Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
ju1234_gw

My evaluation of 10 varieties

ju1234
9 years ago

I would like to give my evaluation of the tomatoes I grew this year, for the first time. I grew about a dozen varieties (in Dallas TX area). Most were planted from seed, few from commercial nursery transplants (Bonnie). Raised beds. Transplanted in early to mid May. They all had identical growing conditions. They were generally under watered and under fertilized because I was often traveling. Also it has been quite hot this year. Very few bugs or diseases. In general the production was poor but the results reported here are kind of relative to each other.

Parks Whopper hybrid: Fleshy, few seeds, average thick skin, average tart and sweet. Moderate production.

Celebrity Hybrid: round, fleshy, few seeds, average tartness. Very productive.

Early girl: slightly pointy, sweet with some tangyness, fleshy, few seeds, very productive.

Golden Jubilee: yellow/orange, very sweet without the tomato tartness, fleshy, very few seeds, thin skin.

Black cherry: Very productive, sprawling 6-7 feet high plant, large red grape size and color fruit, seedy and juicy, tangy taste.

Valencia: pointy yellow, fleshy, few seeds, average tartness, sparse fruit.

Big rainbow: Only one plant, had both yellowish and red fruits on it. Thin skin, very sweet, meaty and juicy, very few seeds, moderately productive.

Limbaugh's legacy potato top: red, round fruit, juicy and seedy, tart, not very productive (got only 4 tomatoes off one plant).

Cheroke purple: dark red round fruit, very fleshy, few seeds, very sweet, mild tartness.

Marglobe: only 4 tomatoes on very sprawling one plant, none ripe yet (More than 100 days from transplant).

Thanks.

Comments (14)

  • daniel_nyc
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The Early Girl was... early ?

  • ju1234
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Not what the label said. about 85 days.

  • daniel_nyc
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I bought my Early Girl Hybrid’s from Burpee, and according to a sale rep from Burpee, the DTM is 59 days.

    In the link above, you can not see the DTM, but you can see it here, in Burpee’s retail site: Burpee Home Gardens.

    What your label said for the Early Girl ?

    This post was edited by Daniel_NY on Fri, Aug 29, 14 at 14:23

  • carolyn137
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Just noting from your above list:

    Black Cherry fruits shouldnot be red, they are a very dark color,not exactly black, and almost all socalled blacks color up more darkly in the south where you are due to increased light intensity.

    Big Rainbow is a typical gold/red bicolor so you should have seen that with the initial gold color that a second color starts from the blossomend and spreads upwards along the fruits, usually referred to as a reddish pink, and then one sees that second color as a marbling inside the flesh. There are about 200 or so red/gold bicolors known and most are identical as to pictures, etc.

    Cherokee Purple fruits can be round but more often are somewhat flattened in shape, but you describe the color as dark red, and that's not the color of CP.

    Hope that helps,

    Carolyn

  • seysonn
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Some of my Reviews:

    1--Bloody Butcher: First to ripen. Productive, good taste, smaller fruits.
    2-- Siletz : Early as expected. Good size fruits, few seeds, lots of meat, compact medium productivity.
    2- Silvery FT: Compact bush type, pretty foliage. So far just one flush. I consider it an Ornamental.
    3- Matina: It competes with BB in size and productivity.
    4-Stupice: NOT as early. Fruits size small and inconsistent.Won't plant it again.
    5- Bush steak: Compact Det. Medium production.
    8- Green Zebra: TOO LATE: have to taste to see what it is like. A goner.
    9- Sun Gold Cherry: Everybody knows that one: VGood.
    10- Cherokee Purple: Not a work horse but exceptional tomato.
    11- Ananas Noire (aka Black Pineapple). It has been a rare find for me. I equal it to CP
    12- JBT(JTB ?): Not a work horse . But good tomatoes all around. I like it as a unusual variety.
    13- Legend : Average taste and production. Won't repeat.
    14- Siberian: It was supposed to be MID_EARLY. but over 90 days now ! Come on ! Good bye !
    15- Husky Red (Cherry ?): Not cherry. Good compact bush type. Manageable.
    16- Red Cherry (from store bought heirloom): Juicy, taste like tomato, has good meat, good size ~0.7 oz. avge.
    17: Yellow grape ( similar to Cuban Yellow Grape); It it meatier than Sun Gold but not as sweet. Aggressive vine.

    18- Mortgage Lifter(RC): total disappointment. Lots of small cat faced, irregular ribbed fruits. Never again.

    So there are winners and losers.

