Beautiful, uniform, blemish free tomatoes - Page 3

b54red · July 19, 2020

Don those don't look like the Arkansas Travelers I have grown for years. Mine are more beefsteak looking and they generally start out fairly large near a pound and as the season goes on they will get smaller but not tiny. The fruits are fairly smooth and good looking and tend to stay that way through inclement weather. They are not too bad to split and hold well on the shelf. They usually produce well right through the heat of mid summer.

Neves Azorean Red is a bigger and more perfect looking tomato but is probably too large for what you are looking for but it is usually very dependable and the taste is excellent.

Since you like Big Beef and Goliath you might be interested in Bella Rosa. It is a big quick producer of fairly tasty perfect looking tomatoes on a determinate plant so it is easy to care for. When I grew them I did have to stake and tie them some because they became so loaded down with a lot of large fruit at the same time. If I remember correctly then it has the same disease package as Big Beef and Goliath but may have some resistance to TSWV but I'm not sure.

I never had much luck with Eva Purple Ball although it is a beautiful tomato and does not split easily. Most years production was low and late and the flavor was a bit bland for me. I felt the same about Druzba but it did produce larger fruit but it was also a fairly late producer and sporadic from year to year.

If you want a tomato similar to Cherokee Purple then you might want to try Spudakee since it is the PL version and has been far more productive for me than CP, so much so that I dropped CP for Spudakee years ago. I can't say enough good about Indian Stripe but it is more susceptible to radial splitting and gray mold.

Bill

TomatoDon · July 19, 2020

One thing I learned when I started selling tomatoes is that it is easier to sell a five pounds that has of 7-8 medium size tomatoes than it is to sell, let's say 5 pounds of Goliath that only has 5 tomatoes, and it's not that hard to get four Goliaths that weigh 5 pounds. Neves is a good tomato but I'm not so sure how well it would do as a market tomato because of its size.
We have a lot of good tomatoes listed in this thread, but some are going to be too small for my purposes. I might should amend the criteria to say "sandwich slicing tomatoes."
BTW, the Amish near me have started growing a lot of Bella Rosa and Dixie Reds. I also hear that Red Deuce is a good market tomato that is a great sandwich slicer. Some growers in my area also love Amelia.
What do you think about the old Gulf States Market tomato? And Florida 47? Also, someone here mentioned Red Rocket and the info I found said, "60 days, 8-10 ounces. This compact, bushy plant seems to take off like a rocket when loads of bright red tomatoes ripen up early in the season. Fruit is in the 8 to 10 oz. range and smooth with absolutely no blemishes. You will be pleasantly surprised, too, that these are very flavorful tomatoes with a good blend of sugar and acid, giving you top quality fruit as well as earliness." If that is accurate, I certainly need to try Red Rocket, too.
Park's Whopper is listed in the seed catalogs as having a 65 DTM, which seems short to me, considering their size. Others from this list that have interested me are Estiva, Santa Clara Canner, Rose De Berne , Druzba, Mountain Gem, and some others I am still researching. From past experience, I think Bush Goliath and Better Bush would fit the criteria.
There are others from this thread that sound good, but are going to be either too small or too mild/sweet for what I'm looking for.
The search continues in hopes of compiling a good master list of good tomatoes with short DTM's listings and also for next year.
Thanks to everyone who has participated in this. Keep the suggestions coming.
Don

zeuspaul · July 19, 2020

I don't get a lot of splitting with Carbon. Nice vigorous plants.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TomatoDon

This is a little off topic, but not worthy of its own thread, but everyone here loves Cherokee Purple. If I don't pick them a little early they are bad to split. Is there another variety similar, ie Indian Stripe, etc., that doesn't split as much as Cherokee Purple?
BTW, Craig, thanks again for your work with CP. It is the only tomato I grow that multiple customers ask for by name.

