Better boy

gtnate · May 3, 2014

I picked up a better boy hybrid today. I'm hoping that it won't have any disease problems since I only have enough room for five tomato plants. Has anyone grown this who can comment on the taste. My four other plants are San Martzano, early girl, sungold, and black krim.

**carolyn137** · May 3, 2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by gtnate

I picked up a better boy hybrid today. I'm hoping that it won't have any disease problems since I only have enough room for five tomato plants. Has anyone grown this who can comment on the taste. My four other plants are San Martzano, early girl, sungold, and black krim.

Better Boy F1 and Big Boy F1 were two of the earliest hybrids that were known to most home gardeners. They have one parent in common, Teddy Jones, a pink heirloom variety from the midwest.

Disease problems? The most common tomato diseases of tomatoes are the foliage diseases, two fungal and two bacterial, and so almost ALL tomatoes grown can acquire those diseases since they are spread by air and in raindrops.

There are a few varieties that have low level tolerance to Early Blight, but IMO are not worth growing.

As for soil borne systemic diseases, Better Boy F1 has disease tolerances, no such thing as resistance, for Verticillium, only one strain of Fusarium, and nematodes. But I think that you said you were from MD, I didn't go back to check, so no nematodes, and occasionally V and F, but nothing I'd worry about if it were me.

Taste? Many still grow both I mentioned above, but the only person who can decide if the taste is good, is you, since taste is both personal and perceptual and there's a human genetic component also involved. Also, it depends on how you grow your tomatoes, what amendments you might use and what the weather is in an given season.

Carolyn

gtnate · May 3, 2014

Thank you for the detailed response Carolyn! I put the Better Boy out my garden today, so I guess I will be able to tell for myself how the taste is in a few months!

linzelu100 · May 3, 2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by carolyn137

Better Boy F1 and Big Boy F1 were two of the earliest hybrids that were known to most home gardeners. They have one parent in common, Teddy Jones, a pink heirloom variety from the midwest.

Disease problems? The most common tomato diseases of tomatoes are the foliage diseases, two fungal and two bacterial, and so almost ALL tomatoes grown can acquire those diseases since they are spread by air and in raindrops.

There are a few varieties that have low level tolerance to Early Blight, but IMO are not worth growing.

As for soil borne systemic diseases, Better Boy F1 has disease tolerances, no such thing as resistance, for Verticillium, only one strain of Fusarium, and nematodes. But I think that you said you were from MD, I didn't go back to check, so no nematodes, and occasionally V and F, but nothing I'd worry about if it were me.

Taste? Many still grow both I mentioned above, but the only person who can decide if the taste is good, is you, since taste is both personal and perceptual and there's a human genetic component also involved. Also, it depends on how you grow your tomatoes, what amendments you might use and what the weather is in an given season.

Carolyn

Great and helpful response Carolyn

clkeiper · May 3, 2014

My neighbor grows them for canning. She puts in almost 90 of them every year. She thinks they are the best. I grew them along side Goliath, Big Beef and Ultra Sonic last year. I couldn't find my tags after about 2 months and I couldn't tell one from another. Each row had about 25 plants in it. We did spray every week for blight, though. It was a terrible year for us here in Northern Ohio. Rain every day and it was cold. Most people who didn't spray didn't get tomatoes, either. So you won't notice that they are really blight resistant if that is what you were hoping. Blight has no preference as to what plant it attacks, some just go down faster than others. At least, I haven't found any that are truly resistant. I even tried Legend one year and it went down before some of my other tomatoes

.

snippits · May 4, 2014

Been growing Better Boy for a long time. I think they taste really good because they have a good tasting tang. They are not as tangy as a Rutgers to my taste buds. A friend of mine does not like them because he says they are too tangy, and all he grows is Super Steak. I tried the Super Steak last year, and I did not like them because they were too mellow.

