2021 Alameda, CA Container Garden

[garyc1234]

This one here is Stump of the World, another heirloom with a reputation for good flavor. I'm always fascinated by the creativity of these tomato names. How do people even think of these names. Stump of the World sounds like some kind of high level magical item or place from a fantasy novel. Nevertheless, I'll see how close this tomato comes to that vision.

[garyc1234]

This tomato plant is Bear Creek from Double Helix. This is supposed to be a larger, delicious tasting tomato. My preferred pollination method is to shake the tomato cages around once a week. Unfortunately, I haven't seen many bees or hummingbirds around lately. My sister has a hummingbird feeder at her house in San Carlos, and regularly receives numerous hummingbirds that stake their claim on that feeder and the yummy treats. I've been thinking about doing that myself in the future.

[garyc1234]

I believe this tomato is Black and Brown Boar, a smaller heirloom tomato. I've always loved how these striped tomatoes looked. Hopefully, the taste will be just as good. As you can see, the productivity on this truss is exceptional.

[simmran1]

Stump of the World was the name given by Ben Quisenberry of Syracuse, Ohio for a large rosy red beefsteak with each fruit in the 1-pound range. Under most conditions this plant grows vigorously with potato leaf foliage.
Even though it’s a favorite amongst heirloom tomato growers, seeds are hard to find, as the Sample Seed Shop, (now closed) was the only supplier. The history of his heirs state, after Ben had grown all of the different strains of Brandywine tomatoes, and being a devout Christian, he named this one ‘Stump of the World', which is a bible reference to the stump or root of Jesse as read in Isaiah 11:1.

[garyc1234]

Thanks for the background for Stump of the World! I got my seeds from Delectations in 2016/17.

[Shrinkrap]

Thanks for the update!

[garyc1234]

Finally, tasted my first tomatoes a couple of days ago. The first one here is a Sweet Million cherry tomato. A handful of these have already ripened. To be frank, these tasted like decent store bought tomatoes. It definitely had a good tomato taste to it, but didn't taste very special. Here are my initial grades:

Taste: 3/5
Productivity: 3.5/5

Summary: good tasting cherry tomatoes, but not special. a lot of tomatoes on my two plants, but cherry tomatoes are typical more productive than larger tomatoes, so I'd still say, it's only a slightly better than average for productivity.

Overall: Will not re-grow next year. Too many other potentially better cherry tomatoes to try out.

[garyc1234]

The next ripened tomato is a believe a stunted (i.e., smaller than normal) Black and Brown Boar tomato. I won't give a full grade now since I believe this is a smaller than typical for this type. The taste for this tomato that I tried was decent, but also not special. I'd give it a 3/5, but I'll wait for the larger ones to ripen to see if the grade changes any.

The bad news is that I'm starting to see some powdery mildew on my plants, which plagued me the last time I grew tomatoes. I've already "quarantined" to a different location the most affected plant (a GGWT). Hopefully, it won't spread to all of my plants. I know I should spread out the containers more to give more space between the plants, but I'm trying to save my backyard for my kids to play in rather than it being entirely devoted to my tomato plants.

[GreenThumbGal_07]

Originally Posted by garyc1234

Finally, tasted my first tomatoes a couple of days ago. The first one here is a Sweet Million cherry tomato. A handful of these have already ripened. To be frank, these tasted like decent store bought tomatoes. It definitely had a good tomato taste to it, but didn't taste very special. Here are my initial grades:

Taste: 3/5
Productivity: 3.5/5

Summary: good tasting cherry tomatoes, but not special. a lot of tomatoes on my two plants, but cherry tomatoes are typical more productive than larger tomatoes, so I'd still say, it's only a slightly better than average for productivity.

Overall: Will not re-grow next year. Too many other potentially better cherry tomatoes to try out.

You should try Gardener's Delight (Sugar Lump) if you haven't already. It's really good.

[garyc1234]

Originally Posted by GreenThumbGal_07

You should try Gardener's Delight (Sugar Lump) if you haven't already. It's really good.

Thanks for the recommendation! I think that I grew Gardener's Delight a long time ago, but I've forgotten how it tasted. I'll have to put it back on my list to try again!

[garyc1234]

Brandy Boy is the next tomato up for review. The plant has yellowed fairly quickly, but there is still decent productivity on it. This tomato had decent appearance, but another one that I had, had significant catfacing. The taste was also bland. Maybe I overwatered it.

Taste: 2.5/5
Productivity: 3/5

Overall: Will not re-grow unless later tomatoes significantly improve on the taste.

I will add that I had one huge Brandy Boy tomato that is ripening right now. I'm very curious on how that one will taste.

[garyc1234]

This one is SNFLA. The two tomatoes that I've picked so far have had severe catfacing. I hope the others are better. The taste was actually decent, but still not special.

Taste: 3.5/5
Productivity: 3/5

Overall: Will not re-grow unless later tomatoes have less catfacing. I was not able to eat much of the tomato here.

[garyc1234]

These photos are a bit old (Aug 23), but I hadn't gotten time to upload them. Anyway, I wanted to update how the container garden is currently looking. The plants are still producing, but the powdery mildew is slowing eating away at the plants. In the third picture, you can see the typical damage that is happening. The heirlooms are more affected than the hybrids as expected. I need to spend time cleaning up the dead leaves but haven't had time. Next year, I'll try to give more space between the plants. The other thing that I've changed in the last few weeks is the watering cadence. In the beginning, i watered the plants every other day, giving each a decent soaking at the base of the plant. However, the tomatoes tasted bland, so I thought that I may be overwatering. Therefore, these days, I'm watering every 4 days or so. The plants seem to be still doing fine as far as I can tell. (other than the powdery mildew, of course.)

[garyc1234]

Back to the tomato reviews. This one here is Stump of the World. It's a very nice looking, and good sized beefsteak tomato. Unfortunately, the taste wasn't anything to write home about. There weren't a lot of tomatoes here either.

Taste: 3/5
Productivity: 2.5/5

I'm on the fence about growing this one next year. It looks like a very nice tomato, but the taste was ordinary. I'm leaning towards not growing due to the productivity.

[garyc1234]

This tomato is Better Boy, a hybrid. I have to say that this is the most productive tomato in my garden. Virtually all of these plants are loaded with tomatoes. These are the typical tomatoes that look round as a ball. There are very few mis-shapen tomatoes as you see with heirlooms. Practically no catfacing, most every tomato looks like you could sell in a grocery store. The taste however is just ordinary.

Taste: 2.5/5
Productivity: 5/5

I think that I'm going to have to grow at least a couple of these plants next year for safety. Just in case the other beefsteaks are duds in productivity, at least these plants will generate enough to make the gardening experience worthwhile. Maybe in the future, I'll find a better "safety plant." However, for this years crop, I think Better Boy will be it.