Maglia Rosa is excellent for containers and small spaces

[Labradors2]

My Maglia Rosa produced all season long!

I liked it so much that it has returned this season

Linda

[gorbelly]

Thanks, Linda. I may start one now just in case my growing season here ends up being a little longer than the plant will produce. I have nothing to lose.

[Sherry_AK]

I've grown Maglia Rosa for a few years now. In the photo, there are two plants in an Earth Box. On the left is Hundreds and Thousands, on the right is Maglia Rosa. Here in Alaska, it continues to produce till the end of the season, and grows to be quite a wild plant, taking a lot of space.

[Cole_Robbie]

Nice pic, Sherry.

I was thinking MR would be a candidate to try in an aeroponic garden I am planning, which is in horizontal 8" pipe a few feet off the ground. Ideally, I want the vines to cascade downward, but not quite reach the floor. I will have to try it next spring to see how big each variety is going to get, so I can plan for space in later crops.

[Sherry_AK]

Thanks, Cole. Whenever I grow it, in whatever type of container, I make sure it's up off the ground else it will reach the floor/ground. If you saw my earlier post in this thread, the first time I grew it I had two different-looking plants and fruits. I selected for the sprawling one and that's the only one I've grown since. It sure does give me a load of pretty little tomatoes.

Good luck with yours!

Sherry

Originally Posted by clkingtx

I would love to have seeds for Jim Dandy, it sounds like something we would like.
Thanks!

It's not actually the true Jim Dandy (which is a larger tomato; I don't know if that's a bush or a multiflora), but it is likely a cross with it, a mutation, or mixed up seed. I don't know if it's stable. I'll send you a PM with the information you need to know, and you can decide. Thanks!

[MrBig46]

I grow Maglia Rosa on a bed. It has a lot of flowers. Is it normal? Or it could cause a very low temperature just above 0 ° C?
Vladimír

[gorbelly]

Vladimir, mine had a ton of flowers, too (over half of which have set fruit). I would consider it almost semi-multiflora.

Right now mine are loaded with fruit and seem to be waiting before they produce any more flowers.



But they were producing tons and tons of flowers before. Here is one from mid-June. It developed even more flowers afterward.

[gorbelly]

I usually plant out rather late by modern standards, but I had started and set out my MRs earlier than my other tomatoes hoping to get ripe ones from them by the 4th of July (which is a benchmark date for tomato-growing in the north).

I watched impatiently for weeks as the plants absolutely loaded themselves down with dozens of little green elongated fruits. But they weren't budging on ripening any of them. This past weekend, I abandoned all hope of 4th of July tomatoes.

This morning, July 5, I walk out and see this:





Very funny, Nature. Ha ha.

[gorbelly]

Just picked these today and tried one. First tomato of the season for me!

Although the texture was a bit tough and mealy, I never hold texture issues against the first fruits off a plant.

The important thing is that the flavor is excellent. Intensely sweet, good, solid tanginess as well, nice fruity aromas. Can't wait to see how later fruit taste.

Letting the other one ripen up a bit more to see how the flavor/texture changes.

[Cole_Robbie]

Like most pink tomatoes, I like MR a lot better when it is very ripe.

Here is a pic that shows stages of ripeness:

[gorbelly]

Fred does emphasize that best flavor is achieved when it's still light pink.

I think I could let it go a little longer, but I like a good acid backbone to any sweetness, so I may prefer them less ripe than you do.

We'll see--I plan to try them at different stages until I hit on what works for me.

I suspect it will come down to a balance between intensity and texture for me. I don't want too eat them when they're too crunchy, but I also don't want to let them go over into the stage where they start to lose their tanginess.

[BigVanVader]

I like em dead ripe, Blush I like better when it is more firm.

[gorbelly]

If they do get better when riper, I'm psyched. The sweetness and tanginess were already very high with the underripe fruit.

[Fred Hempel]

My first "ripe" Maglia Rosa (today) was mealy and watery! But we haven't cut back on the water yet. Need big plants before we cut back water for flavor.