2011 list - any suggestions would be welcomed

[Anthony_Toronto]

Have been doing this for 6 or 7 years now (in Zone 5, just north of Toronto), but given weather fluctuations across seasons, and other factors, the jury is still out on some varieties. Below are several that I like (with some comments/caveats), and some that I tried thatI expected to be in line with what I like but did not work for one reason or another. Will probably do between 22 and 30 plants, and besides my "must"-haves just wondering if anyone has suggestions on any new varieties (i.e. that have come to attention in the last few years) or any that I tried but should maybe try again. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

"Must"-Haves

1. Cherokee Purple (for me, has done horribly in excellent weather summers, and had spectacular performances in wet cool summers)

2. KBX (really good)

3. Brandywine Sudduth (love it, despite productivity issues...when it works up here, it really works well...HOWEVER I would be open to adding a similar substitute that is prone to better production of large fruits)

4. Black Cherry

5. 'Black Cherry' potato leaf (seems to be stable pl black-cherry-type variety, several generations out of saved Purple Haze seeds...maybe missing a bit of Black Cherry uniqueness, but still excellent)

6. Green Giant (a bit delicate when ripe so have to keep eyes on them, but really enjoy sweet juicyness)

7. Indian Stripe (would trade high production for fewer larger tomatoes, might need some fruit culling)

8. Paul Robeson (weird tasting, did not do last year, but missed it so its back on the list)

9. Black Krim (performed so well for a few seasons, with large delicious tomatoes, then had several seasons of small, misshapen, poor quality fruits...last year got several very large toms that were good)

10. Unknown pink globe (stray seed several years back, usually a globe, occasionally beefsteak, very meaty and sweet)

Maybes

1. Dr. Wyches Yellow...really good but was blown away by KBX

2. Cherokee Green...after growing this for a few seasons using seeds from 2 different sources, what I got was not 'cherokee' in size, shape, or flavour, and was exactly like Emerald Evergreen (in size, shape, and flavour) that I had grown a few times before. I wanted this to work, but did not seem to do what it was supposed to do in my garden.

3. Marianna's Peace...nice but not as good as Brandy Sudduth

4. Homer Fike's Yellow Oxheart (a few great fruits, but most never peaked)

5. Green Zebra - despite excessive BER these always worked well and tasted good (different, but good)

6. Purple Haze Mini Beef - another offspring of Purple Haze, gave perfect bunches of five or six 1.5 inch beefsteaks that had the colour and flavour of BC (a bit milder in flavour, but same flavour profile).


Prior underperformers in my garden that seem to get good reviews generally:

1. Earl's Faux

2. Black from Tula (inconsistent fruits that rotted on the vine both times I tried it)

3. Goose Creek (though I think the seeds that I was sent were not Goose Creek...9 out of 10 did not germinate, the one that did produced mediocre small smooth reddish pink beefsteaks, and seeds saved from bagged blossoms produced larger flavourless tomatoes that were more or less bell pepper shaped).

4. Big Zac (Big, but bland)

5. Aunt Gertie's Gold (meh)

6. Aunt Ginny's Purple (unpleasant flavour)

7. Clint Eastwood's Rowdy Red (hard when ripe...worse than store bought)

8. Rostova (Sunset's Red Horizon) - hearts just never ripened before rotting

9. Stump of the World (bland)

10. Carbon (bland)

11. Kellogg's Breakfast



Any suggestion for new varieties that might be in line with my apparent preferred tastes? Any underperformers that should really be moved to my must have list?

thanks,
anthony

[surf4grrl]

I agree with some of your underperformers (for me as well) but Kelloggs Breakfast is a yearly must grow for us. I'd definitely give that one another try - is that your first try?

[Anthony_Toronto]

Originally Posted by surf4grrl

I agree with some of your underperformers (for me as well) but Kelloggs Breakfast is a yearly must grow for us. I'd definitely give that one another try - is that your first try?

Did just try it once, but KBX was much better so never went back to KB.

[recruiterg]

OK. I think you need to change your avatar. Reminds me of Worth.

[recruiterg]

OK. On a serious note. I think that Aunt Ginny's Purple and Stump of the World are relatively similar in taste and production to Brandywine Sudduth, so you might want to give those two another go. I highly recommend Prue and I grew Kosovo last year and liked it alot. Sungold is excellent, but not OP.

[b54red]

Indian Stripe was my best overall performer last year but if you want a larger dark tomato you might want to try JDs Special C Tex or Gary O' Sena.

Stump of the World was less bland than the Brandywines I grew last year so it may just be the location in the garden causing the lack of taste. Limbaugh's Legacy gives a similar tomato but it is earlier and was larger on average than either the Brandywines or Stump.

If you want a heart that will compete with some of the best beefsteaks in flavor and size then you might want to try Donskoi.

Neves Azorean Red is one you might want to try. It is a very large and very productive beefsteak with good flavor.

I have had good luck with Red Siberian both very early and in the fall so it might do well in your cooler climate.

I couldn't be happier with KBX but I am going to try Kellog's Breakfast this year just to see how it compares.