Carolyn's Fall 2014 Feedback Reports

[natural]

Hespole - none planted. only 1 seed germinated and the lone seedling went down to disease.
Dons Double Delight - 1 plant produced a few very good tasting medium striped tomatoes. Would plant again in a better spot.
Orange Minsk Heart - 1 plant went down to disease before any harvest
Joes Pink Heart - mid-season production - very strong plants produced many large pink hearts with good flavor. There are other hearts that I prefer for flavor, but I would grow this one again based on production and flavor.
Dixiewine - this plant struggled out of the gate but recovered to produce a few medium size round tomatoes with good flavor. I would give this one another chance.

Bill

[Mark$]

MARIA AMAZILITEI GIANT RED - Somewhat of a disappointment in terms of production. May have been the location. Two to three heart shaped fruit with average taste.

DHF-1200-33 As expected much variety in shape. From small plums to average 8 to 10 oz fruit red with a very slight blue blush on the shoulders.

[Mark0820]

Loka (2014) - 1 plant - What Nancyruhl and patihum said. The plant was very compact, but loaded with fruit. The tomatoes were identical to Nancyruhl's picture (small fluted beefsteak shaped tomatoes), and the flavor was unpleasant. I don't think this variety has a future in my garden.

Istra (2014) - 1 plant - A very productive RL plant that produced 1 to 2 pound red beefsteak tomatoes. The tomatoes were very meaty with few seeds. The flavor was good, but milder than I prefer. I will grow again every 2 or 3 years. Next year, I plan to grow it and see how it performs as a sauce tomato (since it is very meaty with few seeds).

Black Magic (2012) - 1 plant - A PL plant that produced dark beefsteak tomatoes. Production was very low. The flavor was very good and different from most dark tomatoes. I will grow again next year to see if production improves in different growing conditions.

[patty_b]

Joe's Pink Oxheart 2012.. really liked will grow again.

Cuostralee 2013 .. my biggest problem was knowing whether to spell it cuo or cou??
good red but Couilles de Taurea did better!

Maria Amiziliteri Giant Red 2013 ... loved this one ..especially the ones with the long solid
tips. Heavy producer. A real winner!

Tried to uploaded pictures but they are not going though today for me..........

[Paul R]

Rancho Solito: my results were the same as PNW_D as for as production (good) and flavor, good. The point on the blossom end was almost nonexistent.

Antho x Serdtse Boivola: very faint heart shape if at all. The color purple started at the top with stripes running down and stayed that way for a week or two. The purple began to fill in from the top down. The tomatoes ended up a orange red color when ripe. The flavor was bland but production was vary good.

Paul R

[lefolly]

Planted out over the weekend of 5/10/14


Sen-say (2013) Did not germinate
Raspberry Miracle (2013) 1 plant, Produced pink beefsteaks in the 8oz to 1lb 2oz range, very meaty, juicy fruit, first ripe tomato on 9/6
Buddy Runyon (2013) 4 plants, Oblong shaped red tomatoes, productive plants, meaty fruit, low acid taste, going strong since mid-July.
Dixiewine (2013) 1 plant, 4 large 1 lb.+ fruit, Plant got sick after the first rain shower, took a while for it to bounce back. First fruit blush was 9/26, fruit flies got to it before I did.
Rancho Solito (2013) 4 planted. Productive variety. All 4 plants were potato leaf as noted. Lots of 1/2 to 3/4inch fruits with pointy ends although not as pronounced as the season went on, good tomato flavor, others noted the skin was too thick for their liking. Variety was prone to cracking if rain was even forecasted, making them a fruit fly fan favorite
Iva's Red Berry (2013) 7 Planted. Wow what a productive variety. Put Sun Sugar and Sun Gold to shame, and it has an interesting rounded tip regular leaf to boot. Trusses had a good 20+ 1/2 inch fruit on them, with a sweet taste, but not Sun Gold sweet


I will definitely be planting out Buddy Runyon and Iva’s Red Berry again next year, I may give Raspberry Miracle another shot if I have the time to expand my gardens footprint in the spring and still keep it safe from my plant killer puppy, and deer, and elk.

