Longkeeper type tomato

[Timbotide]

Just thinking about how nice it would be to have home
Grown maters during the winter and early spring.
Do you guys think it's worth the effort to plant one
Or two of the longkeeping types and if so what variety
Seems to taste best.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Timbotide

Just thinking about how nice it would be to have home
Grown maters during the winter and early spring.
Do you guys think it's worth the effort to plant one
Or two of the longkeeping types and if so what variety
Seems to taste best.

http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/C...eeper_Tomatoes

Above is a link to Tania's list of Longkeeper varieties that might help you make a decision along with suggestions that others might make.

The only reports that I've seen are for Zhirah in Tania's list , aka Giraffe in English, and Old Fashioned Garden Peach.

See what some others have to say for the varieties Tania lists but I don't think there is such a variety right now that tastes great, let alone very good, nor good, but maybe acceptable.

For Giraffe you'll note that the seeds were from Andrey to Earl Cadenhead who used to post here a lot, and I hope he's OK b'c I haven't seen him posting. Earl had sent me those as well but I never grew them out.

I think that's b'c of my experuience with the GMO variety Endless Summer:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...3/ai_17294707/

And not only did it taste awful, but it also lasted more than the 4 weeks quoted in the article as in several months on the counter with no evidence of softness or ripening, or rotting; it just sat there. So long sitting there that I ended up calling it:

summerspringwinterfall.

If you look at one of the Forums below, I can't remember which one right now my name is there for the last post, for rin and nor varieties, both non-ripening genes, you'll see that Mark is interested in breeding some good tasting ones.

[Wi-sunflower]

I had a variety several yeara ago called Red October. It was listed as a "storage" tomato like Long Keeper. But that was long enough ago that I didn't save seeds for it back then. I don't remember if it was any good either. I think it was offered by Totally Tomatoes but I don't think they still have it. It's possible someone here has it tho.

At the time I had a worker from the Ukraine and he thought the name might have meant it came from the old Soviet Union as "Red October" is a reference to the revolution back in 1918 (or whenever).

Carol

[gill_s]

If you can get Kumato seeds I would definitely recommend it as a very well performing tomato with regards to setting ability in cool and hot conditions, disease resistance(certainly against Bacterial Speck),appearance(blemish free globe), lack of BER,yield, flavour and keeping ability! As you can tell I am a fan! We are still eating fruits picked in October and those which were still very green are ripening nicely,with even better flavor it seems. I am sure they will still be going until Christmas. They are sold as being good at all stages of ripeness but I haven't tried them really green. I prefer them still quite firm as they have more of a tang together with the sweetness. They are reddish/bronze/green in colour, about 2" diameter. There is a good photo on Tatiana's Tomatobase. I bought my seed from Australia on e-bay. Apparently they are open pollinated. I have saved some seed but haven't yet tried growing them.
Another tomato I find has kept well is Jaune Flammee.
I once tried Burpee Longkeeper but never again. The flavour was worse than Supermarket tomatoes.
Gill

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Wi-sunflower

I had a variety several yeara ago called Red October. It was listed as a "storage" tomato like Long Keeper. But that was long enough ago that I didn't save seeds for it back then. I don't remember if it was any good either. I think it was offered by Totally Tomatoes but I don't think they still have it. It's possible someone here has it tho.

At the time I had a worker from the Ukraine and he thought the name might have meant it came from the old Soviet Union as "Red October" is a reference to the revolution back in 1918 (or whenever).

Carol

Carol many years ago Organic Gardening did an article on longkeepers and I do remember that Red October was one of them and I'm pretty sure that it was a Burpee introduction. And I always assumed it was called Red October b/c the fruits can hang on the vine until late in the Fall, like in October.

http://easybloom.com/plantlibrary/plant/tomato-67

I decided to Google it and sure enough my memory is still somewhat intact, it is a Burpee variety.

[carolyn137]

I bought my seed from Australia on e-bay. Apparently they are open pollinated. I have saved some seed but haven't yet tried growing them.
Another tomato I find has kept well is Jaune Flammee.
I once tried Burpee Longkeeper but never again. The flavour was worse than Supermarket tomatoes.
Gill

****

Gill, Kumato was bred by Syngenta in Europe and is a hybrid, not open pollinated. And the hype they put out for it was beyond the ridiculous in terms of tortoises in the Galapagos and that's where they got the so called black parent, and on and on.

They first introduced it as Kumato in both Australia and in England. Since no F1 seeds are sold folks were saving F2 seed and getting all sorts of plants/fruits from it and also taste variations.

There was a lot of talk about it quite a few years ago but I seldom see anyone talking about it much.

About three years ago Syngenta introduced Kumato F1 as Rosso Bruno in the US, same as Kumato, so also an F1.

I don't know that anyone has attempted to genetically stabilize either Rosso Bruno or Kumato to the open pollinated state.

[Wi-sunflower]

Yah, I didn't really think that Red October was a Russian variety. It was just my worker that glommed onto that name. He was an old retired ex-Soviet about 75 years old at the time.

I had to teach myself enough Russian to be able to communicate with him as his English was very limited at first. It was a riot at times with both of us walking around with Russian-English dictionaries.

Carol

[Timbotide]

I see that Burpee has Red October in stock. I may get a
Wild hair and order some.

[gill_s]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

I bought my seed from Australia on e-bay. Apparently they are open pollinated. I have saved some seed but haven't yet tried growing them.
Another tomato I find has kept well is Jaune Flammee.
I once tried Burpee Longkeeper but never again. The flavour was worse than Supermarket tomatoes.
Gill

****

Gill, Kumato was bred by Syngenta in Europe and is a hybrid, not open pollinated. And the hype they put out for it was beyond the ridiculous in terms of tortoises in the Galapagos and that's where they got the so called black parent, and on and on.

They first introduced it as Kumato in both Australia and in England. Since no F1 seeds are sold folks were saving F2 seed and getting all sorts of plants/fruits from it and also taste variations.

There was a lot of talk about it quite a few years ago but I seldom see anyone talking about it much.

About three years ago Syngenta introduced Kumato F1 as Rosso Bruno in the US, same as Kumato, so also an F1.

I don't know that anyone has attempted to genetically stabilize either Rosso Bruno or Kumato to the open pollinated state.

Thanks for the information, Carolyn. Sorry for delayed reply, but I have been away on holiday. It will be disappointing if the next generation of plants do not live up to this year's. I was told that they were open pollinated but we shouldn't always believe what vendors say!
Gill