16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes
Too late to segregate, Seysonn. The seeds are saved mixed from multiple fruits.
I saw bumble bees going from flower to flower in the garden, so that's why I felt there would be cross pollination. I could grow maybe 2 or three trial plants, but I want different varieties and don't have much room. Your suggestion on preventing cross-pollination sounds like just the thing if one of the trial plants shows the desired characteristics. Although I have been growing backyard tomatoes for decades, I am really new at seed saving and have no experience whatsoever in developing a variety.
I have easily 100 surplus seeds, so I could farm them out if people here feel they would like a few to help the endeavor.
an easy solution: keep your current seeds. try one seed next year. if not successful, try another one the following year. if you have 10% seeds from cross pollination, you chance of having one bad seed is 10% and two bad seeds is 1% and three 0.1%... let math do the job. lol
Tom, if you go to the top of this page, just under and to the right of where it says Messages, you'll see a link to Exchanges, and that's where folks post their wants and haves.
Bulgarian Old Sort caught my eye since first, I've never met a variety from Bulgaria that I didn't like, and second the same person who sent seeds for it to Tania sent the same to me, and I linked to Tania's page for it below and there are no sources currently listing it.
No, I no longer have seeds for it, Frederick sent just a few seeds and both Tania and I had problems with germination and she got luckyl Actually Frederick sent seed for a few other Bulgarian ones as well, but right now I can't remember their names.
But there are many other varieties from Bulgaria that are better known and one of my seed producers is growing out another one or did this past summer, but I don't know how successful he was with it.
Carolyn
Carolyn
Here is a link that might be useful: Bulgarian Old Sort
I usually plant Matina in Louisiana (Zone 9) and they turn out like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b4LktURbMQ
Here is a link that might be useful: Growing Tomatoes!
REPORT CARD:
my 2014 EARLY ones, were as follows:
--- Bloody Butcher: Wont repeat. It produced the very first ripe tomato. BUT the fruit size was too small, not that prolific, aggressive vine, PL prone to diseases (mildew ? mold ?).
--- Matina: Not as early BUT, good size juicy tomatoes, prolific. Will grow it again
--- Siletz: My favorite early. Has good size fruits (5 oz +). It was the earliest along with Bloody Butcher.
--- Siberia(N): Not really early. Maybe MID. Nice compact det plant. Still has fruits. Will grow it again
--- Early Treat: ( a Burpee hyb): Zapping it. Not as early, not prolific , small fuits...
--- Legend: I'll Keep it
--- Silvery Fir Tree : Zapping. Though I like the foliage but fruit set/size/ were inconsistent and only produced one flush.
--- Stupice: also zapping it. Reasons: not early AND small inconsistent fruits shape/size
OK, folks, time to report back. Let us share experiences and evaluations.
Hope your season was a great one. Mine was.
PC, as they say: IT'S COMPLICATED !
Well, good luck !
seysonn, nice weather.
Regarding how long this warm weather will last, I would say in ANY moment, things can change. Only one night of cold air from Canada - even 30s - and everything will be gone. No matter what blue sky we will have after that, it will be (very) cold.
Meantime everything looks good here:
Personally, I have a space saved for one of these three varieties, the first two are supposed to do ok right till 1st freeze, and Rio Grande is listed as a determinate but witnesses say differently:
Rio Grande (semi-det., very productive!)
Opalka (indet., productive!)
Costoluto Genovese
While they look different, they all make great sauce, but I like the taste of the Costoluto Genovese I managed to eat fresh (but not grow).
Best growing!
Here is a link that might be useful: Rio Grande
TO PRUNE OR NOT TO PRUNE ?
Jury is divided on this issue. There has been many discussion on this, in this forum over the years. Just search "Pruning tomato plant" in this forum. Having said that, it won't hurt to get a fresh discussion.
There are basically 2 schools of thought on this :(1) Never prune ! OR it is not necessary(2) Prune.
In the end of the day, the buck stops with you.
Pruning may depend on several growing conditions and factors:
Growing By:
-- SPRAWLING
-- CAGING:
-- TRELLISING
-- STAKING
-- WEAVING
--- STRINGING
Other Considerations:
-- SQUARE FOOT GARDENING.
