16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

This might help clear things up:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magicicada

Carolyn, It was probably a cricket that "was clicking so loud and on such a regular basis that it really got to me." I don't think that grasshoppers click. At least mine don't! LOL

As marymcp said, if you get a swarm, " Grasshoppers can eat right through your lovely garden and leave it looking like the picture from garf."

A good feral cat does wonders in the garden, mine collects bugs every day! He is a hunter. And yes, before anyone asks, he has been neutered! And he has his own little cozy house, he comes in during bad weather.

Thanks Carla and Carolyn. Delicious is off the list of possibles and I will not be ordering it. The other two I am still considering.

Moneymaker is very productive and will crank out lots of smaller tomatoes as well as some larger ones. It is also a very juicy tomato which turns some people off. It's not for everybody.

Mary, Sophie's Choice, which I introduced, isn't a large fruited variety, and nor is Riesentraube, which is cherry sized with a nipple at the blossom end. ( smile)

Kathy, if you do a search here at GW you'll find lots of threads asking the same question, but I'll just list a few large fruited ones that I think are dependable and great tasting.

REDS ( beefsteak)

Neves Azorean Red
Chapman
Red Penna
Milka's Red Bulgarian
Aker's West Virginia
OTV Brandywine
Cuostralee

REDS ( hearts)

Wes
German Red Strawberry
Linnie's Oxheart
Indiana Red
Fish Lake Oxheart
Reif Red heart

PINKS ( beefsteak)

Omar's Lebanese
Large Pink Bulgarian
Tidwell German
Soldacki
Terhune
Hays'

PINKS ( hearts)

Kosovo
Nicky Crain
Anna Maria's Heart
Ludmilla's Pink Heart

... and many more

it might be best to start out with the large reds and pinks for a few years and then go on to the large green when ripes, the so called blacks and gold/red bicolors and oranges.

I listed both beefsteak and heart varieties for each color b'c I find that some of the best tastes are to be found with the hearts, but maybe consider starting with the red and pink beefsteak ones first.

If you don't know the above varieties I think it would be best to go to Tania's Tomato Data base, I'll link to it below, and when on the Home page scroll down to where it says to use the alphabetical method of finding the page for a variety b'c you can do that knowing the variety names I posted above.

Each variety has traits, pictures, comments from others, histories when available and if you scroll down on any variety page you'll find the seed sites that list that variety. Tania herself sells seeds for over 600 varieties and many of the seed sites she specifies list hundreds of varieties.

Hope that helps.

Carolyn

Here is a link that might be useful: Tania's Tomato data base

Favorite beefsteak discussions

Favorite medium size discussions

Best tomato discussions

Best beefsteak, black and oxheart tomatoes

Lots of suggestions for you.

Dave

Thanks, I got rid of the hornworms. I water this the same as the ones in the planter right next to it, but those are doing well, and they get a bit more sun.

The ants are there for the aphids. Aphids leave a sticky residue that attracts other insects. Aphids can make leaves curl and look dry.

Sandy, there are many variables that play into BER being induced and many threads here discussing it. For sure weather can be one of them.

It's well known that paste varieties are more susceptible to it, as well as Early Blight (A. solani).

What causes internal BER as opposed to the much more external kind that almost all of us are familiar with. I can only speculate, knowing that the physiology of varieties can be very different ( movement of water and nutrients within the plant) that sometimes the lack of Ca++ occurs internally as well. And I'd attribute that to the transpiration of ions that's known to occur through the upper leaf surface.

Sheer guess work on my part trying to put together transpiration, all the variables known to induce BER and come up with something that at least sounds reasonable to me. LOL

Carolyn

Thanks for the response, Carolyn. I get a lot of questions about BER and I'm still learning more about it each year. Not a scientist or professional, just a long time Master Gardener who likes to know what I'm talking about!

(I bought your book about 3 years ago and didn't realize I was getting a collectible item! Wow! It is one of my most prized books and won't part from me until my hands are cold and dead!!!)

wow you went to st joe?

wish I had known to look for you.

since this is a variety targeted towards commercially growing you likely wont find it small quantities. Disregarding the specific disease resistances (most of which shouldnt be a problem where you are anyway) BHN 871 is going to be very similar to 'Carolina Gold' which are more likely to find in smaller quantities. If you have tried it and didnt care for it then you likely wont care for the BHN line.

Siegers seed was about $25 for 500 seed rather than Seedway's price.

I was rather displeased that none of the seed reps had samples of any seed. When I have gone to other meetings in the past seed company reps always had samples to give away.

Morgan County Seeds

The only way to be sure about that cherry tomato is to grow it again. I have several "volunteers" every year because I don't clean out every fruit that drops to the ground in my garden. One that does this with great regularity is Sungold F1.

I'm quite sure that Sweet 100 is a Hybrid. As such, the variations will be quite evident. Plant 10 seedlings and you will not see 10 identical "true to type" tomato plants with "true to type" fruit on them.

If you like the original and it is a hybrid, then you'll have to buy the seed occasionally.

Ted

The fruit are a good size, so far they look larger than the sweet 100's I'm currently growing.

Then you answered your original questions - is it a Sweet 100, is it stable - right there.

Dave

Lucky you. Mine never grow that tall. I've been trying for 3 years. For a plant that is supposed to be easy to grow, and an old tyme NE tomato, I always seem to have an issue with it. Love the taste though, which is why I keep trying.

Does that mean they aren't standards now, but rather hybrids?

Not at all. Why would it? Look at all the different Roma's out there. In addition to Rutgers there are sub-species, stabilized selections, of many different stabilized varieties. There are also many different sub-species of classic OP's including Brandywine which has 8 or more sub-species.

Dave

If you puchased these seeds,the seeds remaining in the pack will be viable for many years if stored proper.

If you save seeds from the toms you grew they may not grow out to the same plants you have now .But still are viable.

VIABLE means "(of a seed or spore) Able to germinate."

I really don't have the room to experiment, just hoping for an identical harvest as this year. Maybe one of the nurseries will have them again next year.

Carolyn, you mentioned the aroma of the plant; I think the mosquitoes are attracted to them as well. When I'm picking these babies, I'm getting swarmed by the little beggers. Very uncomfortable. Another home in the neighborhood gets visited by my wife doing homecare and when she works with her patients outside the same thing happens to her. There's a sungold plant near her as well.

They are tasty though. (the tomatoes that is)

Speak to ya,
elliot

LOL! Love it.

Many of my San Marzanos look like that too!! This is my first year growing them, so I thought that was normal.

Hi hcoon,
It was my first year too. They almost look like they grew through some chicken wire fencing. They are weird, but cute! haha

Thanks, on another post I've gotten a lot of good advice about the fertilizer and compost that I'll be adding next season

Were these grow in a container ? what size? what kind of plant ? Soil ?