Lemon Boy hybrid!

January 8, 2015

About twenty percent of my spring planted, open pollinated tomato plants; normally die in the 100 degree plus heat of mid to late summer. Most years, I have new plants either germinated or grown from suckers ready to plant in replacement of the dead plants for my fall garden. This year, I purchased my replacement plants from my local farm store concentrating on supposedly heat resistant varieties. I also purchased a couple of plants of Lemon Boy hybrid with no knowledge of the variety. I assumed it was a new variety so I looked it up on the internet. It is in fact a fairly old hybrid variety with no indicated heat resistance. Most folks who posted reviews of Lemon Boy seemed to have a mostly unimpressed opinion about it's taste.

When I planted Lemon Boy in the high summer heat at the same time I planted six or seven "heat resistant" varieties, it started growing well in a few days. Most of the others died in the heat within a couple of weeks. Lemon Boy grew and bloomed well in the heat. By fall, both Lemon Boy plants were loaded with green tomatoes. When cooler weather arrived, the tomatoes started ripening slowly. Before our first frost of fall arrived, I harvested all of my larger green tomatoes from all of my plants with about fifty pounds of green tomatoes stored for the winter.

The green tomatoes ripened slowly from mid November until Christmas. We ate our last tomato on Jan 1 and it was a Lemon Boy. I thought the taste was very good, production was very good, and heat as well as disease resistance was great.

I have Lemon Boy germinating for my 2015 spring garden. Spring planted and fall planted tomato plants of the same variety, usually perform differently in my garden. Tomatoes grown usually appear and taste different between spring and fall. Lemon Boy may not perform as well in my spring garden as it did in my fall garden.

Ted

Worth1 · January 8, 2015

It's been around for years I think my parents even grew it.
Another good one is jubilee.
At least it is for me.
Jubilee is an old school open pollinated tomato that is orange if you didn't know
Worth

Cole_Robbie · January 8, 2015

I grew a Lemon Boy next to a Sunny Boy in the high tunnel last year, and I couldn't really tell them apart. Sunny Boy is supposed to be determinate, but I was picking fruit off of it until the end of the season.

Taxi is my favorite yellow. I don't know how it would do in Texas, though.

Dutch · January 8, 2015

I agree with you on Lemon Boy Ted. It’s got great vigor and the taste is pretty good too. It tastes more like a real tomato then most grocery store tomatoes do. The other two yellows I like are Lemmony (aka Limmony) and Dr. Wyche’s Yellow. I give Lemmony the node on best taste (I like its unique citrus taste) and Lemon Boy gets the node on the most productive and hardy plant.
Dutch

Dutch · January 8, 2015

I agree with you on Jubilee Worth. The original “Burpee's Jubilee” was a great productive tomato. I have grown out seeds from many venders and have found that the ones from Victory Seed http://www.victoryseeds.com/tomato_jubilee.html seem to be the same tomato that we grew on my parent’s farm many years ago. I disagree with Victory Seed’s assessment that it is “not acidic”. I judge it as fairly well balanced. It just doesn’t have “the nose’ or smell of an acidic tomato.
Dutch

Sun City Linda · January 8, 2015

I have seed for Lemon Boy but have never grown it. Of course since joining TVille several years ago I think I now have seed for a large percentage of the known tomato varities

Craig L speaks well of it in his new book Epic Tomatoes. I guess maybe I'll have to grow it this year, I have some heat here now and again......

AlittleSalt · January 8, 2015

When I first saw this thread title, I though I have Lemon Boy seeds, but it's Lemon Drop that I have. I do have Jubilee and Golden Jubilee. I'm thinking they might be the same thing?

Dutch · January 8, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

When I first saw this thread title, I though I have Lemon Boy seeds, but it's Lemon Drop that I have. I do have Jubilee and Golden Jubilee. I'm thinking they might be the same thing?

