June 18, 2006 | #1 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: West Coast, Canada
Posts: 961
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First Flower
Last year on a visit to Kelowna I spotted what, from a distance, I thought was a tomato plant loaded with light yellow golf-ball-sized tomatoes.
On closer inspection I discovered it was indeed a Tomatillo - some had dropped off the plant so took a few for seed. The taste very mild with a sweet finish. Anyhoo, no idea what the variety is - but here is a picture of the first flower ........ http://<br /> <a href="http://xs.to...[/img]</a> Amazing what the camera sees that the eye doesn't - before I resized this for the forum, I noticed a critter peeking from behind the flower at 3 o'clock and an aphid at 7 o'clock!!
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October 21, 2006 | #2 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: West Coast, Canada
Posts: 961
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And here is the fruit - not nearly as good as I remember - probably just don't have the heat on the coast for the flavour - but interesting none the less. I peeled them open for the picture - the yellow one has been in the kitchen for a few weeks now.
As a side note - grew two plants, both the same variety - at first I thought I'd have no fruits, so didn't bother checking out this part of the garden for a few weeks - and all of a sudden all these "pods" are now full with good-sized fruits. I think I wil try the smaller orange pineapple tasting ones next year or maybe just grow some dahlias
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October 21, 2006 | #3 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
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""""""""""or maybe just grow some dahlias"""""""""
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October 22, 2006 | #4 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Rocklin, California
Posts: 501
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I really enjoyed growing tomatillos. I grew them in 12 gallon grow bags. I put 2 plants in each bag and used a large sized tomato cage over the bag. This arrangement worked out well. If you use this method, you'll still have room for Dahlias.
BTW, I grew Toma Verde and Merida varieties. The fruit on the Merida was quite small. It also took longer to fruit. Perhaps, this was my fault since I started it from a seed and put it out too early. The Toma Verde had large fruits that were quite sweet. The taste was very good, but I would still grow a second variety for taste variation. The Toma Verde plants were from a local nursery. |
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