Found my Holy Grail of tomatoes!

[cecilsgarden1958]

Originally Posted by angelstiger

Momotaro seeds are available from Trade Winds, for $1.25 a packet + $.25 per packet shipping. They also have Oridoko which they say is closely related and has the same flavor. BTW they list them both as heirloom, LOL.

http://www.tradewindsfruit.com/order_vegetables.htm

Makes you wonder if their seeds are as reliable as their blurbs.

CECIL

[MsCowpea]

Gimme, thanks for the song--forgot I said 'cue beautiful music' so for a minute there thought you lost your mind. (ha ha, just for a minute). Hope momotaro is as good next year or the theme will be 'your cheating heart' as my affections flit from tom to tom.

Here's a pic from this season: one of my table- legged raised container

[honu]

MsCowpea, Thanks for sharing your beautiful table legged raised container and reminding me there is life after tomatoes. My Momotaro and 10 others have sadly been hit with TSWV, so I won't get to taste it this season .
A friend and I were just talking about constructing something to help folks who love gardening but have mobility problems, and your table looks like the perfect thing.

[annietomatomad]

I grew Momotaro and also Odoriko last year and LOVED Momotaro a lot! It gave me fruit from early in the season till close to the end. It was a huge plant (over 6 feet tall) and very productive. The fruit itself was never very big but it was a very pretty pink globe. Outstanding flavor! I put it on my grow list this year but was late acquiring seeds. I then tried to get a plant from the Master Gardener tomato sale but they were completely sold out of Momotaro when I got there (just half hour after the sale started). So I'm doing without this year But I will grow it again next year.

Odoriko was also a lovely plant (even bigger than Momotaro) and produced even more. However, the taste wasn't as good for me. Others who tried it told me they really liked the taste (one person said it had a salty flavor to it but in a good way).

Cheers, Annie

[MsCowpea]

Annie, I may have to try Odoriko too just to compare the two.

Honu, I did not see your post earlier . I am so sorry to hear TSWV destroyed your momotaros. I know you will be taking a trip soon--hope you get to try some different tomatoes to make the loss a litttle more bearable. I looked into the idea of wrapping a cage with insect screening but for thrips it requires a special type of screen (very very fine) and I decided just could not do it for 70 + tomatoes. You are not supposed to spray insecticides preventatively but for TSWV once you see them it is too late. I may experiment with something that is garlic/pepper based as I want something that will deter the thrips from landing on the tomato plant. WHen can you plant again in Hawaii? Tomato plant bug AND thrips--what a pain. (I got those TPB's too at the end of the season--never saw them before. Hope I never see them again. )

[honu]

MsCowpea, thanks for empathizing. Virus is a big problem for me, not only for tomatoes, but my peppers and papaya look like they have mosaic virus and my citrus probably has tristeza virus.
I am grateful though, that I was able to taste Sungold (wow!) and a few others that still look healthy, knock on wood.

Sorry to hear you have tomato bugs too. Have you found anything to control them? They seem unaffected by soap or ultrafine oil sprays. I tried Green Light thyme oil, but that burned the flowers and new shoots where they hang out, and the bugs seemed unaffected. Recently started spraying with Spinosad and Neem, but not yet seeing a dent in the population.

The fine screen that you mentioned sounds like a good idea. Can you recommend a source? I'm wondering if row covers will work, although I'm worried it will introduce more problems. I used it once to protect basil from sucking and chewing insects, only to find ants had snuck in from the bottom and brought scale and aphids with them -- they found a nice humid and protected environment under the cover. Can't win, it seems.
I can plant any time of year, however, our pest pressure is overwhelming -- no killing frost to keep them in check.
In addition to thrips, tomato bugs, and virus, this area has lots of problems w/ nematodes, fusarium, red spider mites, all kinds of sucking and chewing insects, fungal and bacterial problems.

[Bryan24]

I love my Momotaros. A couple of years ago (or so it seems, I think it may actually hae been last year), Keith and I had a discussion on the other site about de-hybridizing Momotaro. And, no one said anything about any laws at the time. I think it was about the time Craig was letting us in on the results of the Jet Star project......

Anyway, I've got the F2 seeds all ready for this spring. Bryan has planted more seeds for the fall crop, and we'll probably grow as many (3-6) of them as possible. They're great for salads, cooking, eating fresh out of hand, sharing with the nuts at work, etc. The funny thing is, the spring crop is still flowering and setting fruit (just like Purple Haze, just can't stop 'em), and the plant is still growing. This has been a banner year for tomatos, but the Momotaros are about 5-7' per plant, and still going strong. It seems like I get fruit off the Momotaros first, every season. Cherokee Purples are second though......

The only bummer is that the critters like it almost as much as I do.

laurel-tx

[MsCowpea]

Laurel, that it was a hybrid worried me as I am always afraid seeds won't be available. Bought 5 packs and vacuum-packed them and they are now in the freezer.
My private hoard. (I have only grew Jet Star once--did not like it at all-but to be fair guess I will have to grow again.)

Honu--wow you do have problems! And I thought S. Fl. was bad. Long, freezing cold winters does have some advantages.

Wonder if you could grow in self-watering containers (no fusarium or nematodes) and then go ahead and cover the cage with insect screening. ( you need a special thrip kind though) Not sure if a small roll is available. How many tomatoes would you like to grow.

I used Bull-s Eye (which I think is spinosad-can't remember). I only sprayed right on the thrips when I saw them. It seemed to work well as under a microscope they were covered with a fungus. I changed up a bit with a pyrethrin spray too. But not too much--did not want to kill any beneficials. Thinking about root drenching ornamentals and weeds that are by the tomatoes with the systemic imidacloprid (Bayer)-doesn't 'control' thrips but 'suppresses' them--that is the best you can hope for.

I only saw TPB's when I was ripping out the plants. Never saw them down here before. Have a horrible feeling it won't be the last. WOnder if Surround (powdery coating) would prevent both of these insects from landing on the plant. Luckily my thrips are not in the blooms at all--only the stems. And I did not have alot of them either.

I used to grow papaya for years but gave up (papaya fruit fly). I am just now beginning to give it a go again and ordered various seeds from Hawaii. ALso grow pineapple, banana, mango etc. and these have all been problem free. (except hurricanes knocking them to pieces). Always something.