What's your healthiest plant?

[greggf]

We're somewhat startled by the immense health of a "Fourth of July" hybrid plant that was the first to bear, and is still putting out fruit.

Now, we really don't care, since the fruit have the taste and tenderness of golf balls. Compared to all our other varieties, however, the plant itself is a standout, and the only one still setting new fruit.

If it were another variety with better features, we'd be thrilled.

So what's your healthiest, most vigorous variety, plant and foliage-wise, at this late stage of the game?

[twinks]

In the Tomato House (large cedar greenhouse), I'm growing Alicante, Hillbilly, Black Russian, Green Sausage, Lima Korai and Sweet Million.

There are also two self-seeded Tigerellas from last year's crop, growing in the gravel path, one opposite the other. My greenhouse comprises of 1m deep wooden troughs running the entire length of the greenhouse, on both sides, with a pathway down the centre: central path of single width concrete slabs with 6" of gravel either side of it up to the troughs.

Of all of them, the Tigerellas are the most vigorous and more advanced as they were the first to germinate in situ. Of those I sowed and planted, Hillbilly and Black Russian are the most vigorous and healthy, with the Tigerellas only just beginning to go over now and showing some yellowing of leaves.

The most productive so far have been Alicante, Sweet Million and the Tigerellas.

Lima Korai and Green Sausage were sown last of all and have only begun setting fruit. Both are looking very healthy at this stage but we'll see what effect the cooler weather of late has on them in the coming weeks.

I'm also growing Pink Brandywines in the polytunnel and they doing OK with a fair number of fruits. I've watered them copiously and diligently twice daily but they're beginning to suffer a little from the outbreak of red spider mite in there. It's been a bad year for red spider mite in my polytunnel this year. I've never had it in any of my greenhouses or polytunnels before, but it's been unusually hot over here this year, a record year!

[travis]

Most of my plants are way past prime. Several (over 60) have been yanked out and others went down to various grunge attacks.

I have a dozen or so left. Among them the best are:

Wisconsin 55 Yellow: Completely rejuvenated, growing new foliage like crazy and setting huge amounts of little greenies and ripening a few.

Ramapo F4: Even more vigorously growing new foliage and setting new fruit. This tomato won't quit.

Yasenichki Yabuchar: Never missed a beat through the heat and rain and hell and high water, and still stretchin' out new growing tips in all directions covered with flowers.

Indian Stripe: Still very hale and hearty, lots of healthy foliage, but the fruit is getting smaller and smaller and fewer and fewer.

On the other hand:

Big Beef: Should've yanked this yellow-leafed, sunburnt shouldered bum two weeks ago, and this'll remind me to give'm a Labor Day memorial ceremony. Nothin' but a worm farm for the past month.

Earl's Faux: Still tryin' but slowly dyin', bless its pea pickin' heart.

Brandy Boy F3: Finally turnin' yellow and reducing itself to only producing catfaces.

Yellow Brandywine: A waste of good sunlight and dirt. One got yanked today, the other'll get jerked tomorrow.

Black Brandywine: Don't bother. It will survive the worst neglect and continue to make foliage, but who cares.

PV

[twinks]

Originally Posted by Papa Vic

Black Brandywine: Don't bother. It will survive the worst neglect and continue to make foliage, but who cares.

This made me chuckle. I grew this variety some years ago and felt exactly the same - all leaf and few fruit, VERY few fruit. Never again.

[PaulF]

This year's outstanding plant has been my single Cuostralee. So far the 91/2 foot tall, vigorous, beautiful foliaged from bottom to top dark green monster has given up 38 lbs of great tasting tomatoes averaging 18 oz. per tomato. There are still 6 tomatoes within a week of ripening and several more on the vine and 10 or so blossoms.

[shelleybean]

The only healthy plant I have left is Neves Azorean Red. I lost most of the others to TSWV earlier in the season. This NAR is over nine feet tall and it blew down during Ernesto yesterday but we propped it back up again. Looks like it'll be fine.

[MtnMaters]

Nicholaevna Pink, or whatever this pink PL is that was sold to me as NP. It has been the only variety that is giving me a full 2nd flush. I have two in particular that are in full-blown production again. The only other plants that come close to keeping up are 2 Milka's Red Bulgarian, but their 2nd production is of much smaller fruit than the first, where there will surely be some 1+# come from the NP's 2nd.

