Black Tomato Ranking Question

[amideutch]

Margaret Curtain. Grown most of the high profile blacks and none touches Margaret. Production, DTM, fruit set, heat and disease tolerance and above all taste. It was first out of the gate with ripe fruit and kept on going till first frost hit. Give it good support and don't prune it.

Ami

[KarenO]

Really looking forward to tasting that one this year Ami. I have it growing in the greenhouse and it's nearly time to plant "her" out. I have heard rave reviews
Karen

[ddsack]

I am looking forward to tasting Margaret Curtain this year as well. I was curious about the history of this one, since it seemed to suddenly appear out of nowhere, and it turns out to be from New Zealand. Here is a snip from the Koanga Institute webpage -
"NZ Heritage An outstanding large black tomato that is a well known old cultivar around the East Coast where it has been grown for 100 years or so. It is a low acid beefsteak with outstanding flavor"
Anyone from NZ know something about Margaret Curtain the person the tomato is named after?

So far my favorite blacks have been JD's Special C-Tex, Black from Tula, Brad's Black Heart, Indian Stripe and Cherokee Chocolate. In no special order, varies by year. My one try with Amazon Chocolate was dismal - maybe a different seed source would bring better results.

[kath]

Originally Posted by amideutch

Give it good support and don't prune it.

Ami

Count me among those who are hoping to be amazed by Margaret Curtain this season, but I'm curious about this comment. I have her in the middle of a row of staked plants that are spaced at 2'. Since the plants are only about a foot tall, none are attached to the stakes yet. Do you think I should try to squeeze a cage in there?

kath

[jmsieglaff]

Margaret Curtain, oh boy another to the list of dark tomatoes. I need to buy my neighbor's house, raze it, and then use the lot for my garden.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by ddsack

I am looking forward to tasting Margaret Curtain this year as well. I was curious about the history of this one, since it seemed to suddenly appear out of nowhere, and it turns out to be from New Zealand. Here is a snip from the Koanga Institute webpage -
"NZ Heritage An outstanding large black tomato that is a well known old cultivar around the East Coast where it has been grown for 100 years or so. It is a low acid beefsteak with outstanding flavor"
Anyone from NZ know something about Margaret Curtain the person the tomato is named after?

So far my favorite blacks have been JD's Special C-Tex, Black from Tula, Brad's Black Heart, Indian Stripe and Cherokee Chocolate. In no special order, varies by year. My one try with Amazon Chocolate was dismal - maybe a different seed source would bring better results.

I'd take that 100 year old comment with a grain of salt b'c the same was said for Cherokee Purple and when DNA testing was done, it was not 100 yo. It turns out that there are different alleles ( gene alternatives) for different groups of so called blacks that were tested, and it fell into a group of much more recent age.

I could link to the results of those DNA tests but I think it's best to just continue with the thread rather than getting into that.

I don't even remember if I've posted my faves in this thread, but they would be few indeed when it comes to blacks.

Carolyn

[jmsieglaff]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

I don't even remember if I've posted my faves in this thread, but they would be few indeed when it comes to blacks.

Carolyn

I don't believe so, would anything that didn't make the book come on that short list, or something you hadn't grown until after it was published?

[venturabananas]

I think climate or how it is grown must really affect Paul Robeson. It was nothing special for me when I grew several plants a couple of years ago. It wasn't terribly productive and the taste was pretty average, except for one tomato that did have really good flavor (not sure why it was so different from the rest). I understand that flavor can vary from year to year, place to place, etc., but the lack of productivity was my main knock against it.

[creister]

JD's has been the most consistant for me in terms of production. Taste is very good most years. I have also grown CP. Always good in flavor but inconsistent in production. I have also grown Indian Stripe, Vorlon, Black Krim, and Noir de Crime. Only one season for each of those, and Vorlon and IS both very productive and excellent flavor. Noir de Crimee had a disease issue, but still made a bunch of fruit. One tough dude. I want to grow if again, as that was a few years ago when I was a greenhorn so growing practices probably were not ideal for best results. Jury is still out on Black Krim. First time, not so impressed, but I have one planted this year. Time will tell.

[b54red]

I hate hearing all these great reviews of Margaret Curtain. That means I'll have to get some seed and try grafting it and see how it stacks up grown down here. I love good tasting black tomatoes and many of them do very well down here and the flavor is usually fantastic once it gets really hot as long as there isn't too much rain. I'm really ready for some delicious black tomatoes this year after the disaster I had last year with them. We had torrential rains nearly every day of July and as a result the few fruit that made on the diseased plants were rather tasteless.

Bill

[coronabarb]

Must be a So Cal thing...or is it a PR thing? I don't know...just wished I could get more of those luscious beautiful maters. Btw, did we trade seeds or seedlings at one time, like back in 2007 or 2008? I know it was someone out in your neck of the proverbial woods.

[amideutch]

I could link to the results of those DNA tests but I think it's best to just continue with the thread rather than getting into that.

Do it. I would like to see it.

Ami

[amideutch]

Do you think I should try to squeeze a cage in there?

Kath, go ahead as this plant puts out the fruit and needs the support. I grew my plants in 10 gal container and 20 gal smart Pot. Make sure you have that cage anchored securely.

Ami

[kath]

Originally Posted by amideutch

Kath, go ahead as this plant puts out the fruit and needs the support. I grew my plants in 10 gal container and 20 gal smart Pot. Make sure you have that cage anchored securely.

Ami

Thanks for your input, Ami- will definitely stake the cage when the time comes.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by amideutch

Do it. I would like to see it.

Ami

Here you go;

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/l...529042.html?13

Feel free to read the whole thread but to get to the allele part scroll down until you see the post of April 21 which was done by mulio, aka Keith Mueller.

Carolyn