Totally clueless gardener wishes to try some delicious heirlooms for the first time

[fantoma]

Hi there...my name is Daveas a newbie to this forum i'd really appreciate it if someone could please be so kind to point me to some of the most delicious heirloom varieties out there - i'm especially interested in delicious "different color" high yielding cherry tomatoes as well as a great tasting PASTE

(I live in Israel in a mostly hot and humid enviorment for the most part of the year)

p.s:

If anyone/someone can please spare me some seeds that would be AWSOME!!!

(I'm definitely not picky about that one...lol)

Thank's in advance for your help

[Dewayne mater]

Welcome. I recommend you do some searches here and at other similar sites for similar topics and you'll find numerous repsonses! I would also say that your local climate will be outcome determinative as to what works (i.e. sets fruit under hot, humid conditions) and what tastes great.

The Texas and Florida folks are familiar with heat and humidity and know that starting early when it isn't so hot is critical to having any success. If you can figure out a window of time where you have well developed plants with lots of blossoms where the day time temps are highs of 80-85 and night time lows are in the 60s, I personally find those to be ideal fruit set temperatures.

For me, Indian Stripe, grown for the first time this year, has been outstanding in terms of production and flavor. By outstanding production (for me) I mean one plant with 19 tomatoes another with 28. Most all were in the 1/2 to 3/4 pound, with a full one pounder and a couple more that were close. It is available at Victory seeds for a very low price.

Enjoy and I hope this works out for you.

[dice]

Skyfire Garden Seeds descriptions tend to mention how
well the different cultivars that they sell seeds for do
in the heat:
http://skyfiregardenseeds.com/#Tomatoes

If you want to do more research on those varieties, here
is a good place to look:
http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/C...o_Variety_List

A list of just cherry tomatoes in the TOMATObase:
http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/C...herry_Tomatoes

Explicit begging is done in the Wanted Varieties forum:
http://www.tomatoville.com/forumdisplay.php?f=64

[barkeater]

IMO, there is no different color cherry tomato with great taste than Black Cherry.

Also, IMO, there is no such thing as a GREAT tasting paste tomato no matter what anyone says. By definition, if it is a paste tomato it is supposed to be dry with high solids to make good sauce. There is no way a true paste tomato can have the flavor of abeefsteak or any other big tomato (eating tomato).

PS I've tried Opalka and all those that others with undeveloped tomato buds rave about ;-)

[habitat_gardener]

Opalka is a great tasting tomato!

But if you're looking for a paste tomato because you want to cook with it or make sauce, you don't necessarily need a paste tomato. Any great-tasting heirlooms will make a great sauce. Here's one I've tried: I don't know how Black Krim would do in your area, but a year or two ago I harvested more than I could eat at once, so I cooked some and it made the richest, most luscious sauce I'd ever had.

If you're looking for a paste tomato to do lots of canning at once, any prolific heirloom is a good bet. I've grown Heidi and Siberia, which produced huge amounts all at once in the middle of the season, and also produced some tomatoes consistently throughout the season. I made some wonderful tomato juice and sauce with Heidi.

[amideutch]

fantoma, welcome to tville and nice to have someone from your neck of the woods. I think the biggest question would be your water.I've heard your water contains more salt than usual due to your location. If so then your tomato selection or growing practice may change a bit. Ami

[fantoma]

Thank's for the great info you've all given me...i've gained a lot from this

Does anyone have some Black Cherry ,Opalka , Black Krim Beefsteaks or any of

the other tomato seeds mentioned in this thread to spare me by any chance???

As i get more experienced with my gardening i promise to compensate for my
so called CHUTZPAH

[cottonpicker]

Dave..

Cherry tomatoes--- I'll send you seeds for Sun Sugar, Santa Sweets,and a Large Red Cherry. Also, Opalka for a paste tomato.
Hope they do well in your locale.

Need your name / address by "personal mail" here on TV

[Barbee]

I'd be happy to send you Black Cherry, Snow White Cherry, and I can cover the Black Krim, too.
PM me your address and I'll get them out to you ASAP

[carolyn137]

Dave, I've sent seeds to Israel, not to home growers but for a tomato research project, and was warned that a green customs label was necessary b'c your customs agents are pretty hard on imported seeds b'c of the large tomato industry that there is in Israel and concerns about importation of disease.

So I think that's something you should check out and get back to folks here before they do send you some seeds.

maybe just for hobby amounts of seeds the customs label wouldn't be needed, but I'd hate to see seeds that folks here send you be confiscated.

And Dice was right in linking you to the Seeds Wanted Forum herre at Tville. That Forum was created so that seed requests would not be posted in this General Discussion Forum.

Chutzspah we understand.

I know it's all new to you per your initial PM to me before you posted, but take a look at the other Forums here and maybe even spend some time looking at some of the other threads in the back thread area.

Ami did ask about the salty brackish water that does underlie many parts of Israel and I think that's a valid question. You have a huge tomato industry there called Desert Sweets and the fruits are exported, but Ami, the seeds are germinated in sweet water, as it were, and then grown to maturity on the brackish water.

Other of the large tomato commercial folks grow in greenhouses with desalinized water.

Yes, I've been to Israel, as I've already told Dave, b/c of my interest in archaeology, but that didn't stop me from snooping around in the fresh veggie and fruit markets in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and several small towns. There's a HUGE variety of fruits and veggies offered, but even long ago when I was there it was mostly round red tomato hybrids that were being grown.

Dave, if I had the chutzpah, LOL, I'd direct you to the University where sits seeds for over 1000 heirloom tomato varieties that Craig LeHoullier, Glenn Drowns and I put together at the request of someone who initially contacted me. the seeds were sent in 2005, but I also know that seeds were saved from the subsequent growouts over a several year period of time.

So I don't know how the salty water impacts your situation Dave and I don't know what the current customs regulations are, if any, with regard to small amounts of seeds sent.


Hope that helps.

[fantoma]

I'll make sure to ask an aquaintance of mine - he's imported some pepper seeds to israel and as far as i know didn't experience any problems with the customs here...the seeds aren't grenade sized are they???...lol (they're just hobby amounts as you already mentioned before so i find it kind of hard to believe there's gonna be any problem with that)...i will make sure not to post requests in here again as i was certainly pushing it a little bit beforeI'll also make sure to check the other forums out in here and the different threads in them as i progress with my gardening experience ....the israeli water taste pretty sweet to me even though they might be considered to be hard water because of pollutants and such:-(

I'm kind of dying to start my heirloom tomato garden already and learn from my mistakes as i progress
Thank's to all of you for your generosity and willingness to help me out

[fantoma]

It was just confirmed by my aquaintance that the customs department will not -

confiscate anything as long as the seeds come inside a greeting card/envelope
:-)

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by fantoma

It was just confirmed by my aquaintance that the customs department will not -

confiscate anything as long as the seeds come inside a greeting card/envelope
:-)

Yes, that's the way that some of us get past customs by using a stiff greeting card, and if he told you that it means that customs will confiscate any tomato seed sent that they can detect.

Australia and the Netherlands are two places which have an absolute ban on importation of tomato seed. Australia b'c of Potato Tuber Viroid b'c it also infects tomatoes, and the Netherlands b'c some of the main hybridizers of tomatoes in the world are located there in several companies.

And I suspected Israel as well b'c of their main large tomato industry as well as tomato hybridizers such as the Hazara company.

[fantoma]

There's no such thing as a ban in israel that denies our god given right to eat nutritious foods...who sends their letters in clear envelopes for the rest of the world to see anyway?lol

[Barbee]

So...........you have a birthday coming up right?