Favorite determinates?

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by IronPete

I think Gregori's Altai is an excellent large, early beefsteak but I think it is a compact indeterminate as mine didn't get taller than 4'. Great tomato for our shorter Canadian season. I could be wrong about it being indeterminate, though.

Has anyone tried Bush Beefsteak? I think its a large early that is either determinate or dwarf.

Pete

Yet another good tomato I didn't plant this year.

The times I have grown it, it has been one of the first to ripen and the plants out grew the 6 foot cages big time.
It is a regular indeterminate but our growing conditions aren't even close to the same.

Worth

[Labradors2]

If you don't mind red cherry tomatoes, I have grown the following early varieties in 3 gallon containers:

Early Annie
Jagodka
Pipo
Russian Cherry

They are all determinates, and all keep producing from June to September.

Jagodka was the earliest this year. Early Annie tasted the best for two years running.

Linda

[Worth1]

I cant recommend Red Rocket enough.
I almost forgot about it.
Every time I have grown the variety it has just exploded with tomatoes on a bushy crazy branching plant.
A 2 or 3 foot by 4 foot cage is just fine for it.



Worth
In my experience everything the blurb says below is true.
http://www.tomatogrowers.com/RED-ROC...ductinfo/2373/

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by Worth1

I cant recommend Red Rocket enough.
I almost forgot about it.
Every time I have grown the variety it has just exploded with tomatoes on a bushy crazy branching plant.
A 2 or 3 foot by 4 foot cage is just fine for it.



Worth
In my experience everything the blurb says below is true.
http://www.tomatogrowers.com/RED-ROC...ductinfo/2373/

This year I grew Willamette. It had the same size / color tomatoes, some clusters with 20 tomatoes on it. But it was like over 5 ft tall.
I will grow it again.

[joseph]

Originally Posted by IronPete

Joseph look up Fargo Yellow Pear. I think it is determinate and earlier than the other but haven't tried it yet myself. Pete

Thanks. Someone sent me seed in a swap a year ago. I'll make sure to plant it this year.

[Langley Ranch]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Many people in years past and even now stack rocks up around small gardens to collect heat in the day time and let it off at night.
This also protects the plants from the wind.
Easter Island is a good example.

Thanks for this, Worth, I just had an educational read about "lithic mulches".

Pete, thanks for some good suggestions.

Linda I don't mind red cherries a bit. If I'm lucky Coyote will be popping up all over the place again, so some reds would be nice too.

Anyone have experience with Volgradskiye 323, Dakota Gold, Maria, Mexican Salad?

Thanks,
erin.

[Langley Ranch]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

I like Sibirskiy Skorosspelyi, too. The flavor is excellent. I did lose some fruit to sunburn when the weather turned hot.

Thanks Robbie, I do have to watch for sunburn, it is still keeping me shy of oxhearts.

[Worth1]

erin I dont know what part of Llano county you are from but my family comes from Bend Texas north of Llano dating back to when people first moved there in the early 1800's.
For the most part the whole area has plenty of rocks for Lithic mulching.
Have you seen the old stone fences that were made over 100 years ago there?

For a good heart try Orange Russian I haven't had any problems with sun scald from any of the hearts.
Worth

[IronPete]

Originally Posted by joseph

Thanks. Someone sent me seed in a swap a year ago. I'll make sure to plant it this year.

I bought my seeds from Heritage Harvest Seeds in Manitoba and it was their description which attracted me. This is what they said:
Fargo Yellow Pear
In 1936 this tomato was awarded the Market Gardeners Award of Merit. The 1937 McFayden Seed catalogue stated, "This medium large, self pruning tomato is the heaviest yielding tomato so far tested at the Experimental Station in Morden, Manitoba, and very noticeable on our own farm." The determinate plants produce loads of pear to oval shaped yellow tomatoes that are slightly larger than the original Yellow Pear tomato. The fruit is excellent in salads. Because of the determinate nature of the plants I prefer to grow these over the original Yellow Pear which attains a great size and requires staking. Great for small gardens and one of the most prolific tomatoes that you will grow! Determinate, regular leaf foliage. (65 days from transplant)

Hope it works out for you. I will be growing it this year as well. Pete

[Keger]

Well, I'm just south and west of Houston, and my first seedlings are up. I do them in trays indoors, and then put the lights on them. I'll be selling plants and putting in my first "suicide rows" mid/late February. As for varieties, I do Bushsteak, BHN 444, Tycoon, and and Bella Rosa. We wholesale and do markets, and the big slicers bring the most money here. When I was in the hill country (Menard) I did Fletcher and Celebrity. They did well.