TomatoDon · July 19, 2020

I'll have to give Carbon a serious try next year. What about Indian Stripe? Are they similar to Cherokee Purple, but more productive and with less splitting?

friedgreen51 · July 20, 2020

Hi Don,
I live in 7B also. I have grown Mountain Fresh Plus for 2 years now. They are decent tasting and always have beautiful smooth tomatoes. They are an introduction from Dr. Randy Gardner at N.C. State University. Here is a picture of one of my plants made this past Saturday. I didn't get to plant this year until the last of April due to late frosts. They are reliable, disease resistant and a determinate.

zipcode · July 21, 2020

Quote:

Originally Posted by TomatoDon

I'll have to give Carbon a serious try next year. What about Indian Stripe? Are they similar to Cherokee Purple, but more productive and with less splitting?

Indian Stripe is quite prone to cracking around the stem even out of the rain. Currently the most split crack resistant black I've grown has been GGWT (also has more shelf life).

habitat_gardener · July 22, 2020

I've grown several of the ones mentioned so far, plus one that I think meets the criteria: Bonny Best, an older canning-type tomato. Perfect red orbs.
Druzba and Thessaloniki were good
Rose de Berne is the most consistent tomato I've ever grown. It produced well in part shade, full sun (even with 90F-100F days), etc., and basically outperformed every other variety in "bad" tomato years
ISPL was a good, relatively early producer last year, but I generally think of black tomatoes as more fragile -- I don't recall if that was true for ISPL.

None of these are my favorites, because I prefer sweeter and more solid (less juicy) tomatoes, but I still grow some of them each year. Rose de Berne, especially, is so reliable that I grow it almost every year!

TomatoDon · July 23, 2020

In my research, I found this site that has excellent pictures and descriptions of several of the varieties we have mentioned here. I'm not advertising or suggesting this seed company. I'm just using it here for information.

https://twilleyseed.com/vegetables/vegetables_tomato

JRinPA · July 23, 2020

I suggested Estiva F1 in one of your threads a few years back: http://www.tomatoville.com/showpost....2&postcount=12

Quote:

"I'm not sure exactly what you are looking for, and I don't know how well it does in southern heat, but I have been thoroughly impressed with the production side of Estiva F1 from Johnny's. This is my third year growing them in SE PA (6B/7A border). The tomatoes are perfect red globes with no dents, ribs, or catfacing. They have large seed chambers, similar to early girl. The taste is good and size is maybe 6-8oz. Tennis ball size down to racquetball size.

Beautiful, uniform, blemish free - check. I wouldn't consider them a slicer though. They have 3 or 4 big seed cavities. I also don't know about the flavor - they are good, but describing stuff as old fashioned and such, I can't do.

I ran out of seed and haven't grown it for a few years due to having to order from Johnnys and having bought a bunch of big beef seed.

TomatoDon · July 23, 2020

Thank you JRinPA. Estiva is a beautiful tomato, and thank you for mentioning it. I am winnowing down my list and Estiva barely missed the cut, mainly due to its size. I have shifted my criteria more to 8 ounce and larger slicers, and those that are specifically mentioned as doing well in hot, humid, semi-tropical climates like mine. Our heat index is over 100 f and will continue that through August. It takes a special tomato to stand up to a lot of that kind of heat, and that makes the selection process more difficult. There are lots of great tasting tomatoes that do great in milder climates, but this weather gets them in late July and August.

JRinPA · July 24, 2020

I'd say these were 5-6 oz for the most part. And not really ideal for sandwiches. Good wall but a lot of seed cavity. Big Beef has a better inside structure for a slice. But seriously, amazingly blemish free and great fruit set. If I get an order in this off season I will likely grow again.

Who knows what they would do down your way in the heat, that is always the question.

DonDuck · July 26, 2020

I try to grow some really large tomatoes early in the season and if I wasn't growing them, I would be trying to buy them. I do the same thing with onions. Early in the season, I like single slice onions and tomatoes for hamburgers and sandwiches which perfectly fit the bread or bun. I really get tired of tiny little slices which usually wind up in my lap. After the first sandwich or sandwiches with beautiful vine ripened tomato and garden grown sweet onion; I don't worry about it because a napkin can hold everything in place.