[gill_s]

Dixie Wine:- plant was as described. It had average production of very large, red beefsteaks with very good flavour.

Raspberry Miracle:-plant as described with good mid season production of fairly large pink beefsteaks, with more fruit still growing. The flavour is very good.

Verde Claro:-plant as described. The tomatoes were early, plentiful, elongated, green cherries with excellent flavour.

[daninpd]

Dixiewine was as described, below average production of large beefsteaks. Liked the taste.
Raspberry Miracle was as described, good production of 6 oz to 1 lb fruit. Liked the taste.
Zachary was as described, extremely productive (still producing) and a very good salad size tomato.
Podarok Fei was as described, I grew it in a container so low productivity may be due to that. Produced 1.5 oz bright orange blunt hearts. Big tomato tart taste, some with tough skin. Almost a decorative tomato. Grow it next to Indigo Rose for a color contrast.
Sweet Ozark Orange I'm having a big one tonight with avocado and crab cakes. Above average production, very late, very tasty. 1lb plus.

[chiefbeaz]

1. Burning Spear didn't germinate for me

2. Don's Double Delight ( 2012) 4 out of 5 seeds germinated . A couple of nice size fruits but the average was on the small size, 6-7 oz. Production wasn't much to write home about . The taste of this tomato didn't excite me, a bland sweet taste that was also mushy. In its defense, none of the yellow or orange tomato's I grew this year tasted good to me and my son's favorite was Elbe. Different strokes for different folks.

3. Orange Strawberry (2013) Not sure of the germination rate on this one. Only had one plant to put in the ground. I lost a few plants this year due to a heat build up in a greenhouse I had the plants in. Orange Strawberry must have been one of the plants I lost. Production was average the first of the season, but fell off mid season. Fruit's on the small size except for the first couple of tomatoes. I didn't like this one at all. To bland for me

4.Dixiewine (2013) Had 3 seeds to germinate, lost 2 plants to heat . The one plant that I was able to grow had below average production, but outstanding taste.The early fruits were on the large size 14-16 oz ,but got smaller as the season went along . Both my wife and I agreed that it was our favorite tasting tomato this year.

5.Marie Amazilitei Giant Red (2014) .All 5 seeds germinated. Large fruit at beginning of season, smaller fruit towards end of summer. Good taste and very meaty. Tall plants with good leaf cover. Produced well throughout season.

Thanks Carolyn for sharing the seeds with me. This year was the worst that I have had in a long time for growing tomatoes. Some tomatoes did great and some just were sorry. Don't know why the yellow and Orange didn't excite me this time. Always next year, that's what makes gardening fun and exciting. You never know what is going to happen.

[rxkeith]

no tomatoes for me this year. weather wasn't warm enough, long enough. things just didn't work out for me. will try again next year.



keith

[Iva]

Same as Clara, really bad year with Late Blight wiping out every single plant in my garden. Have to check out which varieties even produced anything before dying.

From the top of my head I remember that Kazachka (2009 seeds, two plants planted out) did not produce true to type fruits, as they were round, golf ball sized and dark red in color. Taste was also blah, so I will not be growing this one again.

I'll report on other varieties later, have to go feed baby Ian (he will be three weeks old on Sunday, so that's NEW)...

[Barbee]

Just one for me
Raspberry Miracle- Great plant that was loaded with tomatoes in the 1 lb range. Fit description. Photo already posted in the photo gallery

Thanks so much!

[carolyn137]

Sorry for the delay in making comments but a few health problems here, RN's and PT persons stopping buy but worst was the fact that I was given an extension for my tax returns, went to find all the returned statements, spent hours doing that, then had to call here and there to get the data I needed to submit to my tax man which is due OCt 15th.

OK, I admit that I watched some tennis, I did read some good books, I just could not force myself to address that tax stuff.

Feedback is going the way it normally does, that is some love variety X others couldn't germinate it, some like variety Y, others didn't like the taste and/or yield.

What I'm looking for is wrong varieties and I see only one to date, with Kath's Sugary Elephant one which is pink and she got red, so hopefully others will list that one as well/

Enjoy the feedback but don't assume if someone likes a variety that you, collectively, also will since the only way to know is to grow is to grow tomatoes the way you do and in which particular season.

