Experience with these varieties?

[Baizanator]

I've sort of obsessed with tomatoes. I always have been and, as a result, I'm working on graduate work in tomato breeding. That's also the reason there have been multiple posts like this as I attempt to nail down my list for next year.

That said, I'll always have a spot in my heart for heirloom tomatoes. They've stuck around because, while commercial hybrids can provide you with increased vigor, yield and disease resistance, they can't provide you with the unique colors and incredible taste associated with the heirlooms.

The following varieties are the ones I've purchased seed for this fall. There are several reds but I'm growing those for my grandfather. I have to work him from hybrids to heirlooms little by little you see and he's still not sold on tomatoes that aren't red. So, if you have any experience with the following varieties, let me know. I'm limited to 72 spots in my seed tray so I'll be splitting these among those openings. So 1-2 of each variety is probably my limit.

Also, I know that no tomato really does that well in the 100+ degree Texas heat but, of these, which have you had the best luck with?

Ananas Noire
Azoychka
Berkeley Tie-Dye
Big Rainbow (I have seed left from last year but this one did terrible for me with no fruits)
Big Zac
Black and Brown Boar
Black Truffle Hybrid (From Burpee)
Bull's Heart
Ceylon
Celebrity (Main Crop)
Cherokee Purple
Costoluto Genovese
German Giant
Great White
Green Giant
Heinz 1439 VFA (Main Crop)
Hillbilly
Jetsetter
Kosovo
Mexico
Mr. Stripey
Mule Team
Neves Azorean
Omar's Lebanese
P20 Blue (Purely Novelty)
Paul Robeson
Persimmon
Porterhouse Hybrid
Porter's Pride
Purple Calabash
Riesentraube
Royesta
Sandul Moldovan
Sun Gold
Solar Fire
Thessaloniki
Watermelon Beefsteak
Zapotec


Also looking at adding:

Arbuznyi
Indian Stripe
JD's Special C-Tex (EXTREMELY intrigued by this one.)

[kygreg]

German Giant -am growing this year for first time.

Green Giant = grew it once, did not care for it; don't plan on growing it again.

Hillbilly- pretty tomato with very good taste.

Neves Azorean - good production, very good flavor.

Sun Gold - great taste, very productive, grow every year.

[Baizanator]

Originally Posted by kygreg

German Giant -am growing this year for first time.

Green Giant = grew it once, did not care for it; don't plan on growing it again.

Hillbilly- pretty tomato with very good taste.

Neves Azorean - good production, very good flavor.

Sun Gold - great taste, very productive, grow every year.

I simply don't like the fact that it is potato leaved. I'm not a fan of PL varieties.

[PA_Julia]

In ground as we speak is Paul Robeson and Big Zac out of your list.

Paul Robeson which is a (RL) has currently 8 tomatoes set on 3 plants.
It's a bushy plant and stands a little over 4' since planting on Mothers Day.
The fruit tastes sweet.
I'm very pleased with this plant thus far and I will grow it again next year.

Big Zac; I have two Big Zac plants (RL)with two tomatoes on one and 1 tomato from a double fused bloom on the other.

I am not growing these for primary consumption but for competition sized fruit.
I have however heard that the tomato tastes really good with moderate acid.
It's another bushy plant and currently stands close to 5' since planting on Mother's Day.


Julia

[Doug9345]

The 4 P-20s I received as cuttings all vary from one another in how blue the foliage is.

[carolyn137]

Also, I know that no tomato really does that well in the 100+ degree Texas heat but, of these, which have you had the best luck with?

*****

First I really don't like to make comments about varieties where seeds have already been purchased. IMO it's much better to ask before choosing varieties to buy. That said, I don't know how the following will do in your area of TX, but I have many TX tomato friends and a good number of those you list they grow and they do well.

