2017 tentative grow list

[AlittleSalt]

Spike and Black Cherry are two different animals.

Spike https://store.growartisan.com/product/spike-tomato

Black Cherry http://www.tomatogrowers.com/BLACK-C...ductinfo/6148/

You cannot compare them other than they are both tomatoes. That's where the similarity ends.

[JosephineRose]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

Spike yields well and has good flavor, but it annoys me because it is really hard to peel. I like Black Vernissage and Black and Brown Boar better.

I don't grow Black Cherry any more, because I like Purple Bumble Bee much better. Sun Chocola F1 is another good dark cherry choice.

May I ask why you like it better? I've never grown any of the four but have seeds for purple bumble bee as well.

Thanks for the feedback! I find it very helpful.

[JosephineRose]

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

Spike and Black Cherry are two different animals.

Spike https://store.growartisan.com/product/spike-tomato

Black Cherry http://www.tomatogrowers.com/BLACK-C...ductinfo/6148/

You cannot compare them other than they are both tomatoes. That's where the similarity ends.

Wasn't looking for similarities so much as personal experiences with them to help me choose.

[AlittleSalt]

Originally Posted by JosephineRose

Wasn't looking for similarities so much as personal experiences with them to help me choose.

Spike I grew in a year when it rained 73+ inches. I saved seeds and have shared hundreds of them with Tomatoville members.

Black Cherry, I have grown for 3 years and have never had a plant produce. I still don't know what they taste like.

[JosephineRose]

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

Spike I grew in a year when it rained 73+ inches. I saved seeds and have shared hundreds of them with Tomatoville members.

Black Cherry, I have grown for 3 years and have never had a plant produce. I still don't know what they taste like.

Thanks for that! Leaning Spike now!

[cloz]

This is my current 2017 grow list. Subject to modification and additions before mid March seed starting depending on the plant spacing I use.

All that have * are new to me

1. Sungold F1
2. Sungold F4
3. Sunpeach
4. Galinas
5. Sunrise Bumblebee *
6. Pink Bumblebee *
7. Purple Bumblebee *
8. Ron's Carbon Copy *
9. Green Tiger *
10. Brad’s Atomic Grape *
11. Napa Chardonnay *
12. Sweet Cream *
13. Orange Jazz (love it)
14. Jazz (pink) *
15. Marzano Fire *
16. Tarasenko 6 (consistent producer)
17. Stupice (consistent early producer)
18. Daniel Burson (excellent tomato)
19. Rose de Berne (my wife loved it)
20. George Detsikas
21. Big Cheef
22. Lime Green Salad (my daughter loved this one)
23. Margaret Curtain *
24. Girl Girl's Wierd Thing *
25. German Johnson Benton Strain
26. Cosmonaut Volkov *
27. Biyskaya Roza *
28. Dester *
29. Rebel Yell (late producer in my garden)
30. Prudens Purple *
31. Chapman *
32. Indian Stripe PL *
33. Malachite Box *
34. Mat-su express F5 *
35. Virginia Sweets *
36. Arkansas Traveller
37. Daetwyler *
38. Olive Hill *
39. Old German
40. Donskoi *
41. Russian Queen *
42. Purple Russian *
43. Mr. Bruno *
44. Azoychka

Cloz

[charley]

last year i planted out to early and lost most of my garden so im excited to get to try some new to me ones i missed out on last year
cherokee lime stripes
pit viper
cherokee green(my personal fav green)
emerald apple
cherokee green xearl faux f2
evil olive
gail
osena green
spears tennessee green
reinhard kraft green heart
orange misk heart
earl faux
general lee
cowlicks
g g benton strain
heshpole
merced
pink elgin
purple dog creek
pink russian 117
prudens purple
tennessee britches
stump of the world
west virgina straw
big cheef
black berry
black from tula
black elephant
copper river
danas dusty rose
daniels burson
grosse verte rose
margarets curtian
not purple strawbery
nigella de almoguera
prudens black
snickers
osena black
red striped june bugg
a-1 june bugg f-5
babby brandywine x purple haze f2

[rockman]

Charley, you and Cloz have quite the tomato lists. I always grow celebrity, jet star,super sonic, big beef , rutger, and 3 or so new to me varieties. It is all about the blights and wilts in my low lying area. Always looking for that better one. Jan. 1970 was at Ft.Hood till June with 2nd Armor Div. after my nam tour 68-69. Spent time on your Stillhouse, and Belton lakes. No fishing just water skiing
rockman

