I can't decide what not to grow this year... - Page 2

tash11 · March 13, 2016

My method for narrowing down the list is to keep all the varieties I have in a spreadsheet. Then I can sort the list by different columns. Then I try to grow as wide a variety as I can. I will sort the list by color, fruit size, DTM, etc. This way I don't end up with growing all the same basic stuff.

So basically a similar thing to what FathersDaughter does, but it's crazy easy to sort on the spreadsheet.

Father'sDaughter · March 13, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by tash11

My method for narrowing down the list is to keep all the varieties I have in a spreadsheet. Then I can sort the list by different columns. Then I try to grow as wide a variety as I can. I will sort the list by color, fruit size, DTM, etc. This way I don't end up with growing all the same basic stuff.

So basically a similar thing to what FathersDaughter does, but it's crazy easy to sort on the spreadsheet.

Yes, if you have the ability, a spreadsheet is the way to go. I have three--one with the seeds I have and plan to grow/grow again, one with my wish list varieties I don't (yet) have seeds for, and a third with seeds I have but have no intention of growing.

Some day I'll try to find new homes for the third batch but I've done a big SASE offer in the past and know I need the time available to manage it...

loulac · March 13, 2016

Tomato growing reminds me of stamp collecting. Beginners jump on any stamp they can find, when they are more experienced they choose a theme (color, country, animals, flowers, sites etc.). One can't expect to test some 15000 tomato varieties in a life time. Let me add that when a Tomatovillian gives a wonderful description of a tomato I don't know I may not resist the temptation of giving it a try...

kath · March 13, 2016

I haven't grown: Abe Lincoln, Amish Paste, Black Brown Boar, Box Car Willie, Helen's German, or Talavera Native, so I can't comment on those.

Of the rest, I'd be sure to try Amazon Chocolate, Aunt Ginny's Purple, Aunt Ruby's German Green, Anna Russian, Black Cherry, Black from Tula, Cherokee Purple, German Red Strawberry, Orange Russian 117, Pruden's Purple and Terhune. My favorite of all of them is Terhune, which I've grown every year since I first tried it in 2011.

Grow them all, eventually...you never know which ones will be the best for you until you try them.

kath

Al@NC · March 13, 2016

Helen's German, and Limbaughs Legacy are both Late DTM, not sure what zone you are in or how long your season is but you may not get ripe fruit with these. Tatiana called Limbaugh Midseason but there is one person there in Illinois that called it 95 days!

I can't comment on taste, etc though...

I might drop Cherokee Purple if you've grown it several times unless your trying to compare it to the other darks and/or haven't grown it.

Al

KarenO · March 13, 2016

Agree mortgage lifter is very overrated at least for me, quite possibly because it is too late to do well here.
Orange Russian 117 is a beautiful tomato but very late so depending on your local climate/altitude it might not do well for you in Utah. Maybe have a close look at days to maturity for the ones on your list and delete the latest varieties, anything over 85 days.
KarenO

ginger2778 · March 13, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigVanVader

Mortgage lifter/box car willie would be my votes. Both are below average IMO.

Ditto.
I would add Amish paste to the drop list. It's OK, but too juicy for a paste, and for fresh eating it is ordinary, no wow factor.

SharonRossy · March 13, 2016

I would say to KEEP Indian Stripe and BFT for sure. I didn't have great luck with A.Ruby's GG; and the rest I either feel so so about or haven't grown. Black Cherry has been off my list for a couple of years just because there are other black/dark cherries that I wanted to try. Seeing as we don't know what you are planning to grow, it makes it hard to comment, but I love reading the comments because it really helps me to avoid getting seeds for some of these varieties when I'm having a weak tomato moment!

Al@NC · March 13, 2016

Maybe you guys that have been around and have grown tomatoes longer than the last couple year will know the answer but has the trend been to move away from paste tomatoes for canning/sauce and to use hearts instead? If so would it make more sense to change amish paste with a good heart tomato such as wes or kosovo?