Ananas Noire, I don't like the taste of varieties where there are many colors both inside and on the exterior, but many do
Azoychka, excellent early variety
Berkeley Tie-Dye, have not grown
Big Rainbow (I have seed left from last year but this one did terrible for me with no fruits), one of the better gold/red bicolors IMO along with Lucky Cross and Virginia Sweets and Marizol Gold.
Big Zac, have not grown the F1, just the OP
Black and Brown Boar, have not grown
Black Truffle Hybrid (From Burpee), why not grow the original from whence Burpee copped the name, the original being Japanese Black Trefle.
Bull's Heart, not a specific variety since there are red ones and pink ones from various countries/areas
Ceylon, not worth it IMO
Celebrity (Main Crop), IMO there are MUCH better F1's than Celebrity, which I have grown
Cherokee Purple, does well for almost everyone, great taste and yield
Costoluto Genovese, I've grown all 3 Costolutos and have not been impressed with taste compared to others used for sauce.
German Giant, can't remember if I grew it, or not. LOL
Great White, forget it, bland as can be, not white either/ Of the larger so called White varieties I think White Queen is the best/
Green Giant, excellent tasting PL green when ripe
Heinz 1439 VFA (Main Crop), have not grown
Hillbilly, another gold/red bicolor of which there are about 200 named ones. I stated my preferences under the listing for Big Rainbow
Jetsetter, have not grown
Kosovo, excellent large pink heart which does well for all most everyone
Mexico, an OK large pink beefsteak
Mr. Stripey, not beloved by everyone, that's for sure, yet another gold/red bicolor I've grown. Widely available almost everywhere since seeds were sent to Seeds by Design in Ca, a wholesale place, by Wayne Hilton, the former owner of TT and that stable of companies that were sold to Jung's and SBD sends out a seed list to many commercial farmers and plant places so youll find it at Big Box stores, nurseries, etc. I think it's spindly and low yielding, others would disagree.
Mule Team, one of several bred by Joe Bratka's father and MT is fine, but I prefer Box Car Willie and Red Barn/
Neves Azorean ( Red), OK, I introduced it and I'm not biased but I'm not the only one who thinks it's a great variety, taste and yield-wise as well
Omar's Lebanese, another one I introduced, large pink fruits with excellent taste.
P20 Blue (Purely Novelty), I dislike the taste of it, novelty or not.
Paul Robeson, have not grown
Persimmon, just don't like the taste
Porterhouse Hybrid, have not grown
Porter's Pride, have not grown
Purple Calabash, one of only a few varieties that does have some purple, the others being Noire des Cosebeauf and Purple Smudge and it's orange fleshed version. I've grown the first three and while the Noire one is one has the most beautiful fruits I've seen, the taste of all of them is far too aggressive for me.
Riesentraube, a whole thread on this and well worth growing/
Royesta, have not grown
Sandul Moldovan, another one I introduced which many love, med size pink fruits
Sun Gold, if the F1, great variety, if one of the OP's not the same as the F1/
Solar Fire, have not grown
Thessaloniki, can't remember if I grew it
Watermelon Beefsteak, nothing special
Zapotec, can often be hollow


Also looking at adding:

Arbuznyi, have not grown
Indian Stripe, a version of Cherokee Purple I introduced, does well for almost everyone, fruits a bit lighter than CP, more to the truss and slightly smaller than CP, all else the same and many now prefer to CP sites where I read.
JD's Special C-Tex (EXTREMELY intrigued by this one.) , have not grown

[Baizanator]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

Also, I know that no tomato really does that well in the 100+ degree Texas heat but, of these, which have you had the best luck with?

*****

First I really don't like to make comments about varieties where seeds have already been purchased. IMO it's much better to ask before choosing varieties to buy. That said, I don't know how the following will do in your area of TX, but I have many TX tomato friends and a good number of those you list they grow and they do well.