If they are starting to turn ripe, and the weather forecast is calling for a lot of rain, go ahead and pick them because they have a tendency to split. Rarely have any blossom end rot, and even then it's just only the first one or two tomatoes that bloom. My Better Boys keep producing to the frost kills them. If the plant starts producing small tomatoes after the initial flush, fertilize with three tablespoons of all purpose 10-10-10 scratched in to the soil very lightly, and then water it in and cover with mulch. Some times I will just use one tablespoon of ammonium nitrate 34-0-0 per plant too.

Urbanfarmer · May 4, 2014

As far as a modern hybrid goes, Better Boy has been the best performer for us over the years, and a surprisingly good eating tomato. If production and decent flavor are important, then this is a good one. We routinely see yields of 100-130 tomatoes off a plant, in the 6-14oz range.

There are many heirlooms that have superior flavor, but the best we ever see out of them is 40 or so, of the beefsteak variety. Often times we'll be lucky to see 12. So it's nice to have the BB when the heirlooms are struggling.

snippits · May 5, 2014

Got to agree with Urbanfarmer that Better Boy plants can and will produce lots and lots of tomatoes.

Charles Wilber set a record at 342 pounds per Better Boy plant.

http://home.comcast.net/~pobrien48/T...rld_Record.htm

**carolyn137** · May 5, 2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urbanfarmer

As far as a modern hybrid goes, Better Boy has been the best performer for us over the years, and a surprisingly good eating tomato. If production and decent flavor are important, then this is a good one. We routinely see yields of 100-130 tomatoes off a plant, in the 6-14oz range.

There are many heirlooms that have superior flavor, but the best we ever see out of them is 40 or so, of the beefsteak variety. Often times we'll be lucky to see 12. So it's nice to have the BB when the heirlooms are struggling.

Better Boy F1 and Big Boy F1 and Ramapo F1 and Moreton Hybrid F1 aren't really modern hybrids at all. They are four of the first hybrids that were ever offered to the public back in the late 40's to early 50's as I recall without confirming those dates.

As for OP's whether heirlooms or not, I think there are many that have great taste and some yearI wish you'd grow Break O Day, just to see what I mean.

http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/wiki/Break_O%27Day

The yield and taste of the above is excellent, and it's called an heirloom, b'c it was developed prior to about 1940, but is not a family heirloom.

If I had the time I think I could list quite a few family heirlooms that have high yeilds and excellent tastes.

So I might say that you haven't found a family heirloom yet, that produces as much as you'd like it to, but for sure there are many out there, many hundreds actually.

And any of the four hybrids I mentioned above are also good and I've grown them all, many times.

Carolyn

creister · May 5, 2014

I concur with Carolyn, Break O'Day is a beast and tastes very very good.

mrdoitall · May 6, 2014

Carolyn, I agree Break O'Day It is a great tomato to grow... I can only hope you would take the time and list just a few of your best family heirlooms that have high yields and excellent tastes. If you could start a new thread and say add One or two per day or week would be great... Thank you again for all you have done over the years with tomatoes... Without people like you we would not have a lot of the varieties we have today... Back to this thread... I grow Better Boy and Big Boy every year it's what my mother always grew in her gardens... She is 84 years old and I grow tomatoes for her each year...

amideutch · May 6, 2014

Quote:

Carolyn, I agree Break O'Day It is a great tomato to grow... I can only hope you would take the time and list just a few of your best family heirlooms that have high yields and excellent tastes.

You might want to check out Carolyn's Book. I consider it a must read for Tomato Addicts.

http://www.amazon.com/Smith-Hawken-H...s=carolyn+male

Ami

Durgan · May 6, 2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by snippits

Got to agree with Urbanfarmer that Better Boy plants can and will produce lots and lots of tomatoes.

Charles Wilber set a record at 342 pounds per Better Boy plant.

http://home.comcast.net/~pobrien48/T...rld_Record.htm

Why such a lousy picture? Anybody growing such a plant should have many pictures from many angles.Nary a sign of it on the internet. Just a repeat of the one photo.

Long season is probably important assuming the claim is not nonsense, which I believe it is.

snippits · May 6, 2014

Quote:

Originally Posted by Durgan

Why such a lousy picture? Anybody growing such a plant should have many pictures from many angles.Nary a sign of it on the internet. Just a repeat of the one photo.

