Is Independence Day Tomato the same as 4th of July?

[jmsieglaff]

The claim on the 4th of July package is 49 days. In my garden that would beat Sungold (which is the earliest) by about 10 days. There is a quote from the movie Super Troopers that fits the bill.

[clkeiper]

THe 4th of July takes way longer than 49 days. Independence day... I don't know, because I didn't pay attention to when it got ripe, but it is faster than 4th of July and I think better.

[MadCow333]

Updated my earlier post to include pictures. Interesting that the tomatoes pictured on the Sow-Easy envelope are the exact same ones pictured on the Livingston seed envelope, with some editing to brighten the color. :-)

I'll post more pictures whenever I get some tomatoes from these. I checked my records and the earliest of these seeds had started sprouting by April 18. They were good sized seedlings outdoors by May 1. I think they should have been far more productive by now, considering they had light, fertilizer, and adequate potting-up. But better late than nothing at all, I suppose.

[MadCow333]

I planted some of these plants in the large planters, and left the remainder in a number of small pots like these. Regardless of the size of planter, or the fertilizer regimen, or amount of sunlight, this variety remained small in stature like a determinate or bush type. The plants in the larger planter looked no different. They didn't vine much. The tomatoes from all these plants were small, oblong, and tended to be very firm. I put most of them into sauce. I had already picked the ripe ones, but there are still some green tomatoes on the plants in these photos. They produced a respectable number of small tomatoes. Might be a plant that's better for patio growers. It seems blight resistant and will tolerate heat and hours of full sunlight, but I think these that were grown under this big tree and only got limited hours of full sun actually thrived better in this hotter and stormy summer.

This was Ferry Morse Sow-Easy "Independence Day," just to recap.

[slugworth]

4th of july hybrid is listed as 49days.
independence day hybrid is listed as 56 days.
4th of july takes 60 days for me,may12th to july 12th so it misses 4th of july by 1 week.
The july 12th 1st tomato- I planted the same day i picked it and have plants for next year.

[clkeiper]

Mine ( Independence Day) are huge. In the ground inside the hightunnel. I actually have been doing a poor job keeping them picked.

[MadCow333]

Well, I do wonder if these are growth-inhibited, either by the original coating on the seeds, or the herbicide fog from across the road back in May. Local farmer sprayed his silage corn on a very windy day and ended up fogging my place. I lost 3 or 4 tomato plants, others had textbook 2,4-D foliage deformities but grew new stems and thrived, and the dogwood and oak trees have damaged leaves.

As I said, I planted some of these seedlings in big pots. I decided not to waste big pots and potting mix on any more of them, so I just put them in whatever old small pots I had lying around and fed them generously. Performance was no different between the large pots and these others that surely must be very pot-bound now.

[MikeInCypress]

I grew both this year. Prefer 4th of July. Tomatoes are 2"-3" globes. Fairly early and pump out blemish free tomaties until it gets really hot (95 or more. Plants are rangy and seem to be slow to get early blight. Independence Day is a smaller plant and not as prolific. Tomatoes are 2" globes. It was fairly early for me but its more of a Stupice or Kimberley type tomato.

MikeInCypress

[JLJ_]

Originally Posted by MadCow333

. . . As I said, I planted some of these seedlings in big pots. I decided not to waste big pots and potting mix on any more of them, so I just put them in whatever old small pots I had lying around and fed them generously. Performance was no different between the large pots and these others that surely must be very pot-bound now.

Just wondering -- what size were your 'big pots' and what size 'whatever old small pots I had lying around'.

I've been contemplating using more small pots, particularly with varieties where my primary purpose the first year is to get a supply of bagged seed and a sample tomato or two, so I'm interested whenever someone makes a remark that small pots worked for them.