Hits and Misses So Far?

EarlyBird · July 16, 2018

Hi Folks,

I just thought I'd give an early season run down of the tomatoes so far:

Jaune Flamme - Incredibly productive, like, wow! The flavor is quite nice, but not knocking me out.*

Earl of Edgecombe - So far the best tasting of the tomatoes, and quite productive. And talk about perfect, beautiful orange orbs.

Black Prince - Disappointing yield and underwhelming taste.*

Cherokee Purple - I'm getting a LOT of tomatoes for this big heirloom, and most of them are big. I'm not terribly knocked out by the taste, however. Expected a classic beefsteak but it's rather bland.*

Celebrity - Got this non-heirloom for insurance, and it's been pretty hardy. The biggest hit it's taken so far was severe sun scald when we went through a brutal early heatwave a couple of weeks ago. But nice and productive and a class market type tomato - only much more tasy.

Mystery Cherry - I had bought a plant labeled Sun Gold, but these are very red mystery cherry tomatoes. They are just what you expect from a cherry tomato. Incredibly productive, like, help me! Too many tomatoes!

* I had been giving too much water to the plants after they started producing fruit, leading to a watery, insipidness. I have cut way back and am noticing better flavor now.

What about your early season report?

venturabananas · July 17, 2018

Celebrity is the only non-open pollinated tomato I grow these days, and grow it every year because it is tasty, productive, bulletproof, and I can start it early without messing around with seedlings during the cool part of the year, because it is always available as a start at my local nursery.

Koala Doug · July 17, 2018

I've been dealing with the worst heat wave(s) in over thirty years for my area, so some production has definitely been affected.

KARMA Pink, Sunrise Bumblebee, Early Detroit, and New Big Dwarf seem to be doing very well, considering the weather.

Dwarf Sweet Sue has shown some stress from the heat (some dropped blossoms), but seems to be OK.

Dwarf Caitydid has struggled with blossom drop, but the first two trusses were good... it just has a 'dead zone' in the middle of plant where pollination was practically non-existent. Luckily, I am getting some fruit at the top part of the plant now.

Tomzhawaii · July 17, 2018

In baseball a .300 average is good. In life , not so much. My garden still in the minor leagues. But "we'll get 'em next year "

HudsonValley · July 17, 2018

Hits:
- Stupice - massively productive; flavor quite good for an early variety
- Maglia Rosa - also massively productive; still determining how ripe I prefer them, but I'll have many opportunities to figure it out

I have three big "misses" among 56 plants this year:
- SunGold - very early, but weird, tough skin and darker orange than usual, with green gel around seeds; plant looks and smells the same as usual (if you know what I mean...)
- Goldman's Italian-American - I thought it was a mule, but as of today it has a whopping total of three blossoms; won't produce much, at this rate

- GGWT - huge, prolific, but my seeds must be wrong -- the plant is throwing striped plum-shaped tomatoes; all are still green, so I have no idea what color they'll be or how they'll taste

SunGold and GGWT were grown from commercial seeds; Goldman's came from a seed offer.

Nan_PA_6b · July 17, 2018

Hits:

Heinz 1439- tastes good, with just a hint of ketchup taste.
Targinnie Red- small tomato you can hollow out as a stuffer. It has good taste, not bland like most stuffers. It's awesome with a bit of cottage cheese or fresh Parmesan stuffed inside.
Pomodoro Sorrento Selection- much better than Pomodoro de Sorrento.
Dr. Carolyn- I knew it tastes good, but it's also rather productive.
Sungold- more productive this year.

Nan

zipcode · July 18, 2018

Mat-su Express - much disappointment. The taste is only average. I think it may be due to overproducing (it is productive). Next year I'll cut the first truss off to build more leaf mass to see if I can improve the flavour.

Rosa de Perales - interesting plant, short internodes but quite long leaves, very flat fruit which can get quite big. Taste is really good if eaten at the stage when you're not quite sure if it's ripe or not (so actual pink not dark pink).