Long season is probably important assuming the claim is not nonsense, which I believe it is.

It's common knowledge that Charles Wilber was a Guinness world record holder. More pictures in his book.

http://www.amazon.com/How-Grow-World.../dp/0911311572

Durgan · May 6, 2014

It is so well known that there is nothing but hype on the WWW. One out of focus picture. Get real.

May 3, 2014	#1
gtnate Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Maryland Posts: 88	Better boy I picked up a better boy hybrid today. I'm hoping that it won't have any disease problems since I only have enough room for five tomato plants. Has anyone grown this who can comment on the taste. My four other plants are San Martzano, early girl, sungold, and black krim.

May 3, 2014	#5
clkeiper Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: ohio Posts: 4,350	My neighbor grows them for canning. She puts in almost 90 of them every year. She thinks they are the best. I grew them along side Goliath, Big Beef and Ultra Sonic last year. I couldn't find my tags after about 2 months and I couldn't tell one from another. Each row had about 25 plants in it. We did spray every week for blight, though. It was a terrible year for us here in Northern Ohio. Rain every day and it was cold. Most people who didn't spray didn't get tomatoes, either. So you won't notice that they are really blight resistant if that is what you were hoping. Blight has no preference as to what plant it attacks, some just go down faster than others. At least, I haven't found any that are truly resistant. I even tried Legend one year and it went down before some of my other tomatoes. __________________ carolyn k

May 4, 2014	#7
Urbanfarmer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Freeport, Texas Posts: 134	As far as a modern hybrid goes, Better Boy has been the best performer for us over the years, and a surprisingly good eating tomato. If production and decent flavor are important, then this is a good one. We routinely see yields of 100-130 tomatoes off a plant, in the 6-14oz range. There are many heirlooms that have superior flavor, but the best we ever see out of them is 40 or so, of the beefsteak variety. Often times we'll be lucky to see 12. So it's nice to have the BB when the heirlooms are struggling. __________________ theurbanfarm.com

May 4, 2014	#6
snippits Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: NC Posts: 77	Been growing Better Boy for a long time. I think they taste really good because they have a good tasting tang. They are not as tangy as a Rutgers to my taste buds. A friend of mine does not like them because he says they are too tangy, and all he grows is Super Steak. I tried the Super Steak last year, and I did not like them because they were too mellow. If they are starting to turn ripe, and the weather forecast is calling for a lot of rain, go ahead and pick them because they have a tendency to split. Rarely have any blossom end rot, and even then it's just only the first one or two tomatoes that bloom. My Better Boys keep producing to the frost kills them. If the plant starts producing small tomatoes after the initial flush, fertilize with three tablespoons of all purpose 10-10-10 scratched in to the soil very lightly, and then water it in and cover with mulch. Some times I will just use one tablespoon of ammonium nitrate 34-0-0 per plant too.

May 5, 2014	#8
snippits Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: NC Posts: 77	Got to agree with Urbanfarmer that Better Boy plants can and will produce lots and lots of tomatoes. Charles Wilber set a record at 342 pounds per Better Boy plant. http://home.comcast.net/~pobrien48/T...rld_Record.htm

May 5, 2014	#10
creister Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Abilene, TX zone 7 Posts: 1,478	I concur with Carolyn, Break O'Day is a beast and tastes very very good.

May 6, 2014	#11
mrdoitall Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Alabama Posts: 185	Carolyn, I agree Break O'Day It is a great tomato to grow... I can only hope you would take the time and list just a few of your best family heirlooms that have high yields and excellent tastes. If you could start a new thread and say add One or two per day or week would be great... Thank you again for all you have done over the years with tomatoes... Without people like you we would not have a lot of the varieties we have today... Back to this thread... I grow Better Boy and Big Boy every year it's what my mother always grew in her gardens... She is 84 years old and I grow tomatoes for her each year...

May 6, 2014	#15
Durgan Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Brantford, ON, Canada Posts: 1,341	It is so well known that there is nothing but hype on the WWW. One out of focus picture. Get real.