Is anyone growing Aker's West VA, VA Sweets, or Flame (Hillbilly)?

[kr222]

I'm looking for your opinion on the following tomatoes:

Aker's West Virginia
Virginia Sweets
Flame (Hillbilly)

Information about flavor, production, cracking, and disease resistance would be very helpful. Pictures would help a lot as well.

Thanks.
Kim

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by kr222

I'm looking for your opinion on the following tomatoes:

Aker's West Virginia
Virginia Sweets
Flame (Hillbilly)

Information about flavor, production, cracking, and disease resistance would be very helpful. Pictures would help a lot as well.

Thanks.
Kim

Yes, I've grown all three. Pictures are available at several seed sites as well, I'm sure, at Google IMAGES.I ithink TGS may have pictures of all three as well.

Aker's WV is an excellent variety, high yields, great taste.

Virginia Sweets is one of the better gold/red Bicolors IMO, and I'm sure you should find a picture of it at TGS b/c I sent seeds for it there/

Hillbilly , another gold/red bicolor should not be referred to as Flame, and I don't know who ever started doing that. Actually I've never seen it expressed as you've written it. Most of the time it's written Hillbilly (Flame)A typical gold/red bicolor like maybe 100 others. Yield variable, taste variable from year to year and as with most gold/red bicolors, flesh consistency also variable from year to year.

When the gold/re bicolors are good, the taste is great but the same variety planted in different years can be variable. And they're also more prone to splitting b'c of the soft flesh.

To be honest, of all the many varieties I've grown I don't know of any variety that can't be split by xs rain or overirrigation, but the other two kinds of splitting, concentric and radial, at the stem end are more often associated with specific varieties.

About the Flame part of Hillbilly, which is wrong. When the Olympics were held in LA in 1976 Renee Shepherd introduced a variety she called Olymoic Flame, which was just a selection of another bicolor done by Patty Byzinski at Seeds by Design, so Renee could rename it. The US Olympic Comm said she couldn't use that name so she changed it to Old Flame and then that got shortened to just Flame. So there are now three names for one variety in circulation.

Then there's the variety Jaune Flamee, seeds for which I sent to Linda at TGS. I forgot the Jane part on the seed pack and so she listed it as either Flamee or Flame, I can't remember right now, but ASAP indicated it was Jaune Flamee, a deep orange globe, and not Flamee or Flame which is a bicolor.

But Flame is not Hillbilly. And Hillbilly is not Flame.

As to disease tolerance. There are no varieties, hybrid or OP that have any significant tolerance to the common foliage diseases. And I'm not aware of Hillbilly or Va Sweets or Akers WV having any significant tolerance to the most common systemic diseaes such as Fusarium, Verticillium, etc.

I saw your same question at another site this AM but elected to answer it here.

[kr222]

Thanks Carolyn. I posted on both sites. I know that many people visit both, but for those that don't I wanted their input as well.

I associated the Flame and Hillbilly, because that's the way I saw them listed in the BC catalog. I did see a picture of each in catalogs, but I was just curious to see if they really looked that nice in other gardens. I've never grown a bicolor, and I just can't get over how beautiful the coloring is. I'm just trying to decide which one I would like to try next season. I only have 12 spots for tomatoes, so I have to be choosy.

Thanks again Carolyn.
Kim

[carolyn137]

Kim, if your choice is between Flame, aka Old Flame, etc, and Hillbilly I'd not grow either of them but would grow the Virginia Sweets you mentioned.

And yes, I know that Baker Creek and several other seed sites have listed Hillbilly(FLame), I've not seen Flame(Hillbilly) unless it's that way at BC, and I said I didn't know who first did that, but it really is not correct.

[WVTomatoMan]

I'm growing Aker's West Virginia this year, and I've grown it in the past as well of course. The reason I say of course is when you're from West Virginia you tend to try the West Virginia varieties. Back to the subject at hand, it is fairly productive and throws out some decent sized tomatoes (most are in the 1lb. range). It is not showing symptoms of foliage diseases as badly as other plants in my garden. It could be that it just wasn't as exposed to as many spores. At least that's what is happening this year. I don't have my previous years notes with me and it has been several years since I grew it. As far as taste as I recall it was pretty good, but I'll bring some in to the tomato tasters at work and we'll see how it does. I'll try to remember to update here with the results.

