Member discussion regarding the methods, varieties and merits of growing tomatoes.
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August 24, 2020 | #1 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Sykesville, MD
Posts: 42
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First Time Gems and Duds
Thought it would be nice discuss new "gems" that did well for you this year as well as "duds" that shall not return to the rotation.
I'll go first: Gems: German Orange Strawberry- most robust plant and huge of 1-2 lb toms Sunchocola- very prolific large size cherries that had a nice flavor. Prone to cracking Esterina - yellow prolific large cherries Grandma Chocolate - nice tasting well producing black tom Duds: Maglia Rosa - decent determinant grape cherry producer. Pretty, meaty with so-so flavor. Was really looking forward to this one since it has so many fabulous reviews. |
August 24, 2020 | #2 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Ontario
Posts: 3,893
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Gems:
Maglia Rosa and Taste Patio, both grown in containers. Very similar, in flavour but Taste Patio tomatoes are a little bigger and rounder. These tasted fabulous early in the season. They have recently put on a big flush of fruit which is rather bland because I've been heavy-handed with the watering can..... Super Snow White, slightly yellow when ripe. A big juicy cherry Sweet Aperitif, small red cherry with lots of flavour Garnet, tasty brown cherry Blush, tasty yellow bullet Lucky Tiger, tasty green/yellow bullet, but skimpy Captain Lucky, delicious bi-coloured beefsteak KARMA Apricot, tasty two-bite cherry EM Champion, an early, compact red heart. Great flavour with a little acid kick Lucky Agi F1 was healthy and tasty, bullet-shaped with thick skin Madeira F1 also a healthy brown cherry with a complex taste Green Bee F1, the tomato I expected to hate because I'm not a big fan of "crunchy". I grew it for its long-keeping ability. When it is perfectly ripe (with some red showing) the taste isn't bad at all It is a monster vine, very healthy and incredibly productive. Duds so far: Dr. Carolyn Pink (red). Vigorous and healthy Galina, prolific, but subject to Septoria Both taste bland, but are supposed to be fabulous later in the season. Drumming fingers impatiently. Meanwhile the dogs and chickens are enjoying these, not because they are so terrible, but because I like to share . Unfortunately, Blush 2 succumbed to BER in my garden and didn't recover. I didn't think it tasted better than Blush and I pulled it. KARMA Miracle split badly, despite the drought. It must have been the dew that caused it because of its thin skin. It had good flavour. Brandysweet Plum tasted good, but it split and was a disease magnet. Linda Last edited by Labradors2; August 24, 2020 at 10:11 AM. |
August 24, 2020 | #3 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Sykesville, MD
Posts: 42
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August 27, 2020 | #4 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Sykesville, MD
Posts: 42
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Quote:
Sorry, I didn't notice that you grew the "pink" version of Dr. Carolyn's. I was commenting on my experience with the original ivory colored cherry. Would love to hear your thoughts on the pink version at the end of the season in regards to its productivity and flavor. The ivory version is incredibly productive with very good flavor but in my area flavor didn't kick in until around day 75 - 85 (zone 6b; central MD). |
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August 24, 2020 | #5 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Oct 2019
Location: australia
Posts: 117
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Hi smithmal,
I have had a look at a seed vendor and they only have these 3 varieties that have similar names but none quite exactly the same. Do you know if yours would be one of these or yours is different? German Red Strawberry German Gold Strawberry Orange Strawberry Thanks for any information. |
August 24, 2020 | #6 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Victoria, Australia
Posts: 870
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August 24, 2020 | #7 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Oct 2019
Location: australia
Posts: 117
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Quote:
Vendor is Tomatofest. Here is the details i found at Victory seeds- It should be noted that many seed suppliers have incorrectly or inadvertently renamed this variety as "German Orange Strawberry." This error was brought to our attention by our friend and mentor, Dr. Carolyn Male, who features the variety in her book, "100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden."[1] Each packet contains approximately 20 seeds. Last edited by Master Shake; August 24, 2020 at 09:43 PM. |
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August 24, 2020 | #8 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Sykesville, MD
Posts: 42
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August 24, 2020 | #9 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Ontario
Posts: 3,893
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I grew Orange Strawberry last season. It was a gorgeous, very tasty, large heart. YUM .
Linda |
August 24, 2020 | #10 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Indiana
Posts: 229
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Two gems and one dud.
My gems:
Kardia Karpos. Wonderful huge pink heart-shaped tomatoes. Sunspot. I really liked this large yellow cherry type. My dud: Santa Anna. This was a variety that appears to have been crossed hoping for longer shelf life. The result was plants with tomatoes that don't ripen.
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Indyartist Zone 5b, NE Indiana -------------------------- “Men should stop fighting among themselves and start fighting insects” Luther Burbank |
August 24, 2020 | #11 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Sykesville, MD
Posts: 42
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Forgot to mention that Dr. Carolyn's takes a while for the flavor to show up (bright flavor with a hint of citrus). It's one of the most prolific cherries I've ever grown. Matt's Wild Cherry, Magic Mountain F1 and Black Cherry being the others.
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August 24, 2020 | #12 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Indiana
Posts: 1,124
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Gems: Madera, Pervaya Lyubov, Galahad F1 (so far).
Duds: Banana Toes and Bundaberg Rumball (dwarfs). BT has been a Septoria magnet for me. BR is a pretty tomato, but a tiny plant and low-yielding here. |
August 26, 2020 | #13 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Orlando, FL
Posts: 614
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For me, Neptune, Peachy Keen and Jochalos micro were my three favorite gems. And Dwarf Pink Passion was a pretty prolific producer. Duds: loved the look of Dwarf Ourple Reign but I didn’t get many and they tended to get mushy before fully ripe, though that is a problem for me in general with slicers. |
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August 24, 2020 | #14 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Posts: 2,593
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First time gems:
Babywine (!) Black and Brown Boar Butter Apple (great production) First-time duds Red Boar (went down fast to diseases) |
August 24, 2020 | #15 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Central MN, USDA Zone 3
Posts: 302
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My wife came home from a trip to the mall with a packet of cherry tomato seeds; it turned out to be labelled " very cherry mix" including all colors.
No way to tell what is going to grow, I planted 12 seeds, got 11 plants. One is a pretty standard-issue cherry like Camp Joy, two look to be Isis Candy (which is good, because I have never grown it) and 5 are a yellow determinate dwarf like yellow tumblin' tom. One is very much like Matt's Wild Cherry in flavor, but the clusters are smaller and the cherries larger. One is a big yellow indeterminate covered in fruit, and one might be a green....or very late. The one like Matt's wild cherry is right alongside the gate, and I find myself mauling it mercilessly as I go past. It seems worth keeping even if I don't know the name. The little yellow ones I have so many of are going in the compost; when they are all that's ripe, they're fine, but they crack if the weatherman reports rain by the end of the week. I had saved seeds for a variety I got as "Chet's Italian Black" from a Wisconsin gardener. My seeds were labelled 2007, after originally recieving some in 2004...so apparently I grew them out once, but didn't keep my notes. 3/24 came up; I gave one to my daughter and kept two. It's not a black. It COULD be tigerella, but it's just slightly larger and tastier than I remember Tigerella...and the gel stays green even as they ripen past the best eating stage. We grew a couple of hybrids: "Fantastic" has always filled canning jars, and "Mountain Magic", which wasn't really magical. The rest of my growing is dominated by old commercial varieties like Faribo Gold and Wisconsin 55. Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk
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a day without fresh homegrown tomatoes is like... ...sigh |
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