Hey Fellow Floridians - Year 2

[Fiishergurl]

Hubby and I tasted some tomatoes side by side and Rose De Berne was the winner. A lucious pink about tennis ball sized. Pictured here next to a Costoluto Genovese.

Ella did you like it? I think you grew it this year right?



Ginny

[efisakov]

I am growing it. I do like the taste. They resemble Eva Purple Ball by the taste and size, but they are not the same variety. I grew EPB few years ago and its fruits were easy to fall off the stem, I learned not to touch them until ready to pick.
I picked 8.6 pounds of Rose De Berne so far. Good producer. In July I picked about 3.5 pounds and the rest since that. The only concern I have is its size. In my garden they are on average 3.8 ounces, Tatiana's website has it at 6-8, rareseeds.com at 4-8. So my are a bit smaller. They are next to Daniel's, that is averaging 9.988 ounces. So, you can not blame soil or sun.
How are they for you?

[Fiishergurl]

Originally Posted by efisakov

I am growing it. I do like the taste. They resemble Eva Purple Ball by the taste and size, but they are not the same variety. I grew EPB few years ago and its fruits were easy to fall off the stem, I learned not to touch them until ready to pick.
I picked 8.6 pounds of Rose De Berne so far. Good producer. In July I picked about 3.5 pounds and the rest since that. The only concern I have is its size. In my garden they are on average 3.8 ounces, Tatiana's website has it at 6-8, rareseeds.com at 4-8. So my are a bit smaller. They are next to Daniel's, that is averaging 9.988 ounces. So, you can not blame soil or sun.
How are they for you?

Ella,

I just weighed them and the largest in the picture is 5 ounces and smallest is 2.2 ounces so not so big. I am growing just one plant of it this fall because to me it taste better than other early ones i have tried like Stupice and Jaune Flamme but just as productive. Since it is smaller and so productive its a good early one to share with neighbors while the others are still waiting to ripen... :-)

Was yours early also?

Ginny

[efisakov]

It was not the first to ripen. Black varieties were earliest this year.

Grightmire's Pride was earliest pink, as far as I remember. Are you growing it? It is tasty and productive too.
Rose De Berne was more midseason for me.

[Fiishergurl]

Yes I cant wait to try GP. Marsha sent me seeds last year and twice (last fall and this past spring) i have started the seeds and then had something happen. Long story but looking forward to trying it this go round. Maybe i should just go with 3 or 4 GP and skip Rose De Berne. GP is heart and I love hearts, bigger size, productive earlier and gets rave reviews.

Now that I think about it i bought my plants from Wolffs for here and some were much bigger already than others when I planted them out. The bigger ones started setting fruit earlier so it just made them seem earlier because they were older and bigger when I planted them out.

Ginny

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[efisakov]

Same here, I was planning to set out earlier just one tomato bed (12 plants). Started seeds Feb. 17, the rest were started 18 days later. I checked the weather and decided to go all inn. Planted them April 21. Mothers day planting time is the recommended for our area.
Ginny, the time you start seeds is important. The other thing that is as equally important is how early this varieties are?

[Fiishergurl]

Yes agreed Ella. Through trial and error I realized mine do better if I start them in late July and plant out in Sept. Like Kay said as long as they are hardened off they are fine because it has cooled off by the time they set blossoms. I started way too many of each kind.



These are my fall seedlings. I only need about 35 and I started about 10 of each type. I was paranoid after what happened to my seedlings last fall I guess. I started them and left them with my mom while I went on a two week business trip and when I got back they were fried.

Ginny

[Fiishergurl]

Some tomatos and a couple cukes I picked last night and this morning. Silly me, i thought that big Wes tomato would be well over a pound but its just a smidge over. If it was a beefsteak instead of a heart it would be heavier because of all of the extra fluids that a beefsteak has I think.

Not complaining. Just was surprised at the weight compared to how big it is.

Pic of the top sides... no cracking or anything.

[Fiishergurl]

Hey all is it time for a new Florida thread since we are starting our Fall crops?

Ginny

[ginger2778]

Lets not, Ginny. This one has a sticky.

[Barb_FL]

Finally - they have been close to $17 for a long time now.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-list...&condition=new

[Zone9b]

Originally Posted by kayrobbins

Larry, I plant my tomatoes around mid August. I use to wait until September but we do get occasional freezes here so I like to get a head start to get as many tomatoes as possible. As long as I have them properly hardened off I don't worry about the heat because that is not an issue until they are blooming.

Kay,
Thanks for the info. I think I will go earlier for this fall. I may get a few in this week end and possibly more in later this month. We had a low of 73 this morning, it felt good.
Larry

[ginger2778]

Thanks Barb. I just ordered 2 packs. $22.45 including shipping.

[AudreyFL]

Hi everyone!

We were away for the summer and am just now planning to start tomato seeds. I was looking through old posts here and saw the recommendation for Park Seed Biodome. Is that what you all have found works best? This is my 2nd tomato season and had mixed luck last year alternating between jiffy pots, recycled 6-Pack black plastic pots from Home Depot prior veggie purchases, and cheaper dome products.

Wondering if starting seeds directly in 4" pots and just transplanting once into permanent container is recommended. (Since I won't of course need grow lights and things like our northern friends need...)

And thanks for the heads up on yellow sticky traps sale on Amazon. Just ordered!

-Audrey in Jupiter

[Barb_FL]

Originally Posted by AudreyFL

Hi everyone!

We were away for the summer and am just now planning to start tomato seeds. I was looking through old posts here and saw the recommendation for Park Seed Biodome. Is that what you all have found works best? This is my 2nd tomato season and had mixed luck last year alternating between jiffy pots, recycled 6-Pack black plastic pots from Home Depot prior veggie purchases, and cheaper dome products.

Wondering if starting seeds directly in 4" pots and just transplanting once into permanent container is recommended. (Since I won't of course need grow lights and things like our northern friends need...)

And thanks for the heads up on yellow sticky traps sale on Amazon. Just ordered!

-Audrey in Jupiter

I bought a Biodome from PS and hated the spongy things. I do use the bottom green tray and the top dome for car transporting but I sow in the bigger the 6 cell packs with pro-mix. IF you want a tray and dome, you can find one way cheaper than PS.