Now a request before I make some comments. The Jan 2015 offer is the last I'll be doing along with the germination and feedback threads. I've said this in other posts here, but another person will be taking over after that but it will still be my responsibility to find hopefully new varieties that haven't been spread around, or minimally, so, if anyone here has such a variety just e-mail me at cmale@aol.com and I thank you.


Kath, looking good and I hope some others report back on Sugary Elephant to see what color they got. Istra should be much bigger, as Mark got.

Patihum, sour Loka eh? Some others thought the same, and since I didn't give the whole background in myoffer here's just a few specifics. In the area around Accra, Ghana ,Loka means local, and my seed source, a member here,said it can be found at many stands along the road. perhaps the Ghanians do like a more tart/sour tomatoes.

ljp, hoping for a much later frost for you

Clara, sorry to hear that mine went down with LateBlight . Always next year and I owe you an e-mail.

Dinca, sorry you got such poor production

Dutch, glad Sen Say was good for you and do try Anna Margarets Heart sometime in the future.

Nancy r, OK, we know about Loka again. LOL

Mike, Girocs should be much bigger than what you got

Natural, as is oft said, there's always next year. <G>

Mark, so you wereLoka negative as well, but the Istra you got was the size it should be

lefolly, so you got no Sen Says, and glad you liked Iva/s Red Berry

gill, Verde Claro, bred by Tom Wagner is perhaps the best tasting GWR small one I've tasted to date. But should be slightly elongated, not a round cherry

Keith, again, there's always next year

Iva, You said you didn't like the taste of Kazachka, but remember that a plant of it can have either cherries or a mini beefsteaks, save seeds from one or the other and you get both, so OK as to variety and I confirmed that With Andrey in Belarus as well, since that one I was growing at home, well,Freda was for me. Baby Ian? Congratualtions, please share more if you'd like to either here or you can e-mail me.

Lastly, I know my regular four seed producers very well by now and have for many years, and so when taste comes up , well, they have the same tastes I do and describe varieties in full to me. I do get to taste quite a few ones here at home if Freda keeps them going for me. But in each offer there are donated seeds, and some I can speak to b'c I've grown them before I fell in Dec of 2004 which put me in this walker, and some I can check in the SSE Yearbooks, but some are just as unknown to me as they might be for any of you,

All for now,

Carolyn

[kath]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

What I'm looking for is wrong varieties and I see only one to date, with Kath's Sugary Elephant one which is pink and she got red, so hopefully others will list that one as well/

Kath, looking good and I hope some others report back on Sugary Elephant to see what color they got. Istra should be much bigger, as Mark got.

Mike, Girocs should be much bigger than what you got

Carolyn

Hope you're doing better, Carolyn. Also that others will report back on Sugary Elephant.

Wanted to say that my Istras were between one and two pounds, just like Mark's- maybe the ones in the photo look smaller. My Girocs were the ones that were smaller than described- same problem that Mike saw with them.

kath

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by kath

Hope you're doing better, Carolyn. Also that others will report back on Sugary Elephant.

Wanted to say that my Istras were between one and two pounds, just like Mark's- maybe the ones in the photo look smaller. My Girocs were the ones that were smaller than described- same problem that Mike saw with them.

kath

Kath and Mark, about Giroc, my seeds from Geza Korberly in Hungary, the variety from Romania, I go by the info sent back to me by the person doing the seed production who gives me feedback info and I just checked and the person said, for Giroc...pink beef, usually greater than one pound, very good taste. Above that one was his description of Istra, RL, indet, red beefs, exc taste. And they tell me how many seeds they can send. 3/4 of my regular seed producers are listed SSE members so they know they can also list the varieties they work with each year.

Yes, I know that seasons are different but when I saw a 3 oz fruit being described my eyelashes fluttered.

Each year I pick the few new ones I want to grow at home here, hope I can get someone to raise the plants for me and hope that Freda takes care of them, which she does sometimes, and sometimes not.

I didn't grow either Giroc or Istra here at home.

Carolyn