Fourth Of July variety!

I may have posted my thoughts on the subject hybrid variety earlier in the season. I don't care because the qualities of the variety are worth repeating.

I bought the plants from a nursery as space fillers when my shop grown seedlings were killed in a frost. I didn't have high expectations because golf ball sized tomatoes don't normally excite me. I have experienced a great growing season with open pollinated varieties I planted, but the Fourth Of July variety outperformed all of them producing my earliest (under sixty days) ripe fruit abundantly. The first fruits were a little bland tasting, but after the first week of harvest, the taste became outstanding with a slightly acidic flavor. When the intense summer heat arrived and production stopped, I pruned the rampantly growing vines back to a manageable size. They soon produced new suckers which grew quickly and are now covered in new green fruit for a fall harvest. We have experienced extended summer temps reaching 110 degrees, but this variety continued blooming and setting fruit in the heat. It seems my earliest producing variety will also be my latest producing variety.

I had read comments indicating the ripe tomatoes have a tendency to split. One lady said they often split while she was carrying them from the garden to the kitchen. I've experienced a huge harvest of ripe fruit this year and have not observed a single split tomato. Since the harvest has been so heavy, they often sit on our kitchen counter for many days, fully ripe; and retain their good texture without splitting or spoiling.

Ted

[JLJ_]

I began including at least two or three Fourth of July plants in my tomato plans several years ago, after a study in Idaho observed that they grew well in our region and -- while the flavor was not judged as good as some of the later maturing ones -- it was *much* better than the grocery store tomatoes from which their early crop rescues you. [g]

Interesting that you observed flavor improvement over time. I had not noticed any change in flavor over time -- perhaps your warmer temps make a difference -- but ours certainly did produce fruit bigger than golf balls -- not a lot bigger, I suppose -- but enough that their larger fruits were big enough to slice. Of course, it could be that Texas golf balls are bigger than ours.

I have heard of them occasionally being grown inside. As I have a late planted seedling that is still fairly small -- just beginning to bloom -- I have been thinking of potting it and trying it inside. Your experience that it responded well to pruning is encouraging in that regard.

JLJ,

Mine averaged golf ball size. A few were larger and a few were smaller. I like the fact that they produced six to eight tomatoes on each truss. I do wish they would ripen evenly on each truss.

My plants had grown to about five feet tall and had suffered from septoria as had almost all plants in my garden. I pruned them to about sixteen inches in height making sure that each branch I pruned had a sucker growing lower on the stem. They are now about four feet tall again and should continue to grow until frost. While most of my tomato plants are covered with shade cloth, these are not and seem to perform well in the high heat and strong sunlight of late summer.

I noticed the flavor improved as the night time and day time temps increased. The early (cool weather) fruit had a less intense flavor.

They also made great tomato sauce when cooked down after peeling. They seemed to slip easily from their skin when submerged in boiling water for a minute. Other varieties were more difficult to easily skin. I do think the skin is a little tough to eat in sauces. I typically would cook them down a little after removing the skins and add the sauce directly to dishes. They provided an intense tomato taste to dishes. Nothing bland about the sauce.

I will order seed this winter in order to grow my own from seed.


Ted

[JLJ_]

I don't believe I have ever seen 4th of July plants available here -- starting from seed is my only option -- sort of.

Year before last I had some small potted tomato plants of various sorts, including 4th of July, that I had started late. I brought them in and put them under lights for the winter -- not to try to produce fruit, just to see if I could get starts from them the next year. Some died, but, of those leggy sparsely leaved vines that survived, 4th of July was one of the more vigorous. About the time I started my summer seedlings, I cut the vines into about nine inch segments, with leaves if possible, with a bud location if not, rooted them, and potted them. Set them out when I did the spring seedlings and the wintered-over cuttings did indeed produce plants that were a little bigger and stronger and bore a little earlier than the spring started seedlings.

Probably not worth the trouble where you are, but useful up here where the season is just *barely* long enough to get some tomatoes, if one is very prompt setting them out, and if the summer weather cooperates a little.

Growing from cuttings is well worth the effort. I have grown some FOJ from cuttings this fall for planting out when it cools a little. They are much stronger and healthier than my grown from seed plants for fall planting. The cuttings did not require as much hardening off as the other seedlings. While they are only one half the height of the grown from seed plants, they have already exhibited the ability to thrive in the heat while the seedlings are only able to take the daytime heat for two or three hours before starting to wilt requiring moving inside into cooler air.

I also planted some seed last fall for experimenting on. I intended to toss them when I was through trying some different re-potting techniques. They grew so well, I decided to keep cutting the root balls off and regrowing the cuttings simply to constrain the size of the plants through the winter. I finally planted them out this spring and they did great except I wasn't happy with the tomatoes. They were the Gary Ibsens Gold variety which I won't be growing again.

Ted

[miken]

I did not plant any Fourth of July this year, and am regretting it. It has been a very prolific producer for me over the last few years. Dafel is another small tomato (slightly larger than Fourth of July) and very prolific.

Both make great sauces.

[tomakers]

I have been growing 4th of July for many years. My only complaint is the rather tough skin.
They aren't always the 1st to produce(Moravasky Div and Kimberley were 5 days earlier with 1 fruit each, 4th produced 3 a bit later), but they are early, taste much better than store bought, and produce a usable size tomato.
They are always requested by some of my friends.
Once the big ones start coming I ignore them, but my wife says her parents want those particular ones (they like their size for salads). They do continue to produce until frost.

[peppero]

does anyone have a seed source for the seeds?

Originally Posted by peppero

does anyone have a seed source for the seeds?

Burpee, Knapps, and Reimer seeds seem to have them.

Ted

[Sun City Linda]

knapps is an OP Grow out.

[bcday]

I see Fourth Of July packets on many seed racks in the spring. The local feed store and WalMart even have their seed racks still up and although I haven't looked for that particular variety there recently, if there are still seed racks on display in your area you might find a pack of seeds for Fourth Of July there.

[peppero]

thanks for the responses. jon