As far as Hillbilly goes, Paw Paw is a much better tomato. It tastes better and is just as stunning if not more so when cut. The only negative thing I can say about Paw Paw is that it isn't very productive, but the taste is there. Paw Paw has won the tomato tasting at work 2 of the 3 years it was entered and it came in second or third last year. This thing goes up against the likes of Cherokee Purple and Brandywine and wins. Someone brought in a Hillbilly to go head to head with Paw Paw and Paw Paw won easily.

Randy

[kr222]

Carolyn,
I'm sure that I just mixed up the order. Sorry. I didn't have the catalog in front of me. It's good to know that either way, it's incorrect. It sounds like it's not what I'm looking for anyway. Virginia Sweets and Aker's West Virginia still sound like contendors though. Another other input on those two (or other recommendations) are appreciated.
Kim

[TZ-OH6]

I'm growing Aker's WV for the first time this year and my garden is getting hit hard with Septoria spot the worst hit plant (Ashleigh) is next to (touching) the AWV. The AWV has been affected somewhat, but not badly, and is doing as well as anything else and better than most.

[matertoo]

I'm growing Virginia Sweets for the first time. I've just got through planting my fall tomato garden which includes VS, Kellogg's Breakfast, Big New Dwarf, Mount Pride and Better Bush.

Some of my neighbors look at me kind of strangely in that I'm planting tomato plants this time of year. What can I say, I'm matertoo!

Paul

[matertoo]

I'm in no position to comment on VS. I will comment when mine get ripe and I actually have tasted one. Sorry for jumping the gun!

Paul

[rxkeith]

i grew akers west virginia, once when i was in the U.P. very good taste on the 2 or 3 ripe ones i got before frost hit. calumet, mi aint west virginia. i will grow it again now that i'm in the flat lands.

virginia sweets, i'm growing for the first time this year. nothing ripe yet.
i am also growing and will continue to grow flamee' or jaune flamee. it's a nice little tomato.


keith

[dice]

I think all of these are in the TOMATObase:
http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/C...o_Variety_List

Aker's West Virginia:
http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/A..._West_Virginia

Virginia Sweets:
http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Virginia_Sweets

Hillbilly has a description but no firsthand reports.

There is a variation on that last one from Darrel Merrell that
might be even better:
http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Royal_Hillbilly

[JCBigBlue]

So far, Hillbilly has been quite productive and a hardy plant. I have to agree with Carolyn that the taste can be variable; even within the same season/ plant. The first few that came in were very bland and I was convinced that I wouldn't grow it again. Since then I have had several that were considerably tastier; still mild but a pleasant sweet-fruity flavor. I haven't experienced major cracking, but they don't seem to last long, even on the vine. I pick them a soon as I feel a bit of softness. They are a gorgeous tomato for sure.

I'm growing Aker's WV, but have yet to harvest any. The plant has been about the best of my 18 varieties at resisting the various foliage challenges I've had so far. It has pretty good production (all green & yellowing as of now) and the fruits are virtually free of blemishes, cracking, or malformed fruit. I'll let you know on the taste when I get some ripe ones.

I haven't tried the Virginia Sweets, and I'm hoping to hear more feedback on that one also. Good luck!

Jon

[kr222]

Thanks for all of the information everyone.

Jon- I would love to know how your Aker's West Virginia turn out. Keep me posted. So far they sound like exactly what I am looking for for next season.

[WVTomatoMan]

2009 Aker's WV results:

Disease resistance: Hands down the least affected by foilage diseases. It was a cool and wet summer which is ripe for the common foilage diseases we have in this area which are EB (Early Blight) and Septoria Leaf Spot. I can't speak to any of the other more serious diseases like fusarium or verticilium because I (fortunately) don't have those pathogens.

Production: Very good production for a big tomato. Most of the tomatoes were in the 1 pound range. I got a 2 pound and a 2 pound 6 oz tomato off one plant. I didn't do anything special except pinch suckers up to the first flower cluster.

Cracking: None.

Flavor: I have a story to tell about that. In one of the tomato tastings at work I brought in Aker's WV, Wes and 3 other varieties. Of the 7 tasters 5 of us, myself included, thought Wes was the best of the day. 2 of the tasters thought that Aker's WV was easily the best of the day.

That's what makes flavor so tough. First you have environmental factors that affect taste. Then you have the complexities of many genes that affect flavor. And you have personal individual perceptions.

Good luck and if you try it how about if you report back with your thoughts and opinions?

Randy

[kr222]

Randy,
Thanks for your impressions of Aker's WV. I've found seed and will be planting it this season. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we have a much better tomato season this year.
Kim