July 16, 2018	#1
EarlyBird Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2017 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 65	Hits and Misses So Far? Hi Folks, I just thought I'd give an early season run down of the tomatoes so far: Jaune Flamme - Incredibly productive, like, wow! The flavor is quite nice, but not knocking me out.* Earl of Edgecombe - So far the best tasting of the tomatoes, and quite productive. And talk about perfect, beautiful orange orbs. Black Prince - Disappointing yield and underwhelming taste.* Cherokee Purple - I'm getting a LOT of tomatoes for this big heirloom, and most of them are big. I'm not terribly knocked out by the taste, however. Expected a classic beefsteak but it's rather bland.* Celebrity - Got this non-heirloom for insurance, and it's been pretty hardy. The biggest hit it's taken so far was severe sun scald when we went through a brutal early heatwave a couple of weeks ago. But nice and productive and a class market type tomato - only much more tasy. Mystery Cherry - I had bought a plant labeled Sun Gold, but these are very red mystery cherry tomatoes. They are just what you expect from a cherry tomato. Incredibly productive, like, help me! Too many tomatoes! * I had been giving too much water to the plants after they started producing fruit, leading to a watery, insipidness. I have cut way back and am noticing better flavor now. What about your early season report?

July 17, 2018	#6
Nan_PA_6b Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2016 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 3,194	Hits: Heinz 1439- tastes good, with just a hint of ketchup taste. Targinnie Red- small tomato you can hollow out as a stuffer. It has good taste, not bland like most stuffers. It's awesome with a bit of cottage cheese or fresh Parmesan stuffed inside. Pomodoro Sorrento Selection- much better than Pomodoro de Sorrento. Dr. Carolyn- I knew it tastes good, but it's also rather productive. Sungold- more productive this year. Nan Last edited by Nan_PA_6b; July 17, 2018 at 11:21 PM.

July 17, 2018	#2
venturabananas Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Ventura, CA Posts: 142	Celebrity is the only non-open pollinated tomato I grow these days, and grow it every year because it is tasty, productive, bulletproof, and I can start it early without messing around with seedlings during the cool part of the year, because it is always available as a start at my local nursery.

July 17, 2018	#3
Koala Doug Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2017 Location: Detroit Posts: 688	I've been dealing with the worst heat wave(s) in over thirty years for my area, so some production has definitely been affected. KARMA Pink, Sunrise Bumblebee, Early Detroit, and New Big Dwarf seem to be doing very well, considering the weather. Dwarf Sweet Sue has shown some stress from the heat (some dropped blossoms), but seems to be OK. Dwarf Caitydid has struggled with blossom drop, but the first two trusses were good... it just has a 'dead zone' in the middle of plant where pollination was practically non-existent. Luckily, I am getting some fruit at the top part of the plant now.

July 17, 2018	#4
Tomzhawaii Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2017 Location: Honolulu ,Hawaii Posts: 262	In baseball a .300 average is good. In life , not so much. My garden still in the minor leagues. But "we'll get 'em next year "

July 17, 2018	#5
HudsonValley Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2016 Location: Hudson Valley, NY, Zone 6a Posts: 626	Hits: - Stupice - massively productive; flavor quite good for an early variety - Maglia Rosa - also massively productive; still determining how ripe I prefer them, but I'll have many opportunities to figure it out I have three big "misses" among 56 plants this year: - SunGold - very early, but weird, tough skin and darker orange than usual, with green gel around seeds; plant looks and smells the same as usual (if you know what I mean...) - Goldman's Italian-American - I thought it was a mule, but as of today it has a whopping total of three blossoms; won't produce much, at this rate - GGWT - huge, prolific, but my seeds must be wrong -- the plant is throwing striped plum-shaped tomatoes; all are still green, so I have no idea what color they'll be or how they'll taste SunGold and GGWT were grown from commercial seeds; Goldman's came from a seed offer.

July 18, 2018	#7
zipcode Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Romania/Germany , z 4-6 Posts: 1,582	Mat-su Express - much disappointment. The taste is only average. I think it may be due to overproducing (it is productive). Next year I'll cut the first truss off to build more leaf mass to see if I can improve the flavour. Rosa de Perales - interesting plant, short internodes but quite long leaves, very flat fruit which can get quite big. Taste is really good if eaten at the stage when you're not quite sure if it's ripe or not (so actual pink not dark pink).