Ooops, Wes is late, Kosovo is early enough though. There's also Danko or Demidov!

Not intending to hijack the thread...

Thanks,
Allen

Father'sDaughter · March 13, 2016

While some will use any and all for canning, I'm essentially sticking with pastes. However, I have relented over the last year or two and added a few "multi purpose" varieties (Russian 117, Cuor do Bue).

I like to keep the cooking time as short as possible so I'm aiming for dry and meaty as much as possible.

Cole_Robbie · March 14, 2016

good heart tomato such as wes or kosovo?

Don't forget George Detsikas. I like Anna Maria's, too.

TressJ · March 18, 2016

Thanks for your advice everyone! Mortgage Lifter, Box Car Willie, Amish Paste and Black Cherry are out this year.

ginger2778 · March 18, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by TressJ

Thanks for your advice everyone! Mortgage Lifter, Box Car Willie, Amish Paste and Black Cherry are out this year.

Tress, I am crazy about Black Cherry, my friend who never bothers growing cherry tomatoes grew it at my urging, he said the flavor made him sit up and take notice.

remy · March 19, 2016

I am crazy about Black Cherry too!
.
About Box Car Willie, there used to be a wrong one going around, and I don't know if there still is. So that's one thing. The real one has an unusual earthy tomato flavor that you know you are growing the right one. Whether one likes the flavor is another thing.
.
Personally, I would not grow Cherokee Purple and Indian Stripe at the same time, pretty much the same, so I would do different years unless you are trying to discern the differences between the two.
.
Anna Russian has always been a clunker for me.
Remy

TressJ · March 19, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by ginger2778

Tress, I am crazy about Black Cherry, my friend who never bothers growing cherry tomatoes grew it at my urging, he said the flavor made him sit up and take notice.

I'm in.

Quote:

Originally Posted by remy

I am crazy about Black Cherry too!
.
About Box Car Willie, there used to be a wrong one going around, and I don't know if there still is. So that's one thing. The real one has an unusual earthy tomato flavor that you know you are growing the right one. Whether one likes the flavor is another thing.
.
Personally, I would not grow Cherokee Purple and Indian Stripe at the same time, pretty much the same, so I would do different years unless you are trying to discern the differences between the two.
.
Anna Russian has always been a clunker for me.
Remy

Ok that's it

- Black Cherry is back, hopefully the Grandkids love it as much as Sungold, out with Cherokee Purple. I'll give Box Car Willie a try next year, Anna Russian stays for at least one season

On a side note I acquired from my enabling uncle today 82 varieties of veges & herbs 8 varieties of tomatoes and 37 varieties of flowers

March 13, 2016	#20
Al@NC Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Vernon, BC Posts: 720	Helen's German, and Limbaughs Legacy are both Late DTM, not sure what zone you are in or how long your season is but you may not get ripe fruit with these. Tatiana called Limbaugh Midseason but there is one person there in Illinois that called it 95 days! I can't comment on taste, etc though... I might drop Cherokee Purple if you've grown it several times unless your trying to compare it to the other darks and/or haven't grown it. Al Last edited by Al@NC; March 13, 2016 at 04:44 PM.

March 13, 2016	#21
KarenO Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Vancouver Island Posts: 5,931	Agree mortgage lifter is very overrated at least for me, quite possibly because it is too late to do well here. Orange Russian 117 is a beautiful tomato but very late so depending on your local climate/altitude it might not do well for you in Utah. Maybe have a close look at days to maturity for the ones on your list and delete the latest varieties, anything over 85 days. KarenO Last edited by KarenO; March 13, 2016 at 05:06 PM.