-- IN GROUND, FIELD
-- IN CONTAINER
--- SPACING,
---GROWTH HABIT: Determinant or in determinant ?
--- GROWING SEASON LENGTH
---- YIELD AND FRUIT SIZE
--- CONVENIENCE FACTOR
Depending on one or combinations of the above cases, pruning can be done differently.
Well then, I think next year we'll get two or three plants. We'll let one grow normally and prune the other two in two separate ways. That'll let me see how it works. These tiny tomatoes don't appear to have a main stem like the others we've grown, they've got seven or eight that are of relatively equal size.
I'm far less concerned with the space they take as I am with better ease of harvesting.
They're indeterminate. We just don't keep the greenhouse heated in the winter as it's just too expensive and the plants will die out anyhow from the cold.
Thanks!
Best,
Judy
Pappabell, now that I've shown you the link about Valentia, which is the one you liked so much years ago and is the same today with several seed sources, why don't you go back and grow Valentia as well?
True, orange Minsk is not a beautiful looking tomato, most of the time, but speaking for myself, Igrow tomatoes primarily for taste, yield comes next and where I live there are almost no soilborne systemic diseases, just the foliage diseases which ANY variety, OP or hybrid can get depending on the geographic location and any particular season.
Carolyn
Taste is first for me too,I have boughten Valencia seeds from many many sources,everybody that sells it in the entire country,trying to find that dark gold colored Valencia tomato that I grew back in the 80s.But to no avail.All have been a lighter orange color.And the flavor not near as good.Guess its possible they had crossed with another tomato,but highly unlikely,since all of the fruits on the plant were the same.Still think it had something to do with kelp meal and clover between the rows that year.Might have been a miss labeled pkg of seeds too,but really don't think soo.Ive grown many many many orange tomatoes,and none to date have been like that one was.I wish soo bad that I was saving seeds back then,because I guarantee you,id still be growing it to this day if I did.
Gleckler's has gone out of business. I had several e-mail exchanges between Ellie, Adam's wife and myself.
Too much work to grow all the varieties and process the seed to result in enough money to support the family. so
(Adam and I are doing well and our children are growing like weeds!! It was a decision that was not easy, nor intended, but we did in-fact close up the online sales. Adam is no longer in concrete, but has taken on and Excavating Business that is doing very well and requires 15-16 hour days of him. It is )
The above should explain the situation.
Carolyn
Can anyone recommend the best low acid tomatoes for next year's planting? (Reflux issues). Want to grow both cherries/grapes and globe or beefsteak. Zone 6b. Thanks.
&&&&&&&
But when Jet Star F1 was mentioned, you said you needed more disease tolerances.
Which specific disease tolerances are you referring to, as in the foliage diseases or the soilborne systemic diseases or those transmitted by insect vectors?
I've seen other lists of the pH of various tomato varieties and usually at seed vendors you'll see a lot of yellow and gold/red bicolors being referred to as low acid. But other lists note that their acidity is about the same as those with normal acidity and it's the increased sugar content of them that masks the acidity thus resulting in a more mild taste.
Finally and most importantly acid refulx can be caused by a number of things, acid foods not near the top of that list, so I've linked below to a website with a pretty good description of same, what other things can cause it and how one can just by changing lifestyle and diet can control it before moving to some medicine which can also control it.
I do know about it since my brother was diagnosed with it, some know it as heartburn as well, his wife is a retired nurse, and well I remember the time he was in such pain that they called the ambulance.
Nothing was wrong with his heart, he had acid reflux, and cut out eating so soon before going to bed, sleeping with his head elevated and several of the other suggestions made on the link below, And they worked. And he grows and eats tomatoes of many different varieties and has for a long time, maybe some are low acid, some not, but that was not the cause of his acid reflux,
Please read all three pages of the link below and I know it will help you.
Carolyn
Here is a link that might be useful: Acid Reflux
"I found through a Google search that you may have Wasatch Beauty tomato seeds.
I have been looking for these for a long time, my uncle used to grow these here on the farm back in the 1940's and 50's. We are trying to bring back the old traditional varieties as part of our efforts to re-establish small scale agriculture here in the Spokane valley of Eastern Washington. I am an experienced seed saver the seeds I get from you will become the foundation stock for rebuilding this lost local variety."
