Toms from a German Balcony 2017

[bschaerger]

Hello all,

long time lurker, but as I enjoy your tomato pictures so much, I decided to try this myself. Bear with me if this doesn't work. Pics taken by phone camera, so please excuse quality.

Let's start with Boar's Hoof:

http://tomatoville.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1503406122
http://tomatoville.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1503406122

Medium size plant, grown in a small pot (10l - whatever that is in gallons) on three stems
Loads of smallish fruit
Mediocre taste, not sweet
Seed source: Hahm-Hartmann
Was supposed to be tolerant of Fulvia, but is not
Will not come again

Best, Baba

[bschaerger]

Esmeralda Golosina

http://tomatoville.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1503406525
http://tomatoville.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1503406525

Huge plant grown in a 10l-pot with 3 stems and did not have the best spot
Large internodes, but maybe due to the lack of sun
Loads of small fruit
Nice and sweet with a tang, which I like
Seed source: Charline from France
Didn't do badly with fulvia
Can come again though I prefer beefsteaks

Best, Baba

[bschaerger]

Lithium Sunset

http://tomatoville.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1503406982
http://tomatoville.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1503406982

Medium size plant in 10l pot on three leads
Good harvest
Gorgeous looking fruit
Nice fruity taste - probably the best bicolour so far
Seems to be a bit sensitive, but held through
Seed source: Charline from France

Best, Baba

[bschaerger]

Malakhitovaya Shkatulka

http://tomatoville.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1503407502
http://tomatoville.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1503407502

This is the best! I had two plants of this Russian Lady and next year I'll have three... And after a suspicious look at the bright green, everyone who's had a taste agrees.

Big plant grown in biggish pot (20l) on three stems - prime location for these
Loads of big, juicy beefsteaks and early to boot
Sweet taste of melons
By now plants are succumbing to disease, but then my harvest is almost over
Seed source: Hahm-Hartmann
Will do again and more

Best, Baba

[bschaerger]

Orange Strawberry

http://tomatoville.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1503409626
http://tomatoville.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1503409626

Normal high plant grown in 10l pot on two stems
Good amount of ruffled boat-shaped fruit in varying size
Has to be very ripe and of deep orange colour to taste good
Seed source: Hahm-Hartmann
Ok, but I'm not crazy about this

Best, Baba

[bschaerger]

Pink Berkeley Tie Dye

http://tomatoville.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1503410000
http://tomatoville.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1503410000

One of my favourites!

Medium height plant grown in a 10l pot on 3 stems
Medium amount of medium-sized fruit
Very sensible plant
Fantastic tangy taste!!!
Seed source: Hahm-Hartmann
Will come again, maybe two plants as I could eat many more of these

Best, Baba

[ReginaAnn]

Nicely done Baba! Thank you for sharing your balcony with us

[MissS]

Baba, I am so glad that you decided to share your balcony tomatoes with us. This is a lovely thread. Your fruits are beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

[GrowingCoastal]

Yes, thanks for sharing the pictures and for your descriptions of how they taste. Lovely!

Great pics and summaries; this is what we come here for, right? PBTD is on my grow list.

Great job!

[nancyruhl]

Thanks for sharing. Do so love to look at other's pictures. I have grown several of the varieties you have mentioned. Please consider some of our dwarf releases. There are so many now that you can pretty much get any color, flavor, stripe, bicolor, etc in them and they are so well behaved in containers. We are still working on cherries, though, as well as some other novelties.

[bschaerger]

Well, first of all many thanks for all the compliments. Good to hear that you enjoy the pics. My balcony is fairly large (as balconies go) and there are more....

@Nancy: I did try a dwarf at first, together with some bushes, but I discovered that I have not so much a height problem (3 meters, about 10 feet), but a surface problem. Also the dwarf I had (Rosella Purple) was very late and the taste didn't blow me away... But I really do need two or three plants which don't grow too high, so I should maybe reconsider.

So for the next: Coeur de Boeuf Sweetheart

http://tomatoville.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1503466881
http://tomatoville.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1503466881

Sorry for the picture of the mishapen fruit, but I gobbled up the first (huge) one before taking pics and seeds

normal high plant grown in a 10l-pot on one stem (I broke off the other)
a bit late for me, but earlier for my neighbour who has less sun (go figure)
fair amount of light red / pink hearts with a wonderful taste
seed source: Hahm-Hartmann
will be gown again

Best, Baba

[bschaerger]

Reinhard Kraft bred this variety, together with a green and a chocolate heart and as Manfred Hahm-Hartmann sells seeds for almost all the Kraft varieties, I ordered these to try.

http://tomatoville.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1503467443
http://tomatoville.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1503467443

normal high plant grown in a 10l-pot on two or three stems, I forgot.
good amount of purple hearts of varying size and not too late
the cut-up fruit makes everyone want to try this one, but taste leaves to be desired:
You expect a much deeper aroma with that colour
seed source: Hahm-Hartmann
probably not again - I might try Reinhard's Green Heart instead

Best, Baba

[bschaerger]

I often buy this Sicilian variety (for a fortune) in spring, but I usually have to order it online. So I tried to find seeds, which seems to be difficult as there are Merinda, Marinda, Mirinda and some say it's a hybrid and people don't agree to which is which. You usually buy these as green fruit and most people eat them green or just turning, but I prefer them fully ripe.

A first attempt with seeds from Hahm-Hartmann yielded small plum-shaped red tomatoes with no taste. This is my second attempt.

http://tomatoville.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1503468526
http://tomatoville.com/attachment.ph...1&d=1503468526

Huge plant grown in a 20l-pot on three stems
Very good amount of ribbed small beefsteaks for me - my neighbour grew in on one stem and had bigger fruit
Nice taste with a tang, but not as good as the ones from Sicily which I buy
Problems with clusters of tomatoes almost breaking off and then hanging down (I just leave them be and they ripen later) and with internal BER, also partly hollow
Seed source: exotic seeds
Probably won't grow again, sigh and fork out the money in spring

Best, Baba

[zipcode]

Nice pics. PBTD is one of my favourites too, but I think it is one of the most suited for containers, has always been my most healthy plant.
Where are you buying the Merinda tomatoes from? You can always get seeds from the tomato.