JerryHaskins · July 28, 2020

Quote:

Originally Posted by TomatoDon

In my research, I found this site that has excellent pictures and descriptions of several of the varieties we have mentioned here. I'm not advertising or suggesting this seed company. I'm just using it here for information.

https://twilleyseed.com/vegetables/vegetables_tomato

Great link, Don. And great comments in the thread.

As a small home gardener, I am amazed at the number of different varieties of tomatoes.

I have grown them from seeds in the past, but now I just buy plants at the local stores. And the number of local gardening and co-op stores seems to be declining every year. Now we mostly can only get Bonnie plants at Walmart, Tractor Supply, and Home Depot locally. (I can drive 40 miles and get more tomato plant selection, but it's still limited to what that garden center chooses to grow.)

Frequently, that means VERY limited choices. All of those wonderful varieties y'all describe makes me consider going back to starting my tomatoes from seeds.

By the way, I'm not sure why the Otis S. Twilley Seed web site avoids saying where it is located. I searched and it is apparently in Hodges, SC.

TomatoDon · July 29, 2020

Thanks Jerry. You are correct that Twilly Seeds is in South Carolina.
Where in Mississippi are you located? In the the vicinity if Oxford and Grenada.
Don

JerryHaskins · July 29, 2020

Quote:

Originally Posted by TomatoDon

Thanks Jerry. You are correct that Twilly Seeds is in South Carolina.
Where in Mississippi are you located? In the the vicinity if Oxford and Grenada.
Don

I'm in Warren County, near Vicksburg. I have done some time in Oxford and Starkville. I'm originally from a very rural part of Kemper County. Thinking about it, all of Kemper is very rural.

July 19, 2020	#32
TomatoDon Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MS Posts: 1,523	One thing I learned when I started selling tomatoes is that it is easier to sell a five pounds that has of 7-8 medium size tomatoes than it is to sell, let's say 5 pounds of Goliath that only has 5 tomatoes, and it's not that hard to get four Goliaths that weigh 5 pounds. Neves is a good tomato but I'm not so sure how well it would do as a market tomato because of its size. We have a lot of good tomatoes listed in this thread, but some are going to be too small for my purposes. I might should amend the criteria to say "sandwich slicing tomatoes." BTW, the Amish near me have started growing a lot of Bella Rosa and Dixie Reds. I also hear that Red Deuce is a good market tomato that is a great sandwich slicer. Some growers in my area also love Amelia. What do you think about the old Gulf States Market tomato? And Florida 47? Also, someone here mentioned Red Rocket and the info I found said, "60 days, 8-10 ounces. This compact, bushy plant seems to take off like a rocket when loads of bright red tomatoes ripen up early in the season. Fruit is in the 8 to 10 oz. range and smooth with absolutely no blemishes. You will be pleasantly surprised, too, that these are very flavorful tomatoes with a good blend of sugar and acid, giving you top quality fruit as well as earliness." If that is accurate, I certainly need to try Red Rocket, too. Park's Whopper is listed in the seed catalogs as having a 65 DTM, which seems short to me, considering their size. Others from this list that have interested me are Estiva, Santa Clara Canner, Rose De Berne , Druzba, Mountain Gem, and some others I am still researching. From past experience, I think Bush Goliath and Better Bush would fit the criteria. There are others from this thread that sound good, but are going to be either too small or too mild/sweet for what I'm looking for. The search continues in hopes of compiling a good master list of good tomatoes with short DTM's listings and also for next year. Thanks to everyone who has participated in this. Keep the suggestions coming. Don __________________ Zone 7B, N. MS

July 19, 2020	#34
TomatoDon Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MS Posts: 1,523	I'll have to give Carbon a serious try next year. What about Indian Stripe? Are they similar to Cherokee Purple, but more productive and with less splitting? __________________ Zone 7B, N. MS

July 23, 2020	#38
TomatoDon Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MS Posts: 1,523	In my research, I found this site that has excellent pictures and descriptions of several of the varieties we have mentioned here. I'm not advertising or suggesting this seed company. I'm just using it here for information. https://twilleyseed.com/vegetables/vegetables_tomato __________________ Zone 7B, N. MS

