TSWV varieties, have you grown any on this list? Input please

[Gerardo]

Hello Tomatoville Brethren:

My troubles with TSWV (Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus) continue and I'm procuring some purported resistant varieties.

Most of these are determinates, and I've got no problem with that.

Questions:

1) Have you grown it?
2) Would you grow it again?
3) Is the flavor near the acceptable---->good range?
4) Was it resistant to TSWV?

Amelia
Beefmaster (*)
Bella Rosa (*)
BHN-602
Brenda
Fletcher
Mochomo
Mt. Glory
Mt. Majesty
Pamela
Picus
Sophya

If there are others you recommend, please point me in their direction.

Also, to you breeders out there, if you want a serious trial space for your TSWV-varieties my garden can provide it.

List compiled from this source: http://www.reimerseeds.com/Catalogs/1472.pdf



Many thanks in advance my tomatoville peeps.

[FourOaks]

I dont know how much help I will be, but I have grown some on your list. Full disclosure, I do not have TSWV issues, that I know of. I just grew them to find good tasting producers. This was several years ago, so my memory might be a little jaded.

From your list: Beefmaster, Bella Rosa, BHN-602, and Fletcher.

Out of the 4, I would consider growing Beefmaster and Bella Rosa again. If I recall, BHN and Fletcher were unremarkable. In my opinion, the BHN was akin to a grocery store tomato. Fletcher closer to a Celebrity or Jet Star.

I recall the Beefmasters being good sized, decently tasting tomatoes. Easily 1 pounders. I also recall that they made excellent fried green tomatoes. I distinctly remember that the Bella Rosa's produced gorgeous dark red tomatoes. Almost "shiny" and what I would call a picture perfect example of a round tomato, with just the slightest visible ribbed shoulders.

Between the 2, with no other choice, I would go Beefmaster.

[Gerardo]

Originally Posted by FourOaks

I dont know how much help I will be, but I have grown some on your list. Full disclosure, I do not have TSWV issues, that I know of. I just grew them to find good tasting producers. This was several years ago, so my memory might be a little jaded.

From your list: Beefmaster, Bella Rosa, BHN-602, and Fletcher.

Out of the 4, I would consider growing Beefmaster and Bella Rosa again. If I recall, BHN and Fletcher were unremarkable. In my opinion, the BHN was akin to a grocery store tomato. Fletcher closer to a Celebrity or Jet Star.

I recall the Beefmasters being good sized, decently tasting tomatoes. Easily 1 pounders. I also recall that they made excellent fried green tomatoes. I distinctly remember that the Bella Rosa's produced gorgeous dark red tomatoes. Almost "shiny" and what I would call a picture perfect example of a round tomato, with just the slightest visible ribbed shoulders.

Between the 2, with no other choice, I would go Beefmaster.

Thanks for the thorough reply FourOaks, it is much appreciated, and exactly the kind of input I'm looking for. Even if it wasn't put through the TSWV gauntlet in your neck of the woods, it will be here. Taste-fruit info from reliable sources is hard to come by. Beefmaster and Bella Rosa have slots in the late spring-early summer garden. Gracias!

[b54red]

I have issues with TSWV every year with various degrees of severity. Some years only a few tomatoes fall to it but most years between 10 to 20 percent of my tomato plants become infected with it. It seems to come in waves about 2 weeks after my seeing a lot of thrips on the plants. After the first bout there are usually smaller less severe outbreaks as the summer progresses and a few more plants are lost. I grow almost entirely heirlooms now and just live with the loses because I try to plant way more than we need each year as insurance against all the blights and pests that affect growing tomatoes down here.

However I did grow quite a few of the Bella Rosa for a while and it was an impressive determinate tomato plant producing large round beautiful tomatoes that had pretty good flavor for a hybrid of that type. It would compare favorably with Big Beef for its taste and the fruit was usually larger. I never had a Bella Rosa get TSWV in the years that I grew it so it must be somewhat resistant because most other tomato varieties I have grown have had at least one or two plants get TSWV.

Strangely enough I had two heirlooms actually survive after contracting TSWV and not only survive but go on to produce new decent fruits for several months. Usually small plants succumb to it in a few days or a week while large healthy plants can linger for a few weeks but usually without producing any new healthy fruits. The two heirlooms that survived and did pretty good in producing after getting TSWV were Wes and Brandywine Cowlick's. I no longer grow Wes because I am not fond of its taste and lack of juiciness but I grow multiples of Cowlick's every year. Now that I think about it I don't recall a Cowlick's dying of TSWV but I could be wrong because I don't keep a record of all the plants I lose to various maladies. That would turn gardening which is fun into a dreadful chore.

Bill

[barbamWY]

I am growing Mountain Majesty this year. I have not grown the others.
Barb

[Fusion_power]

I have Amelia, Bella Rosa, and Talladega in the greenhouse now and am selling plants. I have grown Amelia for about 8 years, Talladega about 5 years, and Bella Rosa 2 years. I have grown Sophya in years past. IMO, all of them are fairly decent for the type. Amelia is better in the Northeast. Bella Rosa has decent heat tolerance so is better in the Southeast. Talladega has done well in the Southeast and Midwest.

I generally recommend Bella Rosa for local growers here in Northwest Alabama who want determinate plants.

[OzoneNY]

Last year I grew Amelia, Bella Rosa, and Brenda in my experimental test raised bed.
I tried them because I seems to always have thrips. Anyway, the only one I would reconsider is Bella Rosa. Its taste was fair but that was about it but it was fairly productive and made a decent sauce tomato.

[Gerardo]

@b54red
Great input Bill. Like you, I'm a proponent of putting out a lot of plants to counter the expected losses. Despite control measures their waves are heavy, especially this time of the year.
Butcher's Bill hovers around 20% this spring, and I expect further losses in a few weeks.

I usually blow into blooms and the CO2 gets em to peek out.

Brandy Boy does well in this setting too.

Thanks for the reqs!

[Gerardo]

Originally Posted by barbamWY

I am growing Mountain Majesty this year. I have not grown the others.
Barb

I'll definitely try this one too. Thanks Barb

[Gerardo]

@fusionpower
Sounds like they're Strong horses in your stable. Amelia it is. I'll look into Talladega. Thanks for the write-up.

[Gerardo]

Originally Posted by OzoneNY

Last year I grew Amelia, Bella Rosa, and Brenda in my experimental test raised bed.
I tried them because I seems to always have thrips. Anyway, the only one I would reconsider is Bella Rosa. Its taste was fair but that was about it but it was fairly productive and made a decent sauce tomato.

Another vote for Bella Rosa, yeah! Thanks for the reqs OzoneNY.

[flyfiishn]

I've grown Beefmaster several times. Its overall a good pick. It makes an absolute tree trunk of a main stem. I suppose genetics to support weight of larger tomatoes but they are not monsters by any means. I did enjoy the flavor, production was average. We're pretty dry in Northern CA so not much virus pressure but I would say I saw no effects at all.

Its a pretty stout plant, does not get very tall. Grows wide.....

[Gerardo]

I ordered these 4 from SeedsnSuch

Skyway
Dixie Red
Mountain Merit
Bella Rossa

And during the next free shipping day from Park Seed I'll order Beefmaster (thanks for the review flyfiishn)