What Are Your Giant Varieties For This Season? ?

[PA_Julia]

Big Zac 5.32 from 2011
Brutus Magnum 6.25 Meisner from 2011

Church 3.208 DT from 2012

Delicious 6.51 Meisner from 2011
Mega Marv 5.51 Meisner from 2011

And of course...MINE Julia's 2.86 LB Big Zac from 2012.

What's your giant lineup for this season?

[efisakov]

Wow, Julia, you have quiet a collection. My biggest was 2 lb Black Pineapple last year, though I never grew tomatoes on purpose to be a giant. Can you post pictures?
Would like to see.

[PA_Julia]

Originally Posted by efisakov

Wow, Julia, you have quiet a collection. My biggest was 2 lb Black Pineapple last year, though I never grew tomatoes on purpose to be a giant. Can you post pictures?
Would like to see.

Well my friend these are the pedigreed seeds I've purchased to grow this year to the exception of my 2.86 pound Big Zac from last season pictured here;

[efisakov]

Julia, the tomato looks mighty big and still green, if it was to ripen a bit more... may be much bigger.
btw nice scale, where did you purchase it?

[b54red]

I am going to try Omar's Lebanese and Delicious this year. Omar's has made some 2 lbs but it always dies from fusarium before I get more than 2 or 3 tomatoes. Delicious has never made it long enough to set fruit. I have also gotten 2 lb toms from Donskoi, Gildo Pietroboni, and KBX. I'm hoping my grafting will work out so the more resistant rootstock will give some of these large tomatoes a chance to stay alive long enough to make some big ones.

[PA_Julia]

Originally Posted by b54red

I am going to try Omar's Lebanese and Delicious this year. Omar's has made some 2 lbs but it always dies from fusarium before I get more than 2 or 3 tomatoes. Delicious has never made it long enough to set fruit. I have also gotten 2 lb toms from Donskoi, Gildo Pietroboni, and KBX. I'm hoping my grafting will work out so the more resistant rootstock will give some of these large tomatoes a chance to stay alive long enough to make some big ones.

Omar's and Delicious are excellent choices!!!

[jwr6404]

Red
You might want to consider Rostova aka Sunset Red Horizon. It has produced well for me. Besides being productive I've gottn several 3lb+ and a few 4lb+ with no special effort on my part.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by jwr6404

Red
You might want to consider Rostova aka Sunset Red Horizon. It has produced well for me. Besides being productive I've gottn several 3lb+ and a few 4lb+ with no special effort on my part.

I grew it twice and never got anything even up to a pound. It could be the heat causing them to ripen too soon or it could have been the fusarium which stunts most plants early in their development.

I don't really grow for size but I do love having a few to show off each season. I like to weigh them and take a photo of them and then they usually get cut up and tossed in the sauce pot. I find anything over a pound to be kinda impractical for most uses; but they are fun to look at as they grow and mature.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by jwr6404

Red
You might want to consider Rostova aka Sunset Red Horizon. It has produced well for me. Besides being productive I've gottn several 3lb+ and a few 4lb+ with no special effort on my part.

The problem with the current Rostova is that it isn't the heart that's been sold for quite a few years now, When Gary Ibsen first got it from Nicky and I can't remember her name it was a wonderful big red beefsteak. But then it morphed into a heart and the folks that Gary got it from were going to try and get it back, but they went out of business before doing that.

Someone had sent me a commercial pack of seeds from the first two years when it was offered, I grew it out and got the large beefsteak it should have been,

And I sent the rest of the seeds in the pack to Linda at TGS and I never heard back if she was able to get them going or not.

Carolyn

[Fusion_power]

I've got Sunset Red Horizon that is a large beefsteak. I've grown it several years now.

As for large tomatoes, Carol Chyko paste threw some real lunkers last year. They were not paste tomatoes at all, just huge beefsteaks.

DarJones

[PA_Julia]

Originally Posted by efisakov

Julia, the tomato looks mighty big and still green, if it was to ripen a bit more... may be much bigger.
btw nice scale, where did you purchase it?

Actually the time to pick a tomato for it's weight is when it's just turning.
When you see the tomato in the very beginning stages of ripening you must remove it and store it in the refrigerator to retard the ripening process.

Once the tomato is ripe it actually weighs less than when it's in it's denser green stage.

The scale I purchased at Target for 30.00 on sale last year.
It goes up to 11 LBS. Can you imagine a tomato of that caliber??!?

[efisakov]

Originally Posted by PA_Julia

The scale I purchased at Target for 30.00 on sale last year.
It goes up to 11 LBS. Can you imagine a tomato of that caliber??!?

thanks, Julia
I am planning to grow Omar’s Lebanese as well and Red Barn.
Delicious died to fast last year. May be if i graft it... not sure, not this year...

[Douglas14]

Athough I don't grow for size, last season I took the biggest tomato I could find, from my garden, to a GPC event, where I also took my giant pumpkin. Mine took first place at 2.02 lbs. and I thought that was big LOL. Don't ask me what variety it was, as I mislabed it when I put it the garden.

[Deborah]

Oh, am I ever dreaming about one of these giants thickly sliced, on a plate and eaten with a knife and fork like a steak.

[WVTomatoMan]

@PA_Julia:
Big Zak and Aker's WV. Both are consistent producers of 2+ pound tomatoes. Aker's WV would not have been in the rotation this year, but I have to grow it for another reason.

Actually, now that I think about it I'm growing another variety that might produce a big one. It doesn't have a name yet and is still under development. I've inlcuded a couple of pictures. I'm holding one and his little brother is on the scales.

Good luck.

@b54red: I too have gotten 2+ lb. tomatoes from Omar's, but it isn't consistent. Some years it throws out some big ones, other years they are only decent sized (1.75 lbs.).

@Deborah: I too would like to have a big tomato right now. BTW, it's like I always say, it isn't that the tomato is too big, it's that the bread is too small. Seriously, I don't usually use the big ones for sandwiches. I try to match the tomato to the sandwich - big enough to cover the bread with just a little overhang. Like in one of the attached pictures.


Randy