First ripe tomatoes!

[cecilsgarden1958]

I was so surprised this morning. I had two tomatoes ready to pick.
The winners were..
1 First Lady came at 60 days
1 Julbilee one of my original plants I had before the freeze, came in at 78 days.

This puts me 15 slower then last year, but just about normal for me.

Anyone still waiting or just starting too?

CECIL

[spudleafwillie]

CECIL,
You are not alone in the delayed harvest. Here in sw NM I am 14-21 days behind past years.They were transplanted into containers on May 1
Kimberly- usually 55 days, 2006-68 days.
Galinas- usually 58 days, 2006-78 days.
Grandfather Ashlock 1 fruit ,14 oz, 74 days, none since. Jagged Leaf -76 days- 1st time grown, 2 fruits
Spudalucie(PL variant of Manalucie RL)- 79 days- 1st time grown, 2 fruits.

My very first tomatoes this year were 4 determinate blacks from Eastern Europe that came in at 62-64 days.

The rest of the 92 varieties are still green or just turning color. Weather has been sunny and very warm (90-102F) from mid May till now.
Regards,
Spudleaf Willie

[bcday]

We are running about two weeks later than usual here too. I've picked some Stupice and a couple of other earlies, but I expected some bigger slicers by now.

Hopefully our first frost will also be two weeks late!

[lumierefrere]

Praleska was my first probably 2 or 3 days ago. Followed by several Siberias (I had one in pasta salad for dinner, very good). There was a seemed to be ripe but really wasn't Galina's this afternoon, a small Schelkovsky and then I found a very close to ripe Black Russian about an hour ago. Last year I had ripe Schelkovskys by June 16 but I started seeds earlier last year, too, so it's not a good comparison but it is accurate to say everything is later. I hope frost will be later, too.

[cecilsgarden1958]

I think we are all hoping for late frost this year.

BTW: My Bucks County are really loading up, as is German Queen, Black Pearl, First Lady, Julbilee and Carolina Gold.

Rostova is just now getting blooms.

Better Boys are disturbingly short and wimpy.

Pink Ping Pong are starting to set well.

Pasture will be lucky to make it.

CECIL

[sirtanon]

I'm kind of in the other end of the boat at this point...

All of my harvest came last month and the month before. Here in Phoenix, our season is divided into two. Had my plants out in mid Feb and picked my first one very late April.. a Celebrity, I think.

All my plants from that crop have died and been pulled. *sigh*

At this point, I'm JUST starting seed for my Fall garden. In the next couple days, I should be able to build my raised beds and hopefully by mid-late August I'll be transplanting them out into nice fresh soil in said raised beds. So far, I've only gotten one seed sprouted, but I'm hopeful that the other 19 varieties will be following suit quickly. Of course, if ALL of the seeds actually sprout, I'll be overrun with seedlings (I planted about 55 or so seeds in all )

This being my first house, and a new one at that, I'm very anxious to get the garden started. I'll have about 8 varieties of peppers as well as about 10 other veggies to go with the tomatoes

[supergirl]

I'm also just starting to pick nice blushed fruits and expect my first actual ripe one in the next couple of days. It was my first year growing from seed instead of buying seedlings, though, so I think I set out very late for my zone (first week of May) and to compound it, I didn't plant any early varieties. Sadly, I think mine are all right on time, and I caused my own prolonged wait!

[gwnorth]

I will pick a couple of Stupice (first ones) today - 55 days - have had several Sungold and Galinas. There are some mystery "heirlooms" from a Russian lady in Saskatchewan almost ready. I was given some seeds saved by this family, and the 2 plants I have are completely different - one seems to be determinant , compact with no more blossoms, and ripening fruit - medium, oblate, ribbed, red, and the other is taller, lots of blossoms, and more paste-type fruit - no colour yet. I am watching for colour on Black from Tula, Faux Earl's Faux (my largest tomato!), Azoychka, Black Cherry, and have a long wait for Red Brandywine, BW Sudduth, Earl's Faux, and others. I am excited just by the presence of these superstars in my garden!

[montanamato]

We are about 3 weeks early for my region this year...I had a few Gold Dust's at 56 days, and I should be eating Schelkovsky's but I am having a rough time beating a banty hen to those...I have finally got 2 Schelkovsky's on the counter safe and close to ripe.
Container plants have been producing for several weeks...Orange 1, Czechs Bush, Japanese Dwarf, Red Robin and Canary. Orange Tree almost ready.
I hope Giraffe is a long keeper on the vine as well, mine are loaded and quite a few are nearly ready....Guess I will plant those later next year....
Jeanne

[Sorellina]

Ciao all,

Last year we had ripe Whippersnappers by Canada Day with everything transplanted on Victoria Day Weekend. This year, Victoria Day Weekend was extremely cold here, so transplanting got delayed to the following week, but the harvests have just started trickling in. We've got ripe Whippersnappers, Sungold F1's, Kimberleys, Kotlas, Not Aunt Gertie's Gold Cherry, and Mountain Princess. The only other ones with any sort of blush are Anna Russian, Borgo Cellano, and Sophie's Choice. I'd say we're running about 3 weeks behind of where we should be normally.