Ananas Noire, I don't like the taste of varieties where there are many colors both inside and on the exterior, but many do
Azoychka, excellent early variety
Berkeley Tie-Dye, have not grown
Big Rainbow (I have seed left from last year but this one did terrible for me with no fruits), one of the better gold/red bicolors IMO along with Lucky Cross and Virginia Sweets and Marizol Gold.
Big Zac, have not grown the F1, just the OP
Black and Brown Boar, have not grown
Black Truffle Hybrid (From Burpee), why not grow the original from whence Burpee copped the name, the original being Japanese Black Trefle.
Bull's Heart, not a specific variety since there are red ones and pink ones from various countries/areas
Ceylon, not worth it IMO
Celebrity (Main Crop), IMO there are MUCH better F1's than Celebrity, which I have grown
Cherokee Purple, does well for almost everyone, great taste and yield
Costoluto Genovese, I've grown all 3 Costolutos and have not been impressed with taste compared to others used for sauce.
German Giant, can't remember if I grew it, or not. LOL
Great White, forget it, bland as can be, not white either/ Of the larger so called White varieties I think White Queen is the best/
Green Giant, excellent tasting PL green when ripe
Heinz 1439 VFA (Main Crop), have not grown
Hillbilly, another gold/red bicolor of which there are about 200 named ones. I stated my preferences under the listing for Big Rainbow
Jetsetter, have not grown
Kosovo, excellent large pink heart which does well for all most everyone
Mexico, an OK large pink beefsteak
Mr. Stripey, not beloved by everyone, that's for sure, yet another gold/red bicolor I've grown. Widely available almost everywhere since seeds were sent to Seeds by Design in Ca, a wholesale place, by Wayne Hilton, the former owner of TT and that stable of companies that were sold to Jung's and SBD sends out a seed list to many commercial farmers and plant places so youll find it at Big Box stores, nurseries, etc. I think it's spindly and low yielding, others would disagree.
Mule Team, one of several bred by Joe Bratka's father and MT is fine, but I prefer Box Car Willie and Red Barn/
Neves Azorean ( Red), OK, I introduced it and I'm not biased but I'm not the only one who thinks it's a great variety, taste and yield-wise as well
Omar's Lebanese, another one I introduced, large pink fruits with excellent taste.
P20 Blue (Purely Novelty), I dislike the taste of it, novelty or not.
Paul Robeson, have not grown
Persimmon, just don't like the taste
Porterhouse Hybrid, have not grown
Porter's Pride, have not grown
Purple Calabash, one of only a few varieties that does have some purple, the others being Noire des Cosebeauf and Purple Smudge and it's orange fleshed version. I've grown the first three and while the Noire one is one has the most beautiful fruits I've seen, the taste of all of them is far too aggressive for me.
Riesentraube, a whole thread on this and well worth growing/
Royesta, have not grown
Sandul Moldovan, another one I introduced which many love, med size pink fruits
Sun Gold, if the F1, great variety, if one of the OP's not the same as the F1/
Solar Fire, have not grown
Thessaloniki, can't remember if I grew it
Watermelon Beefsteak, nothing special
Zapotec, can often be hollow


Also looking at adding:

Arbuznyi, have not grown
Indian Stripe, a version of Cherokee Purple I introduced, does well for almost everyone, fruits a bit lighter than CP, more to the truss and slightly smaller than CP, all else the same and many now prefer to CP sites where I read.
JD's Special C-Tex (EXTREMELY intrigued by this one.) , have not grown

Carolyn,

What are your thoughts on Dr. Lyle? I've planned on ordering some of those and dropping a few of the varieties above.

[carolyn137]

Dr. Lyle and Dr. Neal IMO are both excellent varieties. Both indet with large pink beefsteak shaped fruits, heavy RL foliage cover, and in the 1-2# range and yield for a varieties with such large fruits is also excellent and the taste is also excellent.

[Dak]

I'm on the central coast of CA, hot summers, cool nights for the most part. I've grown a few that are on your list.


Berkeley Tie-Dye- cool looking tomato, not very prolific for me, looked better than it tasted

Black and Brown Boar- fantastic small tomatoes, kept producing until frost

Black Truffle Hybrid -nada

Celebrity (Main Crop)- great producer, good taste

Cherokee Purple - only got a few tomatoes, but good

Costoluto Genovese -growing this this year, no tomatoes yet, high hopes!

