My favourite tomato; and I don't know the name

[Altmer]

Hello, I decided to post a few photos of my favourite looking and tasting tomato. I don't know the name of it and have looked everywhere online for it--even the database on The World Tomato Society. Maybe someone will have more luck/a better eye than I.

I got the seeds from Croatia from a couple who got them from someone selling seedlings on the side of the road. The tomatoes range in weight from about 400-900 grams. They're sometimes a bit hollow inside but still juicy. My plants this year are greater than 7 feet tall (I'm Canadian so please forgive me for switching between metric and imperial measurements) and have what I think are regular leaf, just a lot bigger and fuller than any other I've seen. Last year, the excessive heat during flowering caused about 80% of the flowers to drop and plants yielded 4-5 tomatoes each, this year I'm getting 16+ each plant. The fruit shape is interesting, they're ribbed but also have an oxheart-shaped bottom most of the time. I've only had one with blossom end rot and that was this year. They also seem to have pretty good disease resistance; the oxheart and beefsteak plants next to them all have slow moving disease but these guys are quite unaffected.

[Salsacharley]

I wouldn't begin to guess the variety but that is a great looking tomato. I see why you like it so much.

[habitat_gardener]

You could start with this list of pear tomatoes
http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/C...:Pear_Tomatoes
and look for large red ones. But that's assuming it's in the database, which, if it's from Croatia and hasn't been widely available, it's probably not. I've grown quite a few tomatoes that are not in the database.

[Altmer]

Originally Posted by habitat_gardener

You could start with this list of pear tomatoes
http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/C...:Pear_Tomatoes
and look for large red ones. But that's assuming it's in the database, which, if it's from Croatia and hasn't been widely available, it's probably not. I've grown quite a few tomatoes that are not in the database.

So you think it's a pear type? I was even confused about where to start: ribbed, oxheart, pear. I'm combing through that list you sent; some look similar, like the Goldman's Italian American. But the size is a bit off.

[habitat_gardener]

Originally Posted by Altmer

So you think it's a pear type? I was even confused about where to start: ribbed, oxheart, pear. I'm combing through that list you sent; some look similar, like the Goldman's Italian American. But the size is a bit off.

The first time I looked at your photos, I thought they looked more bottom heavy (pear shaped). But then I looked at them again, and ...not so much. I’ve grown Goldman’s Italian-American and some version of Cour di Bue , which are sort of similar. There was a thread about those Cour di Bue variants some time ago, and iirc every region in Italy had its own strain.

There is a seed seller called something like Croatian Seeds, so maybe you could browse their list? If they did have something similar , you could get the seeds, grow them, and compare the tomatoes to yours.

It looks like you have an exceptional tomato! You may have to just name it yourself.

[JRinPA]

Pretty neat, good job growing them. Disease resistance...I could put it to the test down here! Maybe you are taking better care of it than the other ones?



How much room are you giving per plant to get sixteen 1-2 lb tomatoes? Growing them as staked plants?

[Altmer]

Originally Posted by JRinPA

Pretty neat, good job growing them. Disease resistance...I could put it to the test down here! Maybe you are taking better care of it than the other ones?



How much room are you giving per plant to get sixteen 1-2 lb tomatoes? Growing them as staked plants?

haha, well it seems to be resistant to the late blight going around the plants nearby. It does have normal yellowing of the lower leaves. I plant all of them 24 inches apart and prune to 1-2 main suckers while staking with 8 foot rebar. I experimented a bit this year and didn't prune one of the plants and it was a mess-- dominated the space around it and the tomatoes were less numerous and noticeably smaller. If I had more room in my garden I'd plant them 36 inches or more. And plenty of space between rows.

[JRinPA]

Altmer's Favorite
Macehead



I want some of those beasts lol. I doubt I could grow them as well, though.



2 ft staked, 1-2 stems. Sounds good. What latitude are you at? Ontario is rather large. I'm right around 40N. When OR117 sees a lot of sun, they seem to mush up. That is about the nearest to type I have grown, compared to those things.


Thanks for posting it.


Re: WTS - I thought I recognized that name. The WTS is not welcome here, per ownership. The story is on the first sticky of the general forum.

I go to Tatiana's for info.

[Altmer]

Originally Posted by JRinPA

Altmer's Favorite
Macehead



I want some of those beasts lol. I doubt I could grow them as well, though.



2 ft staked, 1-2 stems. Sounds good. What latitude are you at? Ontario is rather large. I'm right around 40N. When OR117 sees a lot of sun, they seem to mush up. That is about the nearest to type I have grown, compared to those things.


Thanks for posting it.


Re: WTS - I thought I recognized that name. The WTS is not welcome here, per ownership. The story is on the first sticky of the general forum.

I go to Tatiana's for info.

Macehead is very descriptive. I love the name haha! Gives it a bit of a high-fantasy feel.

I'm at 43.25 in southern Ontario. Typically, tomato planting is done here after May 24 (June 1st is safest according to my grandmother, and 3 of the last 4 springs she's been right). I get mushy cherry and medium globe/beefsteak tomatoes on a lot of the first ones that ripen, which I always associate with the flowers having been exposed to cooler temps earlier in the season. Temps can change so drastically here—a night with temps at 5-6 Celsius can quickly become 33 degrees the next day.

I was disappointed in the WTS; as a place promoting heirloom, there was certainly a lot of red tape and paywalls. It's a good idea but maybe not in those hands. I'll look at Tatiana's!

I'd be happy to send you some seeds at end of season if it's permitted here.

[zipcode]

I would be inclined to say it is at least partly the pear-type. The shiny skin, the hollow interior. Croatia and Italy are close, most likely there is some relation.
I think you are safe in naming it though, it doesn't look like any of the common ones (even then it could be different)

[Andrey_BY]

I'd like to get some seeds of this tomato beauty if possible too

[JRinPA]

Altmer, how did they do last year?

[tryno12]

Altemer, I would like to try the seeds if they did well last year
!!

[Altmer]

They produced true to type! I'd be willing to send some out I just don't know the process for doing so. I've yet to figure out the whole seed sharing websites. If you want some please send me a message.

[tryno12]

Sorry Altmer, I made a mistake on the seed request