[Keger]

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

This year I grew Willamette. It had the same size / color tomatoes, some clusters with 20 tomatoes on it. But it was like over 5 ft tall.
I will grow it again.

Red Rocket is good. I did them one year here. Don't know why I haven't since then..........

[Langley Ranch]

Originally Posted by Worth1

erin I dont know what part of Llano county you are from but my family comes from Bend Texas north of Llano dating back to when people first moved there in the early 1800's.
For the most part the whole area has plenty of rocks for Lithic mulching.
Have you seen the old stone fences that were made over 100 years ago there?

For a good heart try Orange Russian I haven't had any problems with sun scald from any of the hearts.
Worth

Hi Worth, we are in SE Llano Co... I know Bend is where the giant pecan is from, and that it is a beautiful area. Maybe I have driven through it? Just don't remember.

We have a low wall on this place which has always been of interest, and which I would like to know more about. Have tried to walk it to look for anything that might help to date it, but for the most part it is too brushed up to get access easily. If what you say is true for this area too, it is much older than I thought.

My first garden here was in a different area (beside the hunting cabin, lol) and very small, made of soil from various areas on the place that DH tractored into one place and lined with boulders. Basically a raised bed. Beautiful soil from creek bottom, oak and elm motts, etc. A few years ago we moved to the top of this hill, and the garden here, while larger, is extremely rocky. I have spent many hours of many days moving rock out of it and moving soil into it. About two years ago I quit moving rocks that were larger than 6 or 8 inches. I dig wells for my tomatoes, and put rocks along the lip of the well. It's sort of my version of dryland farming I guess. The purpose is just to keep any water around the tomatoes. I have hoped it did some temp regulation too, but no idea on that part.

I'll check out Orange Russian. Anna Russian was one of the ones that scalded for me, but that happened to several varieties a couple of years ago, and I know it's not fair to judge it on that one shot.

Thanks!
erin

[Langley Ranch]

Originally Posted by Keger

Well, I'm just south and west of Houston, and my first seedlings are up. I do them in trays indoors, and then put the lights on them. I'll be selling plants and putting in my first "suicide rows" mid/late February. As for varieties, I do Bushsteak, BHN 444, Tycoon, and and Bella Rosa. We wholesale and do markets, and the big slicers bring the most money here. When I was in the hill country (Menard) I did Fletcher and Celebrity. They did well.

Keger, thanks for the suggestions! I prefer OPs and especially older varieties, but I'm open minded. Good luck this year!

thanks,
erin

[Keger]

Originally Posted by Langley Ranch

Keger, thanks for the suggestions! I prefer OPs and especially older varieties, but I'm open minded. Good luck this year!

thanks,
erin

OK, have fun!

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Langley Ranch

Hi Worth, we are in SE Llano Co... I know Bend is where the giant pecan is from, and that it is a beautiful area. Maybe I have driven through it? Just don't remember.

We have a low wall on this place which has always been of interest, and which I would like to know more about. Have tried to walk it to look for anything that might help to date it, but for the most part it is too brushed up to get access easily. If what you say is true for this area too, it is much older than I thought.

My first garden here was in a different area (beside the hunting cabin, lol) and very small, made of soil from various areas on the place that DH tractored into one place and lined with boulders. Basically a raised bed. Beautiful soil from creek bottom, oak and elm motts, etc. A few years ago we moved to the top of this hill, and the garden here, while larger, is extremely rocky. I have spent many hours of many days moving rock out of it and moving soil into it. About two years ago I quit moving rocks that were larger than 6 or 8 inches. I dig wells for my tomatoes, and put rocks along the lip of the well. It's sort of my version of dryland farming I guess. The purpose is just to keep any water around the tomatoes. I have hoped it did some temp regulation too, but no idea on that part.

I'll check out Orange Russian. Anna Russian was one of the ones that scalded for me, but that happened to several varieties a couple of years ago, and I know it's not fair to judge it on that one shot.

Thanks!
erin

The old fences and walls can be dated to the middle 1800's and many in your area were built by German emigrants.
Some old stone structures in Texas go back to the 1600's.
People forget that while things were going on in the east Texas and the south west had its own history.

As for your wispy leafed plants always plant them on the back rows so the other plants will help shade them from the sun.
Yes I have learned this the hard way.

Worth