July 23, 2020	#40
TomatoDon Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MS Posts: 1,523	Thank you JRinPA. Estiva is a beautiful tomato, and thank you for mentioning it. I am winnowing down my list and Estiva barely missed the cut, mainly due to its size. I have shifted my criteria more to 8 ounce and larger slicers, and those that are specifically mentioned as doing well in hot, humid, semi-tropical climates like mine. Our heat index is over 100 f and will continue that through August. It takes a special tomato to stand up to a lot of that kind of heat, and that makes the selection process more difficult. There are lots of great tasting tomatoes that do great in milder climates, but this weather gets them in late July and August. __________________ Zone 7B, N. MS

July 29, 2020	#44
TomatoDon Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MS Posts: 1,523	Thanks Jerry. You are correct that Twilly Seeds is in South Carolina. Where in Mississippi are you located? In the the vicinity if Oxford and Grenada. Don __________________ Zone 7B, N. MS

July 19, 2020	#31
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	Don those don't look like the Arkansas Travelers I have grown for years. Mine are more beefsteak looking and they generally start out fairly large near a pound and as the season goes on they will get smaller but not tiny. The fruits are fairly smooth and good looking and tend to stay that way through inclement weather. They are not too bad to split and hold well on the shelf. They usually produce well right through the heat of mid summer. Neves Azorean Red is a bigger and more perfect looking tomato but is probably too large for what you are looking for but it is usually very dependable and the taste is excellent. Since you like Big Beef and Goliath you might be interested in Bella Rosa. It is a big quick producer of fairly tasty perfect looking tomatoes on a determinate plant so it is easy to care for. When I grew them I did have to stake and tie them some because they became so loaded down with a lot of large fruit at the same time. If I remember correctly then it has the same disease package as Big Beef and Goliath but may have some resistance to TSWV but I'm not sure. I never had much luck with Eva Purple Ball although it is a beautiful tomato and does not split easily. Most years production was low and late and the flavor was a bit bland for me. I felt the same about Druzba but it did produce larger fruit but it was also a fairly late producer and sporadic from year to year. If you want a tomato similar to Cherokee Purple then you might want to try Spudakee since it is the PL version and has been far more productive for me than CP, so much so that I dropped CP for Spudakee years ago. I can't say enough good about Indian Stripe but it is more susceptible to radial splitting and gray mold. Bill

July 22, 2020	#37
habitat_gardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: California Central Valley Posts: 2,543	I've grown several of the ones mentioned so far, plus one that I think meets the criteria: Bonny Best, an older canning-type tomato. Perfect red orbs. Druzba and Thessaloniki were good Rose de Berne is the most consistent tomato I've ever grown. It produced well in part shade, full sun (even with 90F-100F days), etc., and basically outperformed every other variety in "bad" tomato years ISPL was a good, relatively early producer last year, but I generally think of black tomatoes as more fragile -- I don't recall if that was true for ISPL. None of these are my favorites, because I prefer sweeter and more solid (less juicy) tomatoes, but I still grow some of them each year. Rose de Berne, especially, is so reliable that I grow it almost every year!

July 24, 2020	#41
JRinPA Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: SE PA Posts: 972	I'd say these were 5-6 oz for the most part. And not really ideal for sandwiches. Good wall but a lot of seed cavity. Big Beef has a better inside structure for a slice. But seriously, amazingly blemish free and great fruit set. If I get an order in this off season I will likely grow again. Who knows what they would do down your way in the heat, that is always the question.

July 26, 2020	#42
DonDuck Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2017 Location: Corinth, texas Posts: 1,784	I try to grow some really large tomatoes early in the season and if I wasn't growing them, I would be trying to buy them. I do the same thing with onions. Early in the season, I like single slice onions and tomatoes for hamburgers and sandwiches which perfectly fit the bread or bun. I really get tired of tiny little slices which usually wind up in my lap. After the first sandwich or sandwiches with beautiful vine ripened tomato and garden grown sweet onion; I don't worry about it because a napkin can hold everything in place.