Better boy - Page 2

ScottinAtlanta · May 6, 2014

My grandmother is 95 and Better Boy is all she wants me to grow, every year.

**carolyn137** · May 6, 2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by Durgan

It is so well known that there is nothing but hype on the WWW. One out of focus picture. Get real.

OK Durgan, enough is enough as I see it.

You challenged the claim, it was confirmed as being true and you were given a link to Wilber's book where many other pictures are given.

I'm not one who goes for any kind of competitions, but I too have known his name for a very long time in different contexts.

https://www.google.com/#q=charles+wilber+tomatoes

You might want to read some of the links about him in the above google link.

Now let's get back to the original topic, please,

Carolyn

mrdoitall · May 6, 2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by amideutch

You might want to check out Carolyn's Book. I consider it a must read for Tomato Addicts.

http://www.amazon.com/Smith-Hawken-H...s=carolyn+male

Ami

I have her book... I have read it many times...Her book is what got me started in Heirloom and open pollinated Tomatoes... Now I have over 1500 varieties.

HI... I'm mrdoitall I'm a tomato-holic...

ScottinAtlanta · May 6, 2014

Wilber is the one who used kudzu compost, which I am tried last year and am using the results in my garden this year. Beautiful use of a plant that otherwise would be nothing but a pest.

amideutch · May 6, 2014

Hey Jurgen, are these pictures a little better. I see you have been taking your jerk pills again. Maybe you ought to read the book, you might learn something.

Ami

Stvrob · May 6, 2014

Those are just red balloons tied to the plant to look like tomatoes from a distance. Oldest trick in the garden playbook🎈

Durgan · May 6, 2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by carolyn137

OK Durgan, enough is enough as I see it.

You challenged the claim, it was confirmed as being true and you were given a link to Wilber's book where many other pictures are given.

I'm not one who goes for any kind of competitions, but I too have known his name for a very long time in different contexts.

https://www.google.com/#q=charles+wilber+tomatoes

You might want to read some of the links about him in the above google link.

Now let's get back to the original topic, please,

Carolyn

Shake thy head. I already pursued the many nebulous links prior to posting. Maybe thou should do the same. Nothing has been proven by those two phoney so called photos.
A proof is a proof. What kind of a proof? It's a proof. A proof is a proof, and when you have a good proof, it's because it's proven.”

By Jean Chrétien

A proof is a proof. What kind of a proof? It's a proof. A proof is a proof. And when you have a good proof, it's because it's proven.
Jean Chretien

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/qu...086P0lUCejR.99

A proof is a proof. What kind of a proof? It's a proof. A proof is a proof. And when you have a good proof, it's because it's proven.
Jean Chretien

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/qu...086P0lUCejR.99

A proof is a proof. What kind of a proof? It's a proof. A proof is a proof. And when you have a good proof, it's because it's proven.
Jean Chretien

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/qu...086P0lUCejR.99

**carolyn137** · May 6, 2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by Durgan

Shake thy head. I already pursued the many nebulous links prior to posting. Maybe thou should do the same. Nothing has been proven by those two phoney so called photos.
A proof is a proof. What kind of a proof? It's a proof. A proof is a proof, and when you have a good proof, it's because it's proven.”

By Jean Chrétien

A proof is a proof. What kind of a proof? It's a proof. A proof is a proof. And when you have a good proof, it's because it's proven.
Jean Chretien

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/qu...086P0lUCejR.99

A proof is a proof. What kind of a proof? It's a proof. A proof is a proof. And when you have a good proof, it's because it's proven.
Jean Chretien

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/qu...086P0lUCejR.99

A proof is a proof. What kind of a proof? It's a proof. A proof is a proof. And when you have a good proof, it's because it's proven.
Jean Chretien

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/qu...086P0lUCejR.99

Durgan, after I posted the Google links Ami posted some VERY clear pictures showing Wilbur on a ladder with his tomatoes and vines.

No doctored picture, nothing like that at all.

I'm losing my patience with your posts, so please humor me by not posting anything more about Better Boy F1 and Wilbur's G world record, since to receive that World Recod the good folks at G ( I can't spell it), have to CONFIRM it.

Surely you are aware of that.

So I'm giving you fair warning to cease and desist, or else you might force me to do something more drastic.

Thanks in advance for your understanding and complying with my request.

Carolyn

**mdvpc** · May 6, 2014

Durgan-I second Carolyn's warning to you.

**Tom Wagner** · May 7, 2014

Durgen questions many assertions...sigh....to each his own! He questions the photos in a way that seem a bit harsh. Let's see...when were these photos taken?

Quote:

March 17, 2002 “They (the Guinness Record folks) used a photo of my Better Boy (tomatoes) as the cover for the 1987 hardback edition,” explains Wilber, a former marina owner and operator. “Four plants produced 1,368 pounds of tomatoes—that’s an average of 342 pounds a plant.” He cracks a hint of a smile.

Charles Wilber was 87 in 2002 when this quote was made. That would make him near 100 if he is still alive....sorry I googled but could not find an obit for him.

So that means someone took a photo or several...who knows?...but cameras a quarter a century ago were not as good as today. I lament that the photos I took then are poor quality today by comparison.

I have pictures of one of my potato varieties that grew 12 ft wide near Bakersfield, CA but the pictures likewise are awful, since they were from so many years ago and my camera was pitiful. I thought I lost that variety but was informed this week that a colleague was going to clean up a chance collection of that variety in Wisconsin.

Pointing out that exceptions to the rule exist in the plant world but constantly doubting the veracity of observations done by countless numbers of folks does no good.