There are a bunch of different tomatoes labeled as Jubilee and Golden Jubilee. Golden Queen is another one that is that varies greatly.
Dutch

loudog · January 8, 2015

I've grown Lemon Boy for the last 10 years, it is one of just a few hybrids I grow, always productive and has good flavor. The 2 plants last year each produced a little over 100 toms each. Louie

JamesL · January 8, 2015

Never grown this one but glad to see you posting Ted!

tam91 · January 9, 2015

I like Lemon Boy actually. It is an nice contrast on a mixed plate of tomatoes. Glad you reminded me, maybe I'll grow it again this year.

jerryinfla · January 9, 2015

I've grown Lemon Boy for the past few years and it will continue to be a standard for me. Like others have said it tastes good and produces well. It also withstands Florida heat until it gets really hot and it is nematode resistant.

Salsacharley · January 9, 2015

Most farmers market vendors here in Albuquerque sell Lemon Boy as their yellow tomato. It is to the tomato market like the old Chevy was to the car market; common, but good and reliable. I don't grow it in order to separate my tomatoes from the crowd. I grow Pork Chop, Blonde Boar, and I'm adding Dwarf Sweet Sue, Spot Yellow and Yellow Furry Boar this year for my yellow varieties.

Ed of Somis · January 9, 2015

An interesting side-note to me is listening to you gardeners tell of your unique challenges. Michigan short growing season, Texas heat, Florida humidity...it just proves to me how much we love this sport! haha I am considering "Lemon Boy" or "Lucky Cross" as my yellow. Any suggestions???

Cole_Robbie · January 9, 2015

Lucky Cross is a bicolor. Mine looked like this: http://i.imgur.com/CwM6tb7.jpg

I think Lucky Cross is sweeter, softer, and prettier than Lemon Boy. But it does not produce as many tomatoes. Lucky Cross is half Brandywine, and I like almost all the Brandywines. I am trying the Platfoot strain of Yellow Brandywine as my late summer yellow heirloom of choice this year. Last year I had Dy Wyche's, Cherokee Lemon, and Nebraska Wedding, which was more orange than yellow.

January 8, 2015	#1
tedln Guest Posts: n/a	Lemon Boy hybrid! About twenty percent of my spring planted, open pollinated tomato plants; normally die in the 100 degree plus heat of mid to late summer. Most years, I have new plants either germinated or grown from suckers ready to plant in replacement of the dead plants for my fall garden. This year, I purchased my replacement plants from my local farm store concentrating on supposedly heat resistant varieties. I also purchased a couple of plants of Lemon Boy hybrid with no knowledge of the variety. I assumed it was a new variety so I looked it up on the internet. It is in fact a fairly old hybrid variety with no indicated heat resistance. Most folks who posted reviews of Lemon Boy seemed to have a mostly unimpressed opinion about it's taste. When I planted Lemon Boy in the high summer heat at the same time I planted six or seven "heat resistant" varieties, it started growing well in a few days. Most of the others died in the heat within a couple of weeks. Lemon Boy grew and bloomed well in the heat. By fall, both Lemon Boy plants were loaded with green tomatoes. When cooler weather arrived, the tomatoes started ripening slowly. Before our first frost of fall arrived, I harvested all of my larger green tomatoes from all of my plants with about fifty pounds of green tomatoes stored for the winter. The green tomatoes ripened slowly from mid November until Christmas. We ate our last tomato on Jan 1 and it was a Lemon Boy. I thought the taste was very good, production was very good, and heat as well as disease resistance was great. I have Lemon Boy germinating for my 2015 spring garden. Spring planted and fall planted tomato plants of the same variety, usually perform differently in my garden. Tomatoes grown usually appear and taste different between spring and fall. Lemon Boy may not perform as well in my spring garden as it did in my fall garden. Ted Last edited by tedln; January 8, 2015 at 02:08 PM.

