16,949 Garden Web Discussions | Growing Tomatoes

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

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

Lindalana, that sounds like a support I put together for some runner beans this year. It's been working great.....so far. The metal spikes on the top cage looked dangerous sticking up into the air so I curled them around using a needle-nosed pliers to get a good grip on them. Looks kinda like some cool garden sculpture :) Guess you have to have a good imagination to see it as art, but the hummingbirds like to visit just fine.

naturegirl_2007, can we see a picture of that support ?

Um, err, Chocolate Cherry is not an heirloom variety, it was bred by Aaron Whaley, when he was still at SSE in Decorah, IA.

His mother and father, Diane and Kent Whealey, yes, Aaron changed his last name, started SSE in 1975.

There's also a Brown Berry, and that one was bred by Sahin Seeds in Holland

But there are some newer dark cherries coming up and one of them is Black Opal and one of my seed producers( no, I'm not commercial) is doing that one this summer for me.

Aha, I almost forgot Kazachka, an excellent dark cherry/

Carolyn

Here is a link that might be useful: Chocolate Cherry

Thanks Don; no, I'm not sure about it being black cherry at all. It might be Chocolate Cherry... but it's very pretty though. I will keep the seeds and Carolyn is always so very knowledgeable about these things. Thx both of you for the info!

One of the "Cuostralee" plants I mentioned in my post just gave me a yellow tomato, so I really have no idea what variety it is.

Good point! Possible but highly unprobable.

Our family has a similar operation to your plan, a nursery business and grow to sell both transplants and fruit at farmer's market. So keeping in mind that an off seed in a packet or mis-labeld packet is always a slim possibility all I can tell you is the seed suppliers we count on and have for years:

Tomato Growers Supply

Tomatofest

Tatiana's

Johnny's Seeds

Territorial Seeds

Baker Creek Seeds

There are others we have used but those are our primary suppliers.

Dave

pk, there is NO place that sells OP seed that has a perfect record. It's impossible to do b'c most of the places that most deal with have hundreds of plants out each year and cannot bag blossoms and cannot use geographic isolation.

And some places subcontract out for seed production as well.

I started growing Cuostralee back in 1993 as Tania describes in her link to this variety, but I should add that the seed trade with Norbert in 1992 included not just Craig and myself, but also Joe Bratka and Bill Minkey as well. Link below.

I've SSE listed it, I've offered it in many seed offers in the past and have never seen a Yellow Cuostralee myself or at any of the message sites where I read and sometimes post.

If it's just one plant that gave all yellow tomatoes, it's a stray seed. Had it been one fruit on a plant or one branch on a plant that would be a somatic mutation which is a totally different issue.

The epidermis of Cuostralee is yellow If there had been a mutation to a clear epidermis it would have been pink, and yes, some have seen some pink fruited plants since the mutation between clear and yellow is not all that rare.

I never distributed seeds for anything other than what the original color should be, with few exceptions such as FishLake Oxheart when there was a mutaional change,but of late, many have been doing that, Sigh.

Hope that helps.

Carolyn

Here is a link that might be useful: Cuostralee

Jennie, do you fertilize using the drip irrigation ?

I believe bigger container sizes have advantages:

-- Less frequent watering, fertilizing.
-- Provides stability against tipping over.
-- It is easier to stake or cage
In short it is less challenging and offers more convenience.
As far as the root system and plants nutrients need are concerned, it can be done in small containers ( 5-7gal.) too. But it will need ongoing attention. As the size of container gets bigger and bigger, it becomes similar to growing in the garden (relatively speaking). I have 4 tomatoes growing in about 5 gal. containers. But i water and fertilize them maybe 3 times as often as those in the ground. They are doing fine but I have to work 3 times harder. NOT very convenient. Ten gallon container could have reduced my work load by more than 50%, I estimate.

What are the disadvantages of bigger pots?

1- container cost
2- potting soil cost: They are costly !

I roughly estimate: $2/gal for both container and potting mix.
So if a 5 gal. arrangement cost $ 8 - $10, a 12 gallon will cost about $20-$25. If you are willing to pay the price , you will get a lot of payback in convenience.

Agree. We get lots of requests to try to do this every year and if you pull them all up with the search you'll find the answer is always the same - not possible.