[charley]

rockman i love celebrity also i grow a few every year because they are a great tasting tomato and productive.another hybrid i liked was merced but the seeds are hard to find i lucked out and someone hooked me up with 4 seeds so i hope they are the right ones.how did you like fort hood?we are framming a 13000 square ft house on belton lake right now and i went exploring and came across a network of caves out there.they have paint on the walls and some went way back further than i wanted to go.there was a bunch of pedator feces on the ground and i was by myself.anyways lots of caves in belton

[charley]

I hope this works i haven't posted a pic in awhile

[charley]

rockman my uncle perry ball was in the army at fort hood the same time as you .does the name ring any bells

[rockman]

Charley, didn't know about the caves. Nice pic. I had good times at Ft. Hood. I made the baseball team and our schedule included the local schools. My 1st sergeant still made sure I was on the duty roster. I was thinking tropics heading to TX in my 56 chevy convert. packing mostly shorts and t's. ball glove, frisbee ect. 50 mi. out I hit a snow storm and to spend the night in a motel. In June I put the top dwn, opened the headers and started home. The local Sheriff in Killeen didn't like the noise, so he took some of my Army mustering out money! Didn't know your uncle. You could put 6 of our houses in the house your framing. I plant our tomatoes later each yr. hoping to avoid the blight ect. because of our cool nights and having to plant in a very low area. You probably have dry air and good circulation. I experienced the winds 1st hand having to clean the sand from inside my chevy a few times. rockman

[Cole_Robbie]

Originally Posted by JosephineRose

May I ask why you like it better? I've never grown any of the four but have seeds for purple bumble bee as well.

Thanks for the feedback! I find it very helpful.

Spike is a really cool tomato, I don't want to discourage people from growing it. The yield is tremendous; the fruit are beautiful; and the flavor is quite good.

The downside of Spike is that it is a little odd in the way it ripens. Fred told me ahead of time that it has a very short shelf life and would make a bad market tomato, so it wasn't a surprise. I did fine selling them, actually, I just found them hard to eat, because I can't pull the skin off when the fruit is soft, like other varieties.

Some people have said on here that they find the skin of Purple Bumble Bee to be a little tough. I don't really notice, myself. It does have a pretty good shelf life. I've had them sit on my counter in a hot kitchen for a week and be fine.

I think Black and Brown Boar is just a little better flavor-wise, but I don't grow it any more because they crack so badly.

Here's a box of Spike....and one with a nose:

[instacherk]

Cherokee Purple
Golden Queen
Berkeley Tie-Dye
Costoluto Fiorentino
Green Doctor
Super Sweet 100
Sungold
Black Cherry

I'm working with containers so I am limited to about 8 varieties.

[Fritz77]

Here is my temporary grow list which I’m sure will change significantly from now till March:

1. PINK PONDEROSA
2. LUCID GEM
3. KOSOVO
4. REBEL YELL
5. SLANKARD'S
6. DONSKOI
7. MAGLIA ROSA
8. VORLON
9. GIRL GIRL WEIRD THING
10. GEORGE DETSIKAS IT RED
11. TASMANIAN CHOCOLATE
12. YUVEL
13. ORANGE RUSSIAN 117
14. LORENZO
15. FLEUR DE REAGIR
16. SHUNTUKSKI VELICAN
17. MEGA MARV
18. ULURU OCHRE
19. OPALKA
20. CURTIS CHEEK

Seeds come from my tomatoes and (mostly) from the MMMM Swap and various offers of generous forum members (Kath, Marsha, MissS, Cole Robbie)
The first version included also

ARMENIAN
PINK FURRY BOAR
BETALUX
TEGUCIGALPA

which were on my Wish List but the sedds didn’t arrive. I may buy those seeds or wait until 2018. Like for other forum members, one of my problems is the lack of space. My garden is about 500 square ft. and I’m hoping to grow between 50 and 60 plants. Which means an average of less than 3 plants per variety. This will definitely disappoint my dad who’s always been of the opinion that 10 plants of 1 variety will always outperform in terms of yields 10 plants of 5 different varieties (I wonder if anyone agrees with him...).
That’s not all. I will also plant some somewhere cucumbers (4-5), 2 plants of zucchini (Costoluto Fiorentino), 2 plants of Red Corno di Toro peppers which my kids love, and two short rows of Swiss chard and fava beans. I already know that the garden will be crowded and possibly disease prone. If it were for me I would also plant onions, potatoes and pumpkins but after many attempts (my dad tried many times before I did), I’ve come to the conclusion that they will never grow in my compact clay soil (last year my biggest pumpkin was the size of an apple).