January 8, 2015	#4
Dutch Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: S.E. Wisconsin Zone 5b Posts: 1,831	I agree with you on Lemon Boy Ted. It’s got great vigor and the taste is pretty good too. It tastes more like a real tomato then most grocery store tomatoes do. The other two yellows I like are Lemmony (aka Limmony) and Dr. Wyche’s Yellow. I give Lemmony the node on best taste (I like its unique citrus taste) and Lemon Boy gets the node on the most productive and hardy plant. Dutch __________________ "Discretion is the better part of valor" Charles Churchill The intuitive mind is a gift, and the rational mind is a faithful servant. But we have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift. (paraphrased) Albert Einstein I come from a long line of sod busters, spanning back several centuries.

January 8, 2015	#5
Dutch Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: S.E. Wisconsin Zone 5b Posts: 1,831	I agree with you on Jubilee Worth. The original “Burpee's Jubilee” was a great productive tomato. I have grown out seeds from many venders and have found that the ones from Victory Seed http://www.victoryseeds.com/tomato_jubilee.html seem to be the same tomato that we grew on my parent’s farm many years ago. I disagree with Victory Seed’s assessment that it is “not acidic”. I judge it as fairly well balanced. It just doesn’t have “the nose’ or smell of an acidic tomato. Dutch __________________ "Discretion is the better part of valor" Charles Churchill The intuitive mind is a gift, and the rational mind is a faithful servant. But we have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift. (paraphrased) Albert Einstein I come from a long line of sod busters, spanning back several centuries.

January 9, 2015	#11
tam91 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Crystal Lake IL Posts: 2,484	I like Lemon Boy actually. It is an nice contrast on a mixed plate of tomatoes. Glad you reminded me, maybe I'll grow it again this year. __________________ Tracy

January 9, 2015	#12
jerryinfla Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Central Florida Posts: 377	I've grown Lemon Boy for the past few years and it will continue to be a standard for me. Like others have said it tastes good and produces well. It also withstands Florida heat until it gets really hot and it is nematode resistant. __________________ Jerry - You only get old if you're lucky.

January 8, 2015	#2
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	It's been around for years I think my parents even grew it. Another good one is jubilee. At least it is for me. Jubilee is an old school open pollinated tomato that is orange if you didn't know Worth

January 8, 2015	#3
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	I grew a Lemon Boy next to a Sunny Boy in the high tunnel last year, and I couldn't really tell them apart. Sunny Boy is supposed to be determinate, but I was picking fruit off of it until the end of the season. Taxi is my favorite yellow. I don't know how it would do in Texas, though.

January 8, 2015	#6
Sun City Linda Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: SoCal Inland Posts: 2,705	I have seed for Lemon Boy but have never grown it. Of course since joining TVille several years ago I think I now have seed for a large percentage of the known tomato varities Craig L speaks well of it in his new book Epic Tomatoes. I guess maybe I'll have to grow it this year, I have some heat here now and again......

January 8, 2015	#7
AlittleSalt BANNED FOR LIFE Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 13,333	When I first saw this thread title, I though I have Lemon Boy seeds, but it's Lemon Drop that I have. I do have Jubilee and Golden Jubilee. I'm thinking they might be the same thing?

January 8, 2015	#9
loudog Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: west central ohio Posts: 172	I've grown Lemon Boy for the last 10 years, it is one of just a few hybrids I grow, always productive and has good flavor. The 2 plants last year each produced a little over 100 toms each. Louie

January 8, 2015	#10
JamesL Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Long Island NY Posts: 1,992	Never grown this one but glad to see you posting Ted!

January 9, 2015	#13
Salsacharley Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: New Mexico Posts: 2,052	Most farmers market vendors here in Albuquerque sell Lemon Boy as their yellow tomato. It is to the tomato market like the old Chevy was to the car market; common, but good and reliable. I don't grow it in order to separate my tomatoes from the crowd. I grow Pork Chop, Blonde Boar, and I'm adding Dwarf Sweet Sue, Spot Yellow and Yellow Furry Boar this year for my yellow varieties.

January 9, 2015	#14
Ed of Somis Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Somis, Ca Posts: 649	An interesting side-note to me is listening to you gardeners tell of your unique challenges. Michigan short growing season, Texas heat, Florida humidity...it just proves to me how much we love this sport! haha I am considering "Lemon Boy" or "Lucky Cross" as my yellow. Any suggestions???