Feedback on Next Year's choices

[josh]

I have room for four tomatoes in the ground and one in a pot.

I was thinking of this combination (for taste, plus color and size variation):

Cherokee Purple
Dr. Carolyn
Aunt Ruby's Green
Black Cherry
Kellogg's Breakfast

I've grown and love the first two. Have bought and loved the second two from farmer's markets. Never tried KB, but hear good things.

My Questions:

Any sense of which of these would be most manageable in a container?

Any suggestions for alternate oranges/greens instead of KB or Aunt Ruby's?

Thanks.

[dcarch]

Josh,

Welcome to the forum, from another NY member.

Good selections. I will be growing the same except black Cherry.

dcarch

[Suze]

Originally Posted by josh

Any sense of which of these would be most manageable in a container?

Of the ones you listed, Cherokee Purple tends to be the most compact. However, if it's between putting a cherry type or a larger fruited type in a container, I will go with the cherry type. One reason why is that cherries almost never get blossom end rot, even when watering is somewhat inconsistent.

And since Dr. Carolyn seems to be a smaller plant than Black Cherry (at least in my experience), DC would be my pick for the container.

Originally Posted by josh

Any suggestions for alternate oranges/greens instead of KB or Aunt Ruby's?

Aunt Gerties Gold is wonderful. So is Cherokee Green and Green Giant.

[shelleybean]

I agree on Aunt Gertie's Gold. It's my favorite of the yellow/gold/orange group. But it's just about the last plant in the world I'd choose for a pot. Mine grew to be about ten feet tall. Giant plant but worth the space, IMO.

[Grub]

Aunty Ruby's Green has low production.
Replace it with Cherokee Green.
Put cherries in a pot.
Strangely, Dr C. was a beast for me and much bigger, like oodles bigger, than Black Cherry, of which I think there may be some variation out there.

[Mantis]

I was about to suggest swapping ARGG to Cherokee Green as well. Last year I grew both and got nothing from Aunty and heaps off CG.

[LoreD]

Grub,

I know its not on your list but one of my favorites for a pot is Pink Thai. I give away plants every and the single most requested tomato is Pink Thai. The first year I gave my friend Wendy a Pink Thai plant and the next year I asked everyone what they wanted they all said they wanted "those great pink tomatoes that Wendy gave us."

A compact plant that is covered with dozens of rose-pink egg shaped tomatoes. One of the prettiest and most productive tomatoes. Everyone said this was one of the best tasting tomatoes that they grew. It seemed to have a high degree of disease resistance and literally seems unkillable. One of my favorites.


LoreD

[barkeater]

I would make sure to grow Black Cherry, especially in a pot.

[Grub]

Pink Thai sounds great, LoreD.

[bizzarbazzar]

I would put Black Cherry in a pot, DR Carolyn got way larger for me than BC.

[Tania]

Originally Posted by bizzarbazzar

I would put Black Cherry in a pot, DR Carolyn got way larger for me than BC.

and it is opposite for me - Black Cherry is always a monster plant, growing up to 8-10' if allowed

my Black Cherry is from TGS. What's your source?

Any suggestions for alternate oranges/greens instead of KB or Aunt Ruby's?

Josh, my fav green this year had been Green Giant - very productive, huge pale green fruits, excellent flavor. Cherokee Green is also very good. I'd agree that ARG is not very productive.
My fav orange is Aunt Geirties GOld, which might not necessarily be very productive (at least not every year).

[bizzarbazzar]

Tania, 2 of the plants I planted of Black Cherry were from TGS, and 2 were from Martin Longseth (I think thats his name) both suppliers grew the same in height and production. They did well, produced well, and were fabulous in flavor...but not a very tall plant. Very strange.....

[Tania]

maybe I had been feeding them with something special

actually, when I thinkk about it, all the cherries in the same bed were monster plants, so perhaps it was something about the soil...

[bizzarbazzar]

Maybe....its your soil....or my soil...etc. It could be so many reasons. Oh well, my soil lacks earthworms completely.... I have not seen 1.

[josh]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I'll swap aunt ruby's for cherokee green. The ARGG's from my local farmer's market were amazing this summer, especially if you bought them perectly ripe. Given my limited planting space, though, I'd rather opt for productivity.

Sounds like a toss up between Dr. Carolyn and Black Cherry for the pot. I've grown Dr. C once before in a container. It was beastly, but manageable, as long as I watered religiously. I've been hearing good things about about Kimberly in containers on these forums, though. maybe Ill consider this.

Just four long months of winter to obbsess over the decision...!