16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
Fedco seeds carries Rutgers and gives some info you might be interested in. I'm working on a Fedco order and just read the info on Rutgers. Hth.
4055TO Rutgers Tomato OG (75 days) Open-pollinated. Ind. Two varieties are called Rutgers. We sell the original strain of this famous New Jersey tomato, developed by CampbellâÂÂs Soup Co. in 1928 as a cross between Marglobe and JTD. When Rutgers University âÂÂrefinedâ the variety in 1943, they took out some of the vininess but also some of the flavor. Our taste tests confirm that the original indeterminate strain is better. Long considered an outstanding slicing, cooking and canning tomato, the medium-sized 4��"6 oz mostly uniform and unblemished deep oblate fruits with rich red interior and pleasing texture have that great old-time flavor, delicious and juicy. Resistant to F1, V1, ASC and GLS. OT-certified.
Item Quantity
A=0.2g for $1.30
B=0.4g for $2.20
C=1g for $3.60
D=2g for $5.60
E=10g for $20.00
My info was that Rutgers was reintroduced in 1933, but maybe my brain and my fingers weren't working together, so it could have been 1943.
If you want the original indeterminate Rutgers, then Fedco looks like your best bet.
Almost all other Rutgers listed at most seed sites now are determinate.
Carolyn
I grew them several times and they are very sweet but I have no experience with Sungold so cant compare. Like most cherries they will crack easily but are prolific and the plant is hardy. I have grown e black varieties and Italian Ice but would say I like OP better than the other three. Chocolate Cherry second then II and Black Cherry last. jmo
Name is Datterino (note 'o') and from what I have read about it on other forums the seed is patented still and currently available to only a few commercial growers who grow for commercial canners - predominately European apparently. It is a thick skinned tomato designed for the shipping market.
Linked the developers website - United Genetics - below.
As for a better sauce, nothing says it can only be made from a paste type tomato be they San Marzano or whatever. There have been many discussions here, on the Harvest forum, and on various cooking forums about how using a variety of tomato types, including slicers and beefsteaks, results in a much superior tasting sauce than that made from any single paste variety tomato.
If using only paste types is your preference for some reason then consider Opalka.
Dave
Here is a link that might be useful: United genetics
If it is developed for commercial growing and canning, then probably it is not worth for home gardeners who want good taste first. In other words, it won't be any better that your average grocery store types. Though, it might be appealing to those who do a lot of canning.
not on thread topic necessarily.but..i was going to say..
i have been using fish bone meal last couple yrs.. and my tomatoes respond well to it..
so do the racoons too..:( so..i fence around the tomatoes at start of growing season.keep them from digging around my plants..
fish bone meal has good levels of phosphate,and calcium
plus helpful for good soil bacterial levels..
seem the more diverse soil is in humus levels,good bacteria,worms..helps fend off problems..
The word is "Hugelkultur".
That's what my mom used to practice, on a small scale.
When preparing a vegetable bed, she would strip the area of all the top vegetation - weeds, ferns, shrubs, saplings. She then strips the layer of top soil and put this aside. Next she would dig a trench in the ground - orientated north-south lengthwise. How deep this trench is depends on how difficult the soil is to work on. In this trench, she would throw in all the woody twigs, small trunks, and rotten debris. Next, she would cover this with the weeds/ferns/saplings that she collected from clearing the area. She compacts this down with a "hoe". She uses the top soil she had previously set aside to complete the final layer.
The final result is a long mound on which she would grow her spring onions, pak choi, chilli, etc. The mound usually ends up about 20 feet long, about 3-4 feet wide, and approximately 2 feet high. It often ends up not looking all that pretty - it would be crooked, and the height and width would vary. But, boy didn't it produce good crops!! (She would grow sun/heat loving crops n the west side of the mound, and the less sun tolerant types on the east side.). She uses fern leaves to mulch the soil. A heavy tropical down pour would easily wash away the top layer of good soil if left unmulched.
I did not know, until recently, that this technique of vegetable growing that my mom used to practise more than 40 years ago actually has a more fancy name "Hugelkultur", done on a much larger scale.
Now-a-days, in addition to maintaining a compose bin, I collect the larger chunks of organic waste by setting them aside in a pile through the growing season. In the winter, I trench the beds, throw in all the organic materials, together with any kitchen wastes that may be sitting around, and build up my "Hugelkultur" bed - albeit on a small scale.