I gave all but 4 seeds to this gentleman.
Earl
Yes you can if your weather stays above 50 at night and has daylight temps in the 70 and 80's during the day.
You might want to start new plants from cuttings when the existing plant gets too unruly or starts getting disease problems.
You can easily make cuttings from the sucker shoots. You will have to wait for the new plant to get established, but you can keep a plant going indefinitely with the right growing conditions.
Hi, welcome to the big online tomato patch,
I don't know of any place in Florida (your State) that you would want to keep a plant going. After a plant gives a good fruit load which I guess yours has yet to do, itâÂÂs usually pretty badly whipped and is highly susceptible to disease. That's the reason it is best to start from seed for me here in FL.
Gregory's suggestion is great if you want to 'keep it going', or grow in a Florida Room, greenhouse or other protection where you can moderate temperature swings, but if you are in South Florida the time to take the cuttings would be in early June; North-Central Florida early July, and grow out the sucker during the hot months inside the house.
I find cuttings a pain without a nice Florida room, etc., and seeds are so easy to start, and give a better no-disease guaranty, that although I thought I would be doing that, after this summer, I have reevaluated the options vs. work and prefer just to start from seed. You just get to watch the seedlings inside, which I actually enjoy since they are diminutive and manageable, and if it is an heirloom you can just save the seeds and replant fresh seeds ...
The one time I would take cuttings is for a short fall season (north Florida). It can give you a real running start. That was my plan this year, but the plants started to produce and I had disease concerns, so I left them be and they are already yielding fruit.
Hope that helps, since I basically think there is nowhere in Florida you can keep going with the same plant, except maybe the Keys where it never freezes. But the water consumption and near zero production make it slave labor to keep a plant going for minimal results, speaking from my experience this past summer.
PC
B.U.M.P
Cause I am planting to grow some yellow/orange/gold tomato plants, this old thread was interesting. My previous choices had been KB and KBX.
Now I like Cherokee Golden. Earl of Edgecombe also looks a good choice.
Now, I can only grow one or two. so help me choose from these 2 of them
--- Kellogg's Breakfast
--- Earl of Edgecombe
--- Chrokee golden. I like this one because it is also a bi color.
I have to consider production and earliness as important criteria here. On the taste side , I like juicy tomatoes. I am not a saucer / canner type.
OK. Already planning for the next season. Thou my tomato plants are still doing ok.
Hi dbarron ... what an interesting time to be there and growing!
Here's a 1976 excerpted part of an article written about the Arkansas Traveler tomato cultivar in your University's town's newspaper. It illustrated just how remarkable the variety was at the time you had front center seats. Despite a degree from Cornell, Dr. McFerran was still had some hillbilly in his Arkansan heart. He also was involved in the breeding of Ozark Pink, continuing with the Arkansas Traveler theme, which he apparently liked … Did he play the fiddle or banjo?
Music Video of the Arkansas Traveler which the tomato honored
I'd take that bet he did :-)
Northwest Arkansas Times of Fayetteville, AR
Thursday, June 24, 1976
Page 4
"...the Arkansas Traveler tomato developed by the Horticulture Department is now grown on 2,200 acres in Bradley County. It constitutes an $8 million dollar industry. Those people almost lost their tomato industry from disease, and this remarkable plant was developed to replace the failing one. They know the value of research done by trained scientists ... McFerran and Company, This silent war (mostly plant breeding) goes on to prevent the wiping out of our great agricultural crops.
(Note, the tomato was referred to interchangeably as Traveler (Traveller) and Arkansas Traveler, since the beginning,and that’s an Arkansas thing, not an addition by outsiders specifying that it was from Arkansaw, but a real part of its unique history. The Arkansas Traveler fiddle tune to residents of the State, like the student newspaper, were called "Traveler" with the understanding they referred to the "Arkansas Traveler" which was not necessary to say in common parlance. Similar to a US resident calling Dr. Clinton a former President, when in the United States, but former “President of the United States” by those abroad.)
PC
I'm afraid I didn't know Joe's personal life that well. I was only a lowly undergraduate who watered his tomatoes for a year or so (lol). I do remember the Ozark Pink, but never liked it as well, I always felt my tomatoes should be bright red.