  • Kimadano
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Well, here's my two cents as well

    1. Red and yellow pear: Plants size is outrageous. Good production. Thick skinned fruits
    2. Brown Berry: Very tasty and unique cherry. Crack easy.
    3. Moskovich: Susceptible to BER but train nicely and very nice tasting.
    4. Cosmonaut Volkov: Average main cropper - Meh!
    5. Druzba: Solid producing main cropper. 10 0z fruits - Maybe?
    6. Caspian Pink: Lovely tasting large, blemish free fruits
    7. Cherokee Purple: My best taster. Pretty decent production
    8. Djeena Lee Golden Girl: My sleeper tomato. Tastes like tomato candy!
    9. Black Prince: Smoky flavor. BER was a problem. Won't grow again.

  • HotHabaneroLady
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Cherokee Purple fruits can be round but more often are somewhat flattened in shape, but you describe the color as dark red, and that's not the color of CP.

    &&&&&&&&

    My single Cherokee purple has been doing something strange. The first fruits it produced were the usual color of Cherokee purple that I have seen on other plants and in photos. But the latest that it is producing now are a classic red color. I don't understand that!

    Angie

  • seysonn
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Angie,

    I have had the same experience regarding CP. :They look mostly classic red.

  • ju1234
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hello Daniel_NY: the early girl is from Bonnie, label says 50 DTM. I was reading about DTM on line and it is DT setting fruit not to ripening. So, I assume 80-85 days for ripened fruit might be normal.

    Carolyn: Thanks for pointing out some issues. The Black cherry, when I said dark red I misquoted. It is more like smoky red brown. The Big rainbow is what I described but may be I am just picking them at different color stages. i don't go out to pick every day. Now I did see the different colors in the flesh in some of them.

    The CP is dark red more towards the cherry color side. This plant was grown from a seed received in trade. I was going to grow this one again next year. May be I should look for new seed for next year.

    Thanks every one for sharing your experience.

  • carolyn137
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I think that I was the first person to grow CP after John Green sent the seeds to Craig LeHoullier, a long time friend of mine and it was Craig who named it Cherokee Purple, despite that fact that it's not purple and despite the fact that we now know it's not of Cherokee origin due to genetic gene analysis/

    I've grown it many times for SSE listings as well as seed offers and it's always been what CP should be; Same for Craig, and neither of us have seen a red CP and until today I've never heard of anyone who has reported a red CP and I've been at message sites, several, since 1982.

    I call it a pink/black since the epidermis is clear,not yellow.

    So, I have a hard time understanding why first fruits on a plant look like CP, ( clear epidermis) but later fruits on the same plant are red ( yellow epidermis)

    There is something called a somatic mutation where the DNA in a plant cell mutates, as opposed to DNA in a seed, but in that case it's usually ONE branch or ONE fruit that can have a different color or size or shape.

    There was a mutation early on that changed the epidermis of CP from clear to yellow and Craig called that Cherokee Chocolate and it's reddish brown , not red, and I've linked to it below,

    As for seeds received in a trade, I used to do a wrong varieties thread here at GW and the most wrong varieties came from traded seeds, not from commercial vendors and that' still true.

    I hope the above helps.

    Carolyn

    Here is a link that might be useful: Cherokee Chocolate

  • hudson___wy
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    About the only thing that would make the evaluation better - IMO - is photos! You know I like photos though - they bring statements into reality.

    Cherokee purple - Best Heirloom I have grown - awesome taste - good production - 8-14 oz fruit - keeper

    Better Boy - Very prolific - good tomato taste - good salsa & canning tomato - 8-14 oz - keeper

    Big Zach - it didn't like our GH - average taste - 8-14 oz - won't plant again

    Mortgage Lifter Bicolor Strain - yellow/red fruit - good production - 8-14 oz - sweet taste that I don't like - won't plant again because I found out that I don't like sweet taste! Plant did fine though.

    Brandy Boy - Best in the west!! Very prolific - tolerates and sets fruit at cooler temps - first to ripen - awesome tomato taste that no other variety has duplicated - 8-18 oz - pretty fruit - produces all season - very hardy - thin skinned - good slicing tomato - Keeper!!!

    Sweet 100 - good cherry tomato - very prolific & hardy like most cherry tomato plants - keeper.

  • CaraRose
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    1. Bloody Butcher- very productive, earliest to produce. Tasty little tomato. Very small fruit.

    2. Fourth of July (Independence Day) - Slower production early on but had a nice burst later in the season. Similar to bloody butcher in a lot of ways. First toms came in maybe a week after BB. Flavor is good, but I like BB better. Probably will not grow again and just go with BB.

    3. Brandywine - My favorite for taste and texture. Very slow with production early on this year and lots of blossom drop. That's rectified itself a bit as the season went on and production has picked up.

