16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes



Let us settle at ~ nominal 20 gallons; Hehe.
Deeby said::
It took about 1 1/2, 2 cubic foot bags of potting mix to fill it.
1.5 ( 2 c.f) = 3 cf >>> -3x 7.5 x 0.83 = 18.7 dry gallons
Also Beeby said:
I actually gave the pot away
What ???
Deeby, .. you've got to find that pot and measure it accurately LOL
Seysonn

It's not supposed to be one ultimate tomato. I was asking which tomato fulfills each of those descriptions from your experience. For example, last year I'd say my Black Plum had the best flavor and the most productive, as opposed to my beefsteak (not sure which one it was), which probably only had four or five total and I didn't really like the taste. If I grew more I'd have more on the list.

<I was asking which tomato fulfills each of those descriptions from your experience.>
That's why I linked some of the previous discussions above. You'll find many discussions for each of your categories with the search and each has lots of suggestions/opinions. It is a frequent question.
Dave

Gary Millwood, of Louisville, Pike County, KY, the late Kentucky heirloom Mater Man expert had this to say:
Seeds of [Claude Brown Yellow Giant] tomato were given to Bill Best more than twenty years ago by Claude Brown of Pike County, Kentucky. He had worked on improving it for decades. An excellent tasting large, deep-yellow, tomato.
See pictures of it here:
and the place that is continuing Gary Millwood's seed collection after one change of hands:
which says it is a huge tomato and has an acidic taste like a red tomato.
And note there are two similar, if not identical, strains/names of this tomato as it was distributed earlier as "Brown's Yellow Giant" by Donald Sparks who received them by the late 1980's, but since you have the Claude version, an assumption is that yours is derived via Sustainable Mountain Agricultural Center, Inc. where Bill Best of Berea, KY, is on the Board, and who is a tomato heirloom enthusiast who possibly received them earlier, also directly from Claude Brown at this website where local Appalachian heirloom preservationists formed this seed saving organization:
Sustainable Mountain Agricultural Center, Inc.
They characterize it as having an excellent flavor and which can weigh over 3 pounds.
Here is Gary Millwood, Bill Best, and Maria Stenger (the first to receive and continue many of Gary Millwood's seeds) in an Appalachian swap (scroll to first and last picture):
What a fine tomato you can look forward to growing!
PC


Indigo Rose is not really representative of what most of us think of as a "dark" tomato a.k.a. black tomato since its color is basically from the same stuff in the plant's stem, which is different from the coloration in other dark tomatoes. For example, I feel it has the most terrible taste of any tomato on the planet.
I'm growing growing the black tomato varieties Margaret Curtain and Purple Calabash, and if there is room I'll stick in an extra Cherokee Purple. Without them, the tomato season wouldn't be nearly as enjoyable!
PC

My local HD or Lowes (no longer sure which) has BrandyBoy in their Burpee seed rack. Even though Burpee had free shipping going on it was easier just to pop down to HD for the one pack I didn't order that I felt like trying. Of course while there I ended up buying 3 more packs of stuff I felt like trying.
Andrew

ARBUZNYI ( watermelon like ?). I have seem some green stage patterns that resembles watermelon rind. Its leaves also have similarity to watermelon leave. So this make ARBUZNYI an interesting tomato.
Now that ARBUZNYI is on my 2015 grow list , I like to get more opinions on it.
I like its color, both when green and ripe. I see some resemblance to Ananas Noire as shown in the last picture posted by habman
I also like its mean DTM (75 ?). That is early to mid season .
Lets see if anybody else has grown it since 2009 . (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 ). It has been a long time.
Seysonn

My ABRUZNYI is just germinating.
When I ordered the seeds (from SSS), I had no idea that it is a black/brown/purple tomato.
Now this year I will have a collection:
Arbuznyi
Cherokee Purple
Black from Tula
Japanese Black Trifele
Black Cherry.
I have grown CP and JBT before. They are not work horses but their fruits were outstanding. Now remains to be seen how Arbuznyi and BFT will do in my cool PNW garden.
Seysonn




PC ,
Seems like your spring planting is well underway which is expected in central Florida. I think perhaps shade can be beneficial in the Sunshine state in the summer.
I am still waiting on my Bear Claw to germinate. I have already potted all my seedlings >>>>> T minus 5 weeks..... until lift off hehe .
Today is a gorgeous day., Sunny, high reaching 62F. Despite some lingering cold I will get out and do something. Like refurbish my hops and cold frame.
Seysonn

Thanks Seysonn, In Central Florida they probably are well on their way, but I had planned optimistically the third week in March. Coastal Georgia is a walk before sunset from here and I just checked the forecast and would do the same tomorrow if I had the Brunswick GA forecast too.
It is the most exciting moment though, like you said the countdown to liftoff. Gorgeous day here, too, but the wind makes a little chill and no doubt all the cold bleach won't be fun (and then the peroxide spraying). Good luck on Bear Claw, looks pretty huge and I hope it tastes better than its name. I threw away all but one of my Brandy Boys which is starting to show a little life, the others simply were much too little and too late, real bummer.
PC

My final from seed list.
Black Krim
Box Car Willie
Abe Lincoln
Big Rainbow
Old German
Cherokee Purple
4th of July
Red Brandy Master
Brandy Boy
(Giant) Red Delicious
Gardener's Delight
For store bought plants I will do one large basket planter of Bush Goliath.
The jury is still out on repeating Black Prince. It tasted great. Produced well until the temps got into the high 90's. Then they pretty much died. I did root some cuttings. They gave me more tomatoes when the weather cooled off as well. Arkansas Traveler produced some tasty maters. It just did not produce a lot of them. (If I can find a 1 gal or larger to plant before Easter I will give it another shot.
It did so well for me last year I will be doing another this year as well. It is my insurance policy for some quick ripe tomatoes.

This is my third year gardening, and second year growing from seed. It is addicting, and makes the winter months even more painful, though starting the seedlings has been a welcome distraction.
I'm trying different types to experiment. Have only gotten seeds so far from the local Lowe's (Burpee), so would like to get into all of this seed swapping I hear about here.
Growing these in southeastern NC. * means I have never grown it before.
Honey Delight - a lovely little 4 oz. gold tomato
Yellow Pear*
Orange Wellington Hybrid*
Brandywine
Early Girl Hybrid*
Better Boy
Super Boy 785
Jelly Bean
Super Sweet 100 Hybrid*
Red Cherry (Large)*
Bushsteak*
Steak Sandwich Hybrid*
Tips welcome.


I built raised beds - 4 of them and had to buy 2 yards of soil a few years ago. That was about a $150 investment. I use my own compost to ammend my soil, and raise from seed I have saved and traded (I almost never buy new seeds now, except lettuce). I don't till, use wood chips from a tree that was taken down on my property for mulch, the lighting set up to grow the seeds was given to me by someone who wasn't using it anymore, etc. In just three years, those 4 raised beds will have raised 75 tomato/cucumber/pepper/eggplant plants. That's not counting lettuce, which is even more cost efficient. I don't count my 'time', because I am a stay at home mom. This is what I do to supplement our grocery bills with healthy fresh food. My kids love veggies, we eat well. It's hard to put a price on that.




I found 2 giant hornworms and smeared them. They had damaged several greenies.
Looks like my season is about over. I have 3 surviving backup plants I may plant to see what happens thru summer, but we'll see.