March 13, 2016	#24
Al@NC Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Vernon, BC Posts: 720	Maybe you guys that have been around and have grown tomatoes longer than the last couple year will know the answer but has the trend been to move away from paste tomatoes for canning/sauce and to use hearts instead? If so would it make more sense to change amish paste with a good heart tomato such as wes or kosovo? Ooops, Wes is late, Kosovo is early enough though. There's also Danko or Demidov! Not intending to hijack the thread... Thanks, Allen Last edited by Al@NC; March 13, 2016 at 10:50 PM.

March 18, 2016	#27
TressJ Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2014 Location: Utah Posts: 51	Thanks for your advice everyone! Mortgage Lifter, Box Car Willie, Amish Paste and Black Cherry are out this year. __________________ TressJ TomatoPusher

March 19, 2016	#29
remy Buffalo-Niagara Tomato TasteFest™ Coordinator Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Z6 WNY Posts: 2,354	I am crazy about Black Cherry too! . About Box Car Willie, there used to be a wrong one going around, and I don't know if there still is. So that's one thing. The real one has an unusual earthy tomato flavor that you know you are growing the right one. Whether one likes the flavor is another thing. . Personally, I would not grow Cherokee Purple and Indian Stripe at the same time, pretty much the same, so I would do different years unless you are trying to discern the differences between the two. . Anna Russian has always been a clunker for me. Remy __________________ "I wake to sleep and take my waking slow" -Theodore Roethke Yes, we have a great party for WNY/Ontario tomato growers every year on Grand Island! Owner of The Sample Seed Shop Last edited by remy; March 19, 2016 at 12:33 AM. Reason: spelling

March 13, 2016	#16
tash11 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: Ohio Posts: 156	My method for narrowing down the list is to keep all the varieties I have in a spreadsheet. Then I can sort the list by different columns. Then I try to grow as wide a variety as I can. I will sort the list by color, fruit size, DTM, etc. This way I don't end up with growing all the same basic stuff. So basically a similar thing to what FathersDaughter does, but it's crazy easy to sort on the spreadsheet.

March 13, 2016	#18
loulac Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: France Posts: 554	Tomato growing reminds me of stamp collecting. Beginners jump on any stamp they can find, when they are more experienced they choose a theme (color, country, animals, flowers, sites etc.). One can't expect to test some 15000 tomato varieties in a life time. Let me add that when a Tomatovillian gives a wonderful description of a tomato I don't know I may not resist the temptation of giving it a try...

March 13, 2016	#19
kath Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: zone 6b, PA Posts: 5,664	I haven't grown: Abe Lincoln, Amish Paste, Black Brown Boar, Box Car Willie, Helen's German, or Talavera Native, so I can't comment on those. Of the rest, I'd be sure to try Amazon Chocolate, Aunt Ginny's Purple, Aunt Ruby's German Green, Anna Russian, Black Cherry, Black from Tula, Cherokee Purple, German Red Strawberry, Orange Russian 117, Pruden's Purple and Terhune. My favorite of all of them is Terhune, which I've grown every year since I first tried it in 2011. Grow them all, eventually...you never know which ones will be the best for you until you try them. kath

March 13, 2016	#23
SharonRossy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Montreal Posts: 1,140	I would say to KEEP Indian Stripe and BFT for sure. I didn't have great luck with A.Ruby's GG; and the rest I either feel so so about or haven't grown. Black Cherry has been off my list for a couple of years just because there are other black/dark cherries that I wanted to try. Seeing as we don't know what you are planning to grow, it makes it hard to comment, but I love reading the comments because it really helps me to avoid getting seeds for some of these varieties when I'm having a weak tomato moment!

March 13, 2016	#25
Father'sDaughter Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: MA/NH Border Posts: 4,919	While some will use any and all for canning, I'm essentially sticking with pastes. However, I have relented over the last year or two and added a few "multi purpose" varieties (Russian 117, Cuor do Bue). I like to keep the cooking time as short as possible so I'm aiming for dry and meaty as much as possible.

March 14, 2016	#26
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	good heart tomato such as wes or kosovo? Don't forget George Detsikas. I like Anna Maria's, too.