    4. Big Beef- Just a consistent performer with tasty tomatoes.

    5. Cherokee Purple - Similar to brandywine with early production and blossom drop issues, but has produced pretty decently as the season went on. Very tasty, though Brandywine still is my favorite, this guy comes a close second.

    6. Orange Roma - Actually pretty tasty for a paste tomato. Sweet but with a tart finish. Lovely orange-yellow color. Was very slow to set flowers. However one it got going it took off and it's been loaded with fruit. Some BER, but plenty of toms coming in. Plant is HUGE. At least 8' tall, maybe bigger. I may grow this one again next year. Still haven't decided.

    7. Black Cherry - This was slow to get going for me but I also started the seeds late. Coming in fast and loaded with fruit. Amazingly tasty cherry.

    8. Tumbling Tom- This is far from my favorite cherry for flavor but for space and production, holy moly. I had three plants, two in one hanging basket and one in another. I've got tons upon tons of fruit from these guys. Wish they were a bit sweeter but still not a bad flavor. Probably going to try Tumbling Tom Yellow next year along with growing this again. I may experiment with some other basket cherries, but this is a staple unless I find something just as productive that I like the flavor of better.

    9. Patio Princess - I can't really complain about PP. It worked well in the landscaping and is upright and fairly ornamental. It was labeled by burpee as a cherry which it really isn't. It was larger than most of my fourth of july and bloody butchers. I'd consider it a saladette. Taste is okay, but not as good as some others.

    10. Red Robin - I had poor germination with these, and only one plant in a six cell pack germinated. It was a really nice little plant. Very productive for being six inches in high. Neat, ornamental, mounding. Found the cherries very tasty. Going to attempt to grow these inside over the winter as well, if I can get them to germinate.

    11. Megabite - not sure I can judge. Grew upside down in a smaller basket shared by a tumbling tom that dwarfed it. Got a few tomatoes from it that were okay, nothing spectacular from taste. May try again in ground to have a real evaluation.

    12. Minibel - I like these little guys. Mine got a bit lanky. I had them in a shoe organizer turned into a vertical planter and they really grew pretty well, despite being in part shade. Each plant produced a handful of fruit. Going to try these indoors this year too.

    13. Bushsteak - Grew this upside down in a five gallon bucket, and it produced really well up till a few weeks ago when it got crushed when the bucket cracked at the handle and the whole thing went down. Got several really good sized tomatoes. Pretty good flavor though with texture that was a bit harder than a big beef or brandywine. More seeds than big beef. Might grow it again.

  • centexan254 zone 8 Temple, Tx
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    A few that I have grown this year.

    1. Husky Cherry Red (Bonnie Plants seedling.) Very productive till the super high heat kicked in. (98+ 60 to 85% humidity.) Even when super hot it still produced some. Taste is a bit more to the tart side. Think a Slightly more tangy sweet 100 with skin that is not a tough. The plant stays pretty compact as well. Will grow again. Early producer.

    2. Creole hybrid (Again a Bonnie 1 gal seedling.) The plant stayed compact to less than 5 feet tall. Was very productive with well over 50 on each plant. Fruit was tasty. Will grow again. One of the earliest to set fruit. Was a little later than a couple of others for ripening.

    3. Black Prince heirloom (4 inch Bonnie seedlings.) Both produced over 80 tomatoes each. Were the second plants to produce. First to give off ripe fruit for non cherry plants. I had to be watchful. If they broke color I had to pick them quick. we were getting a lot of rain, and they were prone to cracking. If color had broke they would split to the meat. The skins are thin, and tender. I took cuttings to restart the plants before I pulled them. They do not tolerate Texas summers. Seeds saved. I will grow them again. They tasted great, produced early. I now know to go ahead and pull the plants once the last of the ripe fruit are picked.

    Parks Whopper hybrid. (Another Bonnie) Productive. Tasty enough. Very large fruit, that will make a 3/4 inch slice that will cover more than the hamburger bun. Plants need some space. It has survived the heat, and I have gotten a few tomatoes off of it. Most small for the plant size. Tasty none the less. Will plant again.

    Mr. Stripey Heirloom (Bonnie plant as well.) 4 Inch seedling was started in late March. First ripe fruit was in early June. Yield was 15 large ripe fruit. The heat shut the production of this one down quick. Plant is still alive so I am hoping for a few more when the weather cools down. Will plant again with a way larger plant next year.

    There are more though I am pressed for time to take care of some things so will post more later.

    Nate

  • Deeby
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    CaraRose, I have one Red Robin about an inch high. What does mounding mean?

Sponsored
Pierre Jean-Baptiste Interiors
Average rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars76 Reviews
Award-Winning Interior Designer in Loudoun County | 12x Best of Houzz