Whipper Snapper

[GoDawgs]

On the porch there are four Whipper Snapper dwarf cherry tomatoes received from Farmer Shawn's Carolyn seeds and they're coming right along. All are blooming and two are setting little tomatoes. Hooray!





After reading here about the electric toothbrush method of pollinating flowers, I got a cheapie and the method seems to be working.

[greenthumbomaha]

That is so pretty. Lots of blooms too. Did you prune it or is it naturally thin/sparse leaves? Please report back on the taste.

- Lisa

[GoDawgs]

I have pinched out just one or two side shoots.

[clara]

I have grown Whippersnapper a lot of times. Don't prune it! But give it a larger pot - the more tomatoes you will get. The large pot in your pic is okay, but the three smaller ones, no... The pots should be high enough so that the plant can tumble a bit.

BTW my eldest granddaughter likes Whippersnapper best when the tomatoes are still pink, fully ripe the tomatoes are red.

[GoDawgs]

Thank you for the advice! I won't pinch out any more.

So I take it I shouldn't stake the plants but let them kind of fall over?

[clara]

I've never staked them. Please feed them regularly, then you'll have more tomatoes than leaves, lol! One more advantage of this variety: It is always the earliest or one of the earliest tomatoes in my garden. One big pot is always placed on a small wall between the terrace and the garden - impossible not to snack some fruits when you pass by...

[Greatgardens]

I grew this back in the 70's from Johnny's seeds. It was pink and never red from those seeds, forming a tidy little mound with lots of fairly tart, small cherries (IIRC). Let us know what you think of them when you get fruit.


Edit: The more I look at your pictures, the more I wonder if this is the same variety I grew. It could be just "stretching," but mine were much more "micro-ish" than those in the photos. Mine looked like a little "bush" of tomatoes. But they were grown in the ground, so that might account for some differences, also.

[Jeannine Anne]

Just let them tumble, I have grown them every year since 2001 in large hanging baskets. They should be pink by the way, not red . I grow a tumbling red and a tumbling yellow to go with them, each in their own baskets.

I would give them a bigger pot though. and raise it from the ground at least 2 feet if you can

XX Jeannine

[GoDawgs]

Originally Posted by Greatgardens

The more I look at your pictures, the more I wonder if this is the same variety I grew. It could be just "stretching," but mine were much more "micro-ish" than those in the photos. Mine looked like a little "bush" of tomatoes. But they were grown in the ground, so that might account for some differences, also.

These seeds came from the list of Carolyn seeds that Farmer Shawn was sending out. On the spreadsheet they were listed as 'Dreikäsehoch' and when I asked in here if anyone knew anything about this variety, someone replied that they were actually 'Whippersnapper'. Perhaps they are different from what you grew.

All four plants were grown together, receiving the same light, etc. They are all slightly different (as one would expect from OPs) with one of the four showing a possibly more mounded habit than the other three.

[GoDawgs]

Originally Posted by Jeannine Anne

Just let them tumble, I have grown them every year since 2001 in large hanging baskets. They should be pink by the way, not red . I grow a tumbling red and a tumbling yellow to go with them, each in their own baskets.

I would give them a bigger pot though. and raise it from the ground at least 2 feet if you can

XX Jeannine

Thanks for that. Here's what they look like now. The second one from the left is Red Robin. I did remove the stake after taking the pic.

[GoDawgs]

Originally Posted by clara

I've never staked them. Please feed them regularly, then you'll have more tomatoes than leaves, lol! One more advantage of this variety: It is always the earliest or one of the earliest tomatoes in my garden. One big pot is always placed on a small wall between the terrace and the garden - impossible not to snack some fruits when you pass by...

They're a bit off color after up-potting but are getting fed. I'm looking forward to snacking!

[Jeannine Anne]

Good for you, they are a great little snacker, and grow much like the hybrid Tumbler. I originally got my first seeds when I moved back to the UK in 2000, a neighbour grew them,a I did it once and was hooked. I have kept them every since. I was surprised there was little about them here when I came back in 2009,.

[clara]

As to the color: They are definitely pink when not fully ripe, but the ripe color - to me - is looking like red. I never checked the epidermis because I don't care if I eat a pink or a red tomato as long as I like this variety.

[Greatgardens]

Heritage has some pretty good photos of the Whipper Snapper as I remember it. Note their description of "pink to nearly red."


https://heritageseedmarket.com/index...hippersnapper/