[jerseyjohn61]

First to ripen for 06'

Sungold- Bountiful and has been leaping off the vine
for 3 weeks. Nice snacker and will grow again.

Kimberly- Generous and tasty. Quick to ripen and a
must try.

Opalka- productive and the best paste type I've grown
as yet.

Aunt Gerties Gold and Brandywine(platfoot) are
performing swimmingly in surrogate gardens though
I have yet to sample.

Cherokee Purple- producing well and were the first
of the slicers to blush. However, some critter has
done three of them in before I could taste my first
dark mater ever. Dang Varmits!

Brandywine OTV- Hands down the top performer
so far. Have picked 8 good size fruits todate and
they keep comming. I tip my hat to Craig and
Carolyn for the CPs and OTVs.

Mortgage Lifters- A pleasant surprise over last year.
They are in better sun and have rewarded me with
3 good size fruits already. Largest being 15 oz.
Last year in poor sun, we did not see any till
mid August.

Stupice- A let down as my two plants have
performed poorly. Stingy production. Just two
gnarly, ripe fruit....JJ61

[DonnaMarieNJ]

Well, this will be my first post regarding my own "real" tomato harvest!

I have tried:

Stupice (yum!)

Noir de Crimee (zzzzzz)

Black Cherry (yuck! I'm going to let them ripen more before I pick them next time - I had such high expectations)

Sungold (yum!)

Riesentraube (another yum)

Sweet Million (which I grew for a neighbor and decided BEFORE I grew them that I would hate them and it's just the opposite )

Lucky Leprechaun (tasteless and mealy)

Black From Tula (another tasteless one - I almost died and went to heaven, tho, when I picked it - it looked almost exactly like the picture in Carolyn's book, concentric cracking and all. Right then I realized that I actually did something right for once and I CAN grow tomatoes!!!!)

Aunt Ruby's German Green (my FIRST green tomato ever and YUMMY. It was orange, however, with green shoulders and lime green inside. Is the orange normal? I had to cut off what I expect was BER before I ate it! I thought BER only affected plum type/size tomatoes?)

My evaluations are for taste only as I have very, very few fruits per plant. And since this is my first year growing "real" tomatoes, the production and taste may very well be affected by my lack of knowledge and/or experience.

Overall, I am a bit pleased with my garden. I have substantial yellowing of leaves and poor production, but when I think of that day in March when I planted each and every seed, and then look at my large tomato plants, I feel good! Hopefully, I'll get better as the years go by.

I do, however, have more "friendly" neighbors now than I did in the spring.... I wonder why? My neighbors are friendly in the winter, too. I have a snow blower!!!

[barkeater]

Hi Donna. Don't give up on Black Cherry yet. I didn't say yuck, but for me they were pretty tasteless the first few weeks. But from mid- August on they tasted great, really sweet, and I'm growing them again this year.

[DonnaMarieNJ]

Hi, Bark. No, I won't give up - not yet. I read the reviews and I noticed that although a lot of people didn't like Black Cherry, it MAY have been because they were picked too soon.

I have to be patient. The moment I see a tomato turning color, I get so excited. I have so few, and the last thing I want to do is pick too soon and have an "off tasting" tomato. I'm new. I'm learning. I do a little "squeeze" to see if they are ready. My mistake was choosing tomato varieties that were not red and were low to modest yields. This is my first real year and I should have grown only red, easy-to-grow tomatoes (just to learn how to grow them), and then graduate the following years to the other colors/varieties. But, reading these forums made that impossible!!!! There were so many good reviews for the blacks, golds and greens as well as the lower yield plants (i.e. Sudduth), that I had to try some. I now have to figure out if the plants are not producing well or tasting good because it is normal for that plant, or something I'm doing wrong.....

[cecilsgarden1958]

Originally Posted by DonnaMarieNJ

Hi, Bark. No, I won't give up - not yet. I read the reviews and I noticed that although a lot of people didn't like Black Cherry, it MAY have been because they were picked too soon.

Donna: What Black Cherry are you growing. The one from TGS, The one from SSE or Black Pearl from Burpee?

I had grown the one from TGS for 2 years and loved it. You are right though, make sure they are ripe.

CECIL