Best tomato of the year

[b54red]

Carolyn what is Rostova supposed to be? I am growing a couple and they appear to be a heart variety based on the way the plant looks right now, very wispy, pale green and has small fruit that look like the other hearts. It is new to me and I would like to know if what I am growing is actually the true Rostova.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by b54red

Carolyn what is Rostova supposed to be? I am growing a couple and they appear to be a heart variety based on the way the plant looks right now, very wispy, pale green and has small fruit that look like the other hearts. It is new to me and I would like to know if what I am growing is actually the true Rostova.

No, what you're growing is not true Rostova. And I'm sure that at this point Gary at TF knows that the heart he's selling isn't true Rostova either and also see the bluirb in the first link.

Gary got the variety from seedfest, which has many names and now out of business, and those who got it from them got a large beefsteak shaped fruit with normal RL foliage.

And the folks at seedfest, aka other names, agreed that Gary could change the name to Sunset Red Horizon, and then they didn't and then they did, and well, I'll link to the following so you can read where things were at in 2007:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...26tbs%3Disch:1

Click on the blue link in the text where it says Rostova, which gives you the background on the history. The picture that accompanies that is NOT true Rostova.

And you can read the rest of what they said, but as I also said they're out of business and were forced out of business b'c they took orders, never sent the seeds, never responded much to clients, etc.

The first two years or so that TF offered it as Sunset Red horizon, and the history given was the same that seedfest had at the time, the seeds sent out were true for Rostova. I was sent a pack of those true Rostova seeds by a friend, seeds left over from what he'd used, I grew it in I think 2005 or 2006 and it was Rostova the seeds being from before 2005; large red beefsteak fruits, normal RL foliage, and excellent taste.

But what's been sold in the past few years is NOT true Rostova, Linda at TGS didn't realize that and when I saw her picture and blurb I said whoops, problem, and ended up sending her the rest of my true Rostova seeds.

Here's another link with a picture of true Rostova, I think, I saved several to my faves from Google IMAGES to be able to show you what it should be:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...26tbs%3Disch:1

The one labelled Sunset Red Horizon shows you the beefsteak shape it should be.

Q.E.D.

[b54red]

Thanks Carolyn. I knew my plant didn't look like some of the published descriptions. Those pictures make it very clear that I don't have Rostova. I have no idea what I do have. The plant really doesn't look like any of the other heart varieties I am growing.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by b54red

Thanks Carolyn. I knew my plant didn't look like some of the published descriptions. Those pictures make it very clear that I don't have Rostova. I have no idea what I do have. The plant really doesn't look like any of the other heart varieties I am growing.

There's no way that I think you or me or anyone else is going to know what it is b'c it appears at first glance to be a cross and someone selected this one for the plant out for seed production and there you go.

I'm a great lover of heart varieties and have grown lots of them, as have several others here at Tville and to me it looks like what I call a blunt red heart, no definite elongation, no pointed bottom and I think the variety that comes closest to that shape is the variety Wes. Note I'm not saying it is Wes, Wes doesn't have the the profound wispy, finely dissected leaves that most but not all heart varieties have but Wes foliage can be a bit droopy.

[b54red]

This is my first year of growing hearts and so far I like the way they look. Especially Kosovo which has really set some good fruit. I lost both a Wes and a Linnies to TSWV and both were covered with small fruit. They did seem to draw aphids worse than any other varieties in the garden but that could have just been their location. I have no ripe hearts yet but it won't be long since one of the Kosovos is starting to blush a little bit.

[duajones]

Originally Posted by Lee

Even more evidence, (IMHO) that some Cherokee Purple that
is being sold commercially is NOT CP. I'm convinced of that
now, mainly due to major size/shape descriptions folks are
using to describe what they get out of the plant.
I believe Craig is doing a grow out of seeds from Johnny's this
year to see how it compares. Since they were the first commercial operation to receive his seed of CP, it will be interesting to see the results.

Lee

And now I am even more thankful to both Suze and Craig.
CP is my favorite variety and I hope to grow it for many years to come

[AZRuss]

Tops in taste so far from my 2010 garden...
#1 Aker's West Virginia
#2 Break O'Day

I still have Ramapo to ripen and try for the first time.

My single very scrawny Indian Stripe plant yielded one decent sized but very cracked tomato, which was scrumptious, what I could eat of it that is. Might have topped AWV if I had more to go on. Definitely worth repeating next season or maybe in the Fall. But the Aker's... oh my. Just wonderful.

[Mojo]

All mine are good so far, but the CP are a bit lacking this year compared to last. Part of the issue is that they are up against Black From Tula and Black Sea Krim, which to my palate are stronger taste-wise.

Atkinson is almost as good as I remember but is facing very strong competition from Tony's Italian. Waiting to get a reliable read on the Earl's Faux.