought Carolyn's book. Other varieties have come and gone but that one I must have every year.

Tania's description shows it cracking. In rainy weather, I have much more trouble with the black ones cracking and rotting. PPP holds up well here.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pale Perfect Purple