This year has been dismal for me,due to the weather, disease, and my own experimentation with others' methods that simply will not work for me, so I have had bad luck with more than a few of my proven producers. My BWSS, Hillbilly, GW et al just didn't put out this year, when I'm accustomed to getting gollywappers from their vines. New ones Lucky X (from Victory,5 plants.... nothing!), BTD, Mexico (also from victory, all PL and I think Mex is supposed to be RL) all just kinda spun their wheels.

Others that did well were Yasenichki Yabuchar and NAR, but they're toast now, except for one NAR in a container that'll get a few more off before frost. YY and NAR both produced my prettiest fruits this year, just flawless!

Then there was the 2+# Old KY in a surrogate garden from seeds that Gary Millwood sent that no one was expecting that needs some sort of mention!

[jwr6404]

Got my first ripe Polish Tomatos today and it was worth the wait. Mrs and I were curious as to why a large beautiful healthy plant was not producing ripe tomatos. We still have a Cherokee Purple that has lots of green fruit. Maybe this current warm spell will provide some color.

[GreenThumbGal_07]

Healthiest plants, overall (and that's not saying much in my blight-stricken yard):

Not Russian 117 (not red but bicolor, maybe Burracker's Favorite?) Lots of fruit on it.
Jefferson Giant (few fruit, but plant is in good shape)
Andes
County Agent
Ernesto

The last three are really late, no ripe fruit yet, except for County Agent, which I just picked today.

GTG

[tjg911]

the question should be which is the worst! it seems to be a 10 way race to self destruction.

thanks to the 30+ mph winds from the hurricane yesterday all my tall plants that were above the crw cages have been pushed over at the top of the cage. what a mess.

aunt gertie's gold, sun gold, dr. lyle, neves azorean red and earl's faux are the healthiest re foliage. prue and dr. lyle win for the best production.

tom

[Little_Rhody]

My healthiest plants are Coyote. They have toppled over an 8 foot teepee and the foliage shows no disease at all!

[keithaxis]

my healthiest with a good month to go are:

Aunt Ruby's German Green (finally seeing a slight pinkish blush over some of the yellow/green on this 7 foot still realy healthy plant)
Brandywine Suddath (next healthies of the 30 varieties with at least 30 fruit in the 3/4 lb plus range and man when they startu to blush pink they turn complete within two days...
Brandywine Yellow..same as above..just lush and beatiful around 7feet hight with lots of fruit..one yesterday was a 1pound 6 ouncer...

All my blacks (paul robeson, black krim, black from tula, black prince) are all looking real poor as far as health but still producing wonderful maters..

My worst this year for health has been Caspian Pink and German Johnson...

[betsylt]

My healthiest and hardiest plant hands-down is Beauty King (from Feraltomatoes). BK has branched into numerous other cages, and it's duking it out with Pork Chop in PC's cage and trying to get going in Berkeley Tie Dye's cage, too.

BK has a bunch of set fruit (not yet ripe) and has oads of blossoms. Some of my other varieties are pretty happy, but BK wins for hardiness this season. Can't wait to taste the fruit -- loved the flavor at NORCATT.

[cecilsgarden1958]

Well, my "healthiest" plants are probably Rostova, but I have only got 1 fruit from 4 plants so far.

BTW: Rostova, not the best heirloom for flavor.

CECIL

[Fert1]

My healthiest plants by far are my cherry tomatoes. Of my non-cherry varieties, the plants that are still alive are Earl's Faux, Cherokee Purple and Mortgage Lifter. I can't say they are doing all that well, just still alive. Mortgage Lifter looked like it was succumbing to Early Blight, (as did everything else), but then it started pulling out of it, and trying to have a second wind. It's even setting fruit again. Cherokee Purple and Earl's Faux are no longer trying to produce fruit from what I can tell. Earl's Faux probably has the healthiest looking leaves of the lot.

Varieties that have died:
Silvery Fir Tree
Black from Tula
Azoychka
Sioux
Rose
Early Wonder