I transplanted a wild species today ...pennellii..LA0716 that has been used to cross to standard varieties like VF36 to create day length insensitive hybrids that are known to live for years. If a Better Boy was to be grafted onto such a root stock and allowed to grow for a long season, in a greenhouse, or the tropics.....it might even break the record of Wilber's if tried in various soil environments!

BTW...while I am talking about the exceptional....I transplanted potato plants started from TPS last November and are on tomato root stocks and are growing like weeds in a raised bed with the third batch of tubers forming. I will tie these vines up during the season since I know they will grow tall. Treating these potatoes like perennials based on the indeterminate potato vine types coupled with the long lasting tomato roots should be interesting. I am planting the first batch of tubers from these grafts later this week since they have been breaking dormancy. The tubers I harvested last week will be stored til August. The new tubers will be taken off in a couple of months and more again in October.

I was interviewed today by the editor of the Herald Business Journal here in Everett and explained the potato grafts to him. Hope he takes photos when he visits my plots.

When I give talks about grafted tomatoes using my varieties such as Helsing ★★★★★★★★ Blue in Portland on the 17th and locally on the 31st...I will challenge my audience to grow this variety to beat Wilber's record for height.

I did not intend to get off the topic about Better Boy so sharply...I just wanted to offer Durgen my two cents.

Stvrob · May 10, 2014

I for one admire Durgan's skepticism. I think most of us have been way over-conditioned to do and think what we are told that we react with fear or anger when we are confronted with a skeptical viewpoint.

**carolyn137** · May 10, 2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stvrob

I for one admire Durgan's skepticism. I think most of us have been way over-conditioned to do and think what we are told that we react with fear or anger when we are confronted with a skeptical viewpoint.

It's certainly fine to be skeptical about many issues, but in this specific instance, the factual data about Charles Wilbur is overwhelming.

I can only speak for myself, but when confronted with skeptism I research the issue and give links, or whatever, and when I disagree with someones viewpoint I don't become angry and don't lash out at all.Absolutely nothing is positive about answering with fear and anger.

And I've seen my share of these issues since reading/posting online at many message sites since about 1982.

Carolyn

snippits · May 10, 2014

Better Boys and Big Boys are really popular here in NC. While I have grown lots and lots of Better Boys, I have never grown any Big Boys. I had one Super Fantastic plant that was not doing good, so I bought a Big Boy to replace it.

I know the Big Boy was bred first, so what is the major difference between a Big Boy and Better Boy?

travis · May 10, 2014

Before I got into heirloom types (in 2005), all I grew for years was Big Boy, Better Boy, Rutgers, and Jubilee. And I only started growing Big Beef in 2004. And I tried out Jet Star for a few years between 2004 and 2008, but moved on to other things as time when along.

I have to say, Big Beef is superior to Better Boy, but Better Boy was a fantastic variety for many years in my small gardens in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Indiana. Yes, I loved Big Boy, and grew it for many more years before Better Boy. But Better Boy has superior disease resistance and produced more fruit for me than Big Boy.

I no longer grow any of those mentioned in the first paragraph, but a few of the custom lines I continue to develop have one or more of those old reliables in their pedigree.

OldHondaNut · May 10, 2014

I can't tell much difference between Better Boy and Big Boy but I usually plant Better Boy. Have not tested Big Beef but have heard good things.

Like other here, I like the Better Boys taste and get 20 - 45 pounds per plant. Can't say any other that I have found to produce like that in my garden.

Most of my Better Boys fall in the 12-14 ounce range but an occasional 1 pounder shows up too.

May 6, 2014	#24
mdvpc Tomatoville® Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 4,386	Durgan-I second Carolyn's warning to you. __________________ Michael

May 6, 2014	#16
ScottinAtlanta Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Atlanta, Georgia Posts: 2,593	My grandmother is 95 and Better Boy is all she wants me to grow, every year.

May 6, 2014	#21
Stvrob Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Jacksonville, FL Posts: 1,413	Those are just red balloons tied to the plant to look like tomatoes from a distance. Oldest trick in the garden playbook🎈

May 10, 2014	#26
Stvrob Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Jacksonville, FL Posts: 1,413	I for one admire Durgan's skepticism. I think most of us have been way over-conditioned to do and think what we are told that we react with fear or anger when we are confronted with a skeptical viewpoint.

May 10, 2014	#28
snippits Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: NC Posts: 77	Better Boys and Big Boys are really popular here in NC. While I have grown lots and lots of Better Boys, I have never grown any Big Boys. I had one Super Fantastic plant that was not doing good, so I bought a Big Boy to replace it. I know the Big Boy was bred first, so what is the major difference between a Big Boy and Better Boy?

May 10, 2014	#29
travis Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Evansville, IN Posts: 2,984	Before I got into heirloom types (in 2005), all I grew for years was Big Boy, Better Boy, Rutgers, and Jubilee. And I only started growing Big Beef in 2004. And I tried out Jet Star for a few years between 2004 and 2008, but moved on to other things as time when along. I have to say, Big Beef is superior to Better Boy, but Better Boy was a fantastic variety for many years in my small gardens in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Indiana. Yes, I loved Big Boy, and grew it for many more years before Better Boy. But Better Boy has superior disease resistance and produced more fruit for me than Big Boy. I no longer grow any of those mentioned in the first paragraph, but a few of the custom lines I continue to develop have one or more of those old reliables in their pedigree.

May 10, 2014	#30
OldHondaNut Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Zone 8a Posts: 120	I can't tell much difference between Better Boy and Big Boy but I usually plant Better Boy. Have not tested Big Beef but have heard good things. Like other here, I like the Better Boys taste and get 20 - 45 pounds per plant. Can't say any other that I have found to produce like that in my garden. Most of my Better Boys fall in the 12-14 ounce range but an occasional 1 pounder shows up too.