Deciding the 2012 patch

[lurley]

I have grown all the brandymaster hybrids and they had good enough flavor and production for me to grow them again. My only issue is I mixed up the tags on the pink and red and didn't know which was which, and I needed to know because one was regular leaf. I emailed the company twice to request more info because the catalog lists all three as potato leaf, but some photos also showed regular leaf? I never got an answer to my questions wondering if the seed I had was wrong or if the catalog description/pictures were wrong, so while I will use up what I have, I won't order them again until I get an answer, if ever.

[tam91]

I wonder if Indian Stripeless Red is the same thing I have - what was supposed to be Indian Stripe, but was some sort of red.

[Worth1]

Tracy Google Indian Stripe tomato and look for the Dave's garden place.
There you can read what Suze has to say about the tomato.
Sometimes you get faint stripes sometimes you dont.
It is described as a dusky pink.
As far as I know there is no Indian Stripeless tomato.
Here is the link.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...DKrN7jnCgVmAqw

Worth

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Tracy Google Indian Stripe tomato and look for the Dave's garden place.
There you can read what Suze has to say about the tomato.
Sometimes you get faint stripes sometimes you dont.
It is described as a dusky pink.
As far as I know there is no Indian Stripeless tomato.
Here is the link.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...DKrN7jnCgVmAqw

Worth

Worth, I do post at DG and it runs slowly sometimes and sometimes not at all, especially on weekends so I have to go to IE to post. So it was opening slowly for me so I stopped it,

All to say, that speaking as the person who first introduced Indian Stripe, seeds to me via Donna, from Mr. Burson's garden in Arkansas, the fruits are not red, to start with, I don't know if those are from traded seeds or commercially purchased ones. The fruits are smaller than Cherokee Purple, lighter in color than Cherokee Purple and more fruits to the truss.

And just like CP there are usually stripes as the fruit ripens but not when the fruits are completely ripe. And the final color is a dark pink, just as CP is, but not as dark as CP; CP also has a celar epidemis. When I first got the seeds I sent some to Craig to compare with Cherokee Purple and he agreed that they were about the same except for the slight differences I just mentioned. And I had suggested in my SSE write up that it might be related to CP but grown in isolation, thus the minor differences.

The degree of coloration of many varieties can be due to weather conditions in the season in which those varieties are grown. Not red when it should be pink, but lighter or darker reds or pinks, etc.

Last year at another site Keith posted some data where gf alleles from many so called blacks were looked at which clearly showed that CP is not 100 years old, which I found interesting with respect to IS as well.

And I do know that some have made selections from IS to upsize it as well.

Hope that helps.

I haven't changed my "2012 Grow List" post, but I have added Harnas to my list. I received a few seed last year from another Tomatoville member who had grown it and reported it as the earliest producer from a long list of supposedly early tomatoes he grew. He also reported other excellent qualities concerning production, size, and taste. I grew seedlings for it last fall, but they were killed in a late frost and I had forgot I had enough seed to try it again.

Ted

[KLorentz]

Sure is fun seeing what others are growing. some still to list on my part but should know before 12/25. Hope to have 100+ plants . that should do it.Now I am off to read new catalogs

Kevin

[pacmanJohn]

After a few years of growing out dozens of varieties of each type and so many wonderful heirlooms (thanks TomatoVillians!) I'm narrowing my 2012 list down to my absolute favorites. 35 plants and only 8 varieties.

Pink:
7 x Hege German Pink (Thanks Gary for introducing me to this!)
4 x Brandywine Sudduth (OK, I had to pick two Pinks..)

Black:
7 x Carbon

Orange/Yellow:
2 x KBX

Striped:
2 x Green Copia

Cherry:
3 x SunGold (F1)

Red:
7 x Big Beef (F1)

Odd Ball:
3 x 'LilNAR' - I had two unstable NAR plants each having a couple of giant NARs along with a ton of tennis ball sized blemish-free identical tomatoes (very similar to Goose Creek but a little sweeter). I very much liked the taste so I'm growing out.

[b54red]

Sorry to create havoc with the name Indian Stripeless Red. I had two plants from my Indian Stripe plant out that I set out in June and they looked just like Indian Stripe plants until the fruit got large and was slightly less oblate and then when they blushed they were definitely not Indian Stripe. They were a red that was very good and super productive. As a matter of fact it was by far my most productive fall tomato beating out even the regular Indian Stripe. I saved the seed to plant out again and see if it is stable so I just stuck that name on it so I could remember it. Sorry for the confusion.

Bill

[Too Tall Toms]

Wow....seeing grow lists like these makes mine look lame! LOL

[Gardadore]

I will be growing Chocolate Cherry for the first time in 2012 and wondered how people find it compares to Black Cherry which I have grown for several years and is a great favorite.