Opalka was the best producer out of all my tomatoes in 2013; I just wasn't blown away by the flavor. Wasn't bad, just wasn't outstanding.
This year I'm gonna try San Marzano Redorta--it's supposed to be a lot bigger than the regular one. I don't know how it'll do in our SC heat, though.
Here is a link that might be useful: San Marzano Redorta
Thank you! I have a funny feeling that come July, I will be whimpering at my laptop screen while all of you post pictures and talk about your tomatoes. Mine will be shriveled up from the heat, humidity and daily torrential downpours. I'll be thinking about germinating seeds for my fall plants and missing the taste of fresh garden tomatoes.
I have learned so much about growing tomatoes from reading here and getting advice when I'm "stuck."
So far I'm winning the war against the little beasts that decimated my tomatoes the first year. I attached bird netting to 6' canes and have the plants completely surrounded. I pick them when they first start to blush and let them finish ripening in the kitchen window. I also spray BT to keep up with the caterpillars since I can't keep butterflies out of the yard. Some of my plants are now more than 9' tall. I may have to start cutting the tops off!
Now while you dream of warmer days, make plans to start seeds and draw your spring garden plans, here's a picture to give you something to look forward to soon. I grew San Marzano, Amish Paste and Black Plum this fall. I've started seeds to transfer outside in the next few weeks and will also try to grow cream and green sausage, orange banana and Jersey Giants. I'm hoping they'll do well enough to can them. I'm dying to try making marinara and salsa with a colorful assortment of tomatoes. Here are the San Marzanos outside now, getting ready to ripen. I can't wait to make a pot of sauce with them and some sweet basil from over in the raised bed.
All of you stay warm and safe!
If your seed is fresh (no more than 2-3 years old and from a reliable source), and you have experience growing from seed indoors, you really don't need to plant more than twice as many plants as you will need for your garden. Germination rate is usually very high for good tomato seed. I grew 1 plant each of 10 varieties last year, and started with 4 seeds of each variety. For 9 of the varieties I chose, all but one of the seeds germinated, so I had 35 seedlings. The one variety I love the most, Mortgage Lifter Estler's, took much longer to germinate than the others, probably because I was using saved seed. All the others germinated within 4-5 days, but the MLs hadn't germinated in 10 days, so I planted a bunch more. Finally 9 of them germinated.
At 5 weeks, I transplanted each of them into a one-quart pot because they were so big. There wasn't enough room under my 8-tube, 4-foot grow lights for all of them along with the peppers and eggplants I was also growing. I was able to give away or sell several of the extras at that point, but the weather was still cold, and friends who didn't have a place to maintain the plants inside, lost a few of my babies before they could plant them out. I felt like the old woman who lived in a shoe with so many children she didn't know what to do.
This post was edited by Ohiofem on Wed, Jan 1, 14 at 16:30
I believe tha the cost of seeds in comparison to the value of time and my efforts is very low. Say one seed costs 25 cents. If I plant 2 extra seeds my cost/loss is 50 cents IF I didn't need to plant those.
I am going to grow about 2 from each variety. But I will want to germinate maybe 5 seeds of each.
@ antipodean
Here is the conversion in metric verion( grams and centimeter)
w(g) = 0.5 *(d^3) ---- (( d= diameter in centimeters))
NOTES:
-- this is for tomatoes that are FAIRLY round not awkwardly lobed, flattened, cat faced, elongated.
BTW:
I bough some tomatoes from store today: did the measurements, checked their specific gravity. Compared the actual weight to the formula. It was right on the money.
I think most of the so-called "sundried" tomatoes are actually partially sun dried and then preserved. If you truely dry any tomato very little will be left of it. Fully sun dried tomato will be like crunchy potato chips.
JUST MY UNDERSTANDING.
Of the hybrid grape tomatoes I've grown the Cherubs, Santa Sweets and Smarty F1. My Fave would be Santa Sweet Sweets.
I know of no one who has dehybridized any of them although saved F2 seeds from Santa Sweets F1 are known to come true about 99% of the time and many folks are on the F6 and F7 and all is well.
I know of just one grape tomato that is OP and that can be found at Tomato Growers Supply, just called Grape Tomato.
I haven't grown it and don't intend to.
Fact is, I don't see anything special about a grape shape, so have other red cherries I prefer to grow and there's a thread here on this first page now, with lots of links to past discussions about cherry tomatoes.
Hope that helps,
Carolyn
Well then, if that's the case, I may give the F2 a shot. Thanks.