Everything's Turning Red

[gtnate]

I'm very excited to say that all of my container tomatoes are finally starting to ripen. I finally harvested from the final two plants today of the five that I planted.

Luckily, I decided to go with all short-season varieties this year: Stupice, Sophie's Choice, Oroma (a paste-type determinate),Sungold and Green Grape. The former 3 are shown in the picture below.

[Tania]

Looks pretty impressive for the PNW area and the lousy summer we had. Way to go!

I hope they taste as good as they look

[gtnate]

Well, I apparently still have some things to learn about growing tomatoes. The Sophie's Choice have turned out mealy. Could this be due to overwatering? I had read on-line that this tomato liked to have a damp environment, so I did my best to keep the soil in the container moist. Could the mealiness be due to something else instead?

On the other hand, the Stupice tomatoes have a great texture and taste, and I haven't kept the soil in that container nearly as wet.

[rnewste]

Nate,

Great job, given your weather conditions. What are the 2 large ones sitting on the paper towel?

Raybo

[gtnate]

Ray,

Those two are the Sophie's Choice. I have actually picked about 15 or so off the 1 plant already. I'm really surprised at how productive the plant is, given its size. The plant itself is built like a bowling ball as well (it's the short plant to the front right of me in the profile pick).

[rnewste]

Thanks Nate,

I am sitting here working on my Winter grow list for the InnTainers this year. Need to get seed started pretty soon.

One of the varieties that I will definitely grow is Sophie's Choice in one of the Inntainers. I've got a selection of dwarfs from Remy and will be narrowing down the list (total of 8 plants) over the next few days.

Raybo

[gtnate]

Ray

If you are still getting your list finalized for your Winter growing, here's a pic of another small determinate variety I am growing this year. In the pic, the Sophie's Choice plant is on the left; on the right is another determinate (which I think is also an OP) called Oroma (http://www.victoryseeds.com/tomato_oroma.html)

It's a very compact plant, and again, I have been amazed at the productivity of this little guy.

Nate