I'm having a hard time whittling down the list as I grew 54 last summer but need to reduce it to about 30. I will have a shorter growing season as I must go away towards the end of September so am trying to eliminate Late varieties and let a farming neighbor grow out most of those so I can have a taste. Some of the late ones don't even ripen here until the middle of September or later. Half the fun is in the planning!!
Here is my tentative list for my garden:

Amazon Chocolate
Anna Maria's Heart
Anna Russian
Anna Russian "Mystery" (didn't grow true to Anna Russian - was red, small, egg shaped and meaty so I saved seeds since it was good and prolific to see if it comes back true. Was fabulous dried.)
Azoychka
Berkeley Tie Dye Heart
Beryl Beauty
Brad's Black Heart
Bulgarian Beauty (my name for a variety given to me by friends who got plant from a Bulgarian friend. He saves seeds every year but I haven't met him to find out more about the variety. It was quite prolific - large red, juicy tomatoes so want to see if the seeds come back true)
Cherokee Chocolate
Chocolate Cherry
Cowlick's Brandywine
Dagma's Perfection
Danko
Earl of Edgecombe
Earl's Faux
Gary Ibsen's Gold
Golden Cherokee
Grappoli d'Inverno
Great White
Green Zebra Cherry
Isis Candy
Jaune Flamme
KBX
Kosovo
Limbaugh's Legacy Potato Top
Opalka
Orange Russian 117
Principe Borghese
Prudens Purple
Red Penna
Reif Italian Heart
Sophie's Choice
Stump of the World
Sun Sugar F1
Tasmanian Chocolate
Toedebusch Pink
Valencia
Woodle Orange

Others my friend will grow out so I can try them:
Amana Orange
Box Car Willie
Brandywine Red
Brandywine Sudduth
Carbon
Crnkovic Yugoslavian
Cuostralee
Hillbilly Reg. Leaf
Lucky Cross (only got 1 last summer)
Marvel Striped
Mr. Stripey
Neves Azoreum
Peron Sprayless
Tsar-Kolokol
Woodle Orange
Zogola

[SEAMSFASTER]

Originally Posted by Gardadore

I will be growing Chocolate Cherry for the first time in 2012 and wondered how people find it compares to Black Cherry which I have grown for several years and is a great favorite.

I'm having a hard time whittling down the list as I grew 54 last summer but need to reduce it to about 30
...

Zogola

I grew about 29 of these varieties in 2011. Here's a few brief comments that might help with the whittling task:

Azoychka - low production
Berkeley Tie Dye Heart - rave reviews from customers
Chocolate Cherry - fabulous taste, subtle difference from Black Cherry - glad I can grow both!
Dagma's Perfection - Good taste, but more prone to BER than just about any variety I grew in 2011
Earl of Edgecombe - low production
Sun Sugar F1 - exceptionally productive, outstanding flavor
Mr. Stripey - the only variety that did not produce a single tomato in 2011 (seedling purchased from a local garden center)

I'm not going to trouble anyone by posting my 2012 list (not that I've had time to develop it yet anyway...). I jumped from 51 varieties in 2010 to 280 in 2011. I don't think I'll have the time to keep up with this exponential obsession, but I might be pushing 400 or so.

And yes, I'll have to find someone else who will let me grow on their property, and figure out how to get the bounty to market...

[Too Tall Toms]

When you guys and girls have these monster lists of tomatoes, do you grow one of each variety or do you have a few plants of each variety? I'm trying to figure out the best way to grow my 15 varieties in the somewhat limited space.

Seamsfaster,

My Mr Stripey only produced one tomato on a huge plant. Other varieties around it were producing by the truckload.

What elevation are you growing at in Utah? I know some gardeners in Utah who don't even try growing tomatoes because their season is so short.

To Tall Toms,

I always grow at least two plants of each variety in order to insure traits I observe are common to the variety instead of individual plants. For some reason, I often notice differences between two plants of the same variety grown in different parts of the garden. I don't know why, but it happens.

Ted

[Too Tall Toms]

Originally Posted by tedln

I always grow at least two plants of each variety in order to insure traits I observe are common to the variety instead of individual plants. For some reason, I often notice differences between two plants of the same variety grown in different parts of the garden. I don't know why, but it happens.

Ted

Well my original plans were to have six varieties and have two plants of each. However, when I saw the lists of tomatoes available at those two websites, I couldn't help myself.

I might have to just go with one of each.

Which traits do you look for when selecting plants for your garden?

I always try to balance my selection between early, mid season, and late season producers. Of those, I select plants for reported best taste, production, and fruit size. I also always attempt to grow a variety of colors to satisfy my curiosity about fruit colors versus taste. I usually avoid green when ripe and white when ripe varieties. For some reason, I also am reluctant to grow odd shapes like heart and banana shaped tomatoes. Many folks on this forum report the heart shaped varieties to have the very best taste, but for me they look to much like the store bought Roma cardboard tomatoes. I am growing a few hearts next year to see if I can dispel that prejudice.

Ted