It could easily be any one of at least 50 different varieties. Just gorw and enjoy it and don't worry about the name - call it what you wish.

Dave

Been there and done that with the help of Carolyn.

Just grow and enjoy it and don't worry about the name - call it what you wish.

Yes, I find it fun to give it a home-grown descriptive name rather than think of it as an orphan, and if you save the seeds do it with that name since if you're like me, unlabeled seeds usually get tossed. Hmmm ... Pale Indian Corn tomato ... or Sweet Jalapeño tomato ... Piccolo Corno di Toro LOL

I water my outdoor plants once, sometimes twice a day,..
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

That tells me:
-- There is not enough soil in the container OR
-- The soil does not retain moisture.

-- When you water that volume of soil that often, the nutrients are washed down with the excess water coming out of it. I think then you should add fertilizer (@ 1/3 strength) every third time that you water, the way you have said.
JMO

Thanks Seysonn, yeah, I water a lot, as much for heat as anything, but I didn't think the nutrients would wash out since I'm watering from below. Guess that's not the case . . .

The last thing that put it together for me is that my young grape vines and citrus trees are absolutely flourishing, and neither of those need much in the way of fertilization when they're small. Meanwhile my tomatoes, which need a lot of fertilizer are struggling. I think I need a stable fertilization regiment.

Stupice (Tomato Fest). Days: 52

Green Zebra (Territorial Seeds) DTM: 75-80 days. I donâÂÂt grow it, so I donâÂÂt know.

Yeah, I'll zap many, but I do have a few keepers: Brandywine (Pink), Rose, Brandy Boy, ParkâÂÂs Whopper, Sweat Chelsea, and a few more.

The list of those âÂÂzappedâ is MUCH longer. ALL the bush tomatoes, most of the cherries and of course, most of the earlies that I grow this year.

I also want to try some new varieties next year.

I donâÂÂt know why - while TECHNICALLY being on time - most of my tomatoes are late and VERY late ??? And why many of my LATE tomatoes are⦠EARLIER ???

Today, Monday Septemebr 1, finally, FINALLY I picked up the FIRST Stupice tomato. (DTM 52 days.)

1.6 oz. good taste, but late, VERY late.

I already picked up most of my other tomatoes that have waaaaay longer DTMs.

So let me see:, am I going to plant Stupice next year ?

Errrrâ¦. Hmmm⦠lemme think⦠errrâ¦

NO, Stupice will NOT be in my garden next year.

very nice guys and gals! Unfortunately, my harvest has slowed way down due to tremendous blossom drop in July from 100+ degree weather. Harvest should pick up soon!

Ajsmama: didn't realize you were in CT as well! Southern myself.. I'm going to try to get to a market next year.. Do you have much success?

Lots of people north of the mason dixie line are having delays with early varieties this year. Here in Oregon I contribute much of it to very cool nights even though day temps have been warm to hot.
Even my early varieties are starting to ripen pretty good except for my Bush Beafsteak Det plant. It is rated as 62 days to maturity and not a single tomato is even beginning to ripen. It has several tomatoes on the plant but they are all green. Oh I transplanted it 90 days ago and have harvested several Brandywine and other long season varieties a few weeks ago.

Gregory,

You are right on the money about night lows.
Here in North Seattle area(Sammamish) our night lows RARELY stayed above 58F. Even when day highs were like 87F, the temps doped to under 60F. This is because of our very clear skies and low humidity. Now we are in double jeopardy. The day temperatures are going down as well.
My plants are loaded but ripening is getting VERY SLOW.

I don't think of CP as really sweet, I do like CP, BK, BW for bigger tomatoes. I like a tomato to taste like tomato - with some acid.

But I tried Sungold for the first time this year, that is really sweet and yummy! So is Black Cherry. My dad swears by Super Sweet 100 but I am going to have him try Sungold. He probably won't try BC.

I have Galinas yellow cherry that just started ripening and they taste very bland to me. I think Green Doctors are just ripe today, I have to try some. Ester Hess is very bland too, and Dr. Carolyn isn't doing anything (sorry, not you Carolyn, I mean the tomatoes aren't ripening!).

To my taste sweetness is not as critical as texture, juiciness and overall tomato flavor. I don't like a hard solid kind of dry texture. I basically want the kind of quality tomato that you cant buy in the grocery store.