Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
getyourleash

Mr. Stripey -What the ?!

getyourleash
10 years ago

I have a Mr. Stripey in a huge pot. The plant appears to be very happy. It is 6 feet tall, dark green leaves and lush. No bugs, wilt, spots, mold, or even leaf curl...NOT ONE SINGLE FLOWER OR FRUIT.
What gives with this tomato? This may be my first and last time with Mr. Stripey. It would have to have spectacular flavor for me to plant again. And at this rate, I'll be lucky if I ever get a single fruit.

Comments (11)

  • Becky
    10 years ago

    I don't know, Mr Stripey has a lot of issues surrounding it. My plants are rather big, but they only have 2~3 tomatoes on each, and they're small, completely round ones. It appears to be a generally bad variety, with other bi-color tomatoes(Such as Hillbilly) being much more prolific and flavorful.

  • bigpinks
    10 years ago

    All over the net it is not a popular cultivar. I grow them every yr because I love the taste. The plants are always stingy with fruit and this yr was no exception. They blighted after one month in my clay soil. I have 20 plants and I might end up with 30-40 10-18 oz fruit. Last yr they did much better with the dry conditions. This morning I had about six big fruit on my kitchen counter and ate an entire twelve oz fruit with bacon and eggs.

  • Minnesota_Eric
    10 years ago

    I also have my first Mr. Stripey this year. It is in a raised bed and is one of my largest and healthiest plants. I counted 9-12 flowers this morning, but they don't appear to be producing any fruit (yet?!). It is my only plant out of 9 that is not showing fruit. I was getting concerned, but after reading the comments above, I will blame it on the variety.

    Maybe I should try to assist the pollination?

  • carolyn137
    10 years ago

    There are well over 200 named gold/red bicolors and many would put Mr. Stripey near the bottom of the list.

    Spindly plant, no to low production, etc. The only reason you see it a lot is b/c Wayne Hilton, who formerly owned TT, Shumways and the rest, found it in G, was at that time having seeds produced on contract by Seeds BY Design in CA, and they named it Mr Stripey.

    And that b'c they didn't even know there already was a Mr Stripey, known as Tigerella, a small red with gold stripes, but quickly became known as Mr. Stripey.

    Thus started the absolute confusion between the two Mr. Stripeys, one a small red, the other a large bicolor beefsteak. And SBD has a commercial list they sent out and had the bicolor one on that list, so lots of commercial growers got it, and that's why you see it so often at the Big Box stores. Sigh.

    Carolyn, who has her bicolor faves, but that group is difficult b'c one year lucious and sweet, the same variety next season bland and mealy.

  • SweetestTabu
    10 years ago

    Hello everyone!
    So I too have a Mr.Stripey plant and he is huge and has a ton of fruit I took a electric toothbrush and used it on the back of the flowers on him and it worked! Sadly the tomatoes aren't very big and I was wondering if any one had any ideas about why they might be so small?

  • mloborny
    10 years ago

    This was my first experience growing Mr. Stripey, and I'm impressed. My first pick was in the first week of August, a 24.5 ounce prize. Several others that week were 20+ ounces, most have been a pound or more. Two weeks after my first pick, I got a 28 ounce monster. Although there aren't tomatoes to pick every day, with tomatoes that size I don't need more than a couple a week, so I'm pleased with my crop. The hardest part is getting the tomato off the tough stem; often I have to cut it off. I'm in SE Nebraska.

  • nugrdnnut
    10 years ago

    mloborny,

    So how did they taste?

  • mloborny
    10 years ago

    I has a very mild flavor, not tomato-ey enough for some that I have given them to. It is very meaty, yet juicy. I found the flavor better if I do not let it get over-ripe. So if you like a low-acid flavor, it's a good one. If you like a stronger distinct tomato flavor, pick something else. Production on my plant is going strong.

  • mloborny
    10 years ago

    I has a very mild flavor, not tomato-ey enough for some that I have given them to. It is very meaty, yet juicy. I found the flavor better if I do not let it get over-ripe. So if you like a low-acid flavor, it's a good one. If you like a stronger distinct tomato flavor, pick something else. Production on my plant is going strong.

  • aegis1000
    9 years ago

    Using my trusty electric toothbrush,I have 35 fruit on (2) plants, so far.

    Hope I like the taste ....

  • smithmal
    9 years ago

    As Carolyn mentioned, bi-colors are a temperamental lot. One year they are a creamy flavorful delight with impressive size, the next year that are mushy bland flavor with low to no production.

    Of all the bi-colors that I've tried, Pineapple was the most productive for me.

    Tried:
    Virginia Sweets (low production; great flavor)
    Hillbilly (no production; not sure why)
    Berkeley Tie-Dye (moderate production; 12oz fruits)
    Lucky Cross (low production; great flavor)
    Marvel Stripe (low production; excellent flavor)

    I would love to find a "slicer" size bi-color that ripens in 60-80 days with good/great production.

    I love bi-colors and will continue to allot space for them in my garden, but they take forever to ripen, need a lot of sun, are generally pretty huge plants and spoil fairly quickly after being removed from the vine.

    Carolyn, I'd be interested to hear what some of your favorite bi-colors are.

    smithmal

    This post was edited by smithmal on Wed, Jul 30, 14 at 11:56

Sponsored
Prime Custom Kitchen & Bath
Average rating: 5 out of 5 stars43 Reviews
DC Metro's Award Winning Custom Design, Build, and Remodeling Company