Kosovo - very few tomatoes, wipsy foliage but great tasting

Paul Robeson- disappointing, really wanted more

[rsg2001]

Baizanator, one quibble I have with your email is the claim of more vigor from hybrids, which only in rare instances have I seen having grown both heirlooms and hybrids. My clime is not at all like yours, however, of those you listed I would vote for Cherokee Purple and Sungold. In my garden, while Riesentraube is delicious, I've not had good yield the two times that I have grown it; it's also a bit later in the season for a cherry and I don't know if that has any bearing for you.

I too have not had good luck with Big Rainbow; both times I grew it I did not get anything, and the second time the plant succumbed in mid-season. On the other hand, I've done well with Hillbilly.

The one time I grew Mr. Stripey, I had a mule plant, which I understand this variety has a propensity to do. I liked Neves Azorean Red, but didn't get a big yield. Royesta was a bomb.

I'm a big fan of Eva Purple Ball (heirloom, ave. 6 oz or more dark pink and very productive; Cherokee Green if you want to have a green-when-ripe variety; Rutgers (medium size orange-red, plentiful); Lemon Boy (yellow hybrid which has done well in a variety of conditions); Black Cherry, in addition to the ones that I mentioned above.

Good luck! Let us know how it works out.

[jennifer28]

I've only grown sungold from your list. I got the plants from another tomatovillian here, DarJones. I grew them for my students, they are young - 5-8 yr olds.
They love them. Very sweet and delicious. I did get open pollinated seeds from another member here, I havent tried them yet.

[lakelady]

I don't have too many on that list either, but I do have Berkley Tie Dye and I can tell you it seemed to kick into high gear when the heat set in and its doing really well. Haven't tasted it yet. My Kosovo sort of peetered out in the flower production department, but Danko is kicking butt out there and continues to flower like crazy. Mule Team is holding its own and is very productive as well as being quite a dense bushy sort of plant. I'd think all those leaves will help prevent sunscald in your area. Black and Brown Boar was a disappointment for me, doesn't seem terribly productive but others rave about it, so it could just be a dud seed I started lol.

[b54red]

I agree with Carolyn; there are better hybrids than Celebrity. Neves Azorean Red is a fantastic tomato and has done very well for me as has Kosovo. The biggest lack on your list is large pinks and blacks. Stump of the World, Brandywine Sudduth's, Limbaugh's Legacy, Brandywine Cowlick's, and Terhune are all very good large pinks with great flavor. Besides Cherokee Purple you might want to try Indian Stripe, JD's Special C Tex, Black Krim, Spudakee, Gary O' Sena, and Dana's Dusky Rose which have all done well in our southern heat and humidity.

Don't know why you have a dislike of potato leaf plants since many of the best tomatoes I have grown have come from them.

[Baizanator]

Originally Posted by b54red

I agree with Carolyn; there are better hybrids than Celebrity. Neves Azorean Red is a fantastic tomato and has done very well for me as has Kosovo. The biggest lack on your list is large pinks and blacks. Stump of the World, Brandywine Sudduth's, Limbaugh's Legacy, Brandywine Cowlick's, and Terhune are all very good large pinks with great flavor. Besides Cherokee Purple you might want to try Indian Stripe, JD's Special C Tex, Black Krim, Spudakee, Gary O' Sena, and Dana's Dusky Rose which have all done well in our southern heat and humidity.

Don't know why you have a dislike of potato leaf plants since many of the best tomatoes I have grown have come from them.

What would be some of the hybrids better than Celebrity?

As for the reason for disliking PL plants, it's pretty simple. I grow out seed, keep what I want and my dad's father grows out the rest. He's not a PL fan so I don't grow them unless I'm going to keep them myself.

[b54red]

I have grown many Celebrity plants in the past but after growing Big Beef I never used Celebrity again. Bella Rosa is a good tasting hybrid and the fruit are very large and it is a massive producer. Jetsetter is also better to me but it is not a good tomato for the mid summer heat. Jetsetter does much better as a spring or fall tomato since it ripens very slowly once the intense summer heat arrives here. I really like Ramapo but it is not very tolerant of diseases. A Brandywine hybrid called Brandy Boy is a fantastic tasting tomato producing very large fruit a bit earlier than the heirlooms with the Brandywine name.