Tomatoville® Gardening Forums


Notices

Member discussion regarding the methods, varieties and merits of growing tomatoes.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old March 14, 2011   #1
puttgirl
Tomatovillian™
 
puttgirl's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: SW PA
Posts: 281
Default Two Mater Questions

Once again, I'm trying to narrow down the tomato choices for my small garden-I'm trying to decide which of two pairs to plant. If anyone has grown both, I'd appreciate the feedback.

1. Box car willie vs. Wisconsin 55-for a good, productive all-purpose tomato

2. Federle vs. Sausage-for additions to other tomatoes for canning

Which do you prefer? Thanks for the input!
puttgirl is offline   Reply With Quote
Old March 14, 2011   #2
puttgirl
Tomatovillian™
 
puttgirl's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: SW PA
Posts: 281
Default

Please, somebody help me decide!
puttgirl is offline   Reply With Quote
Old March 14, 2011   #3
dipchip2000
Tomatovillian™
 
dipchip2000's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Muskogee, Oklahoma
Posts: 664
Default

Sow some seeds for all of them and make the decision after the plants are up by picking which plants look the most vigorous and healthy. That is how I do it.

ron
dipchip2000 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old March 14, 2011   #4
TomNJ
Tomatovillian™
 
TomNJ's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Floyd VA
Posts: 771
Default

The only one of these I have grown is Boxcar Willie, and it certainly qualifies as a good, productive all-purpose tomato.

TomNJ
TomNJ is offline   Reply With Quote
Old March 14, 2011   #5
WillysWoodPile
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by puttgirl View Post
Please, somebody help me decide!
Wisconsin 55 did okay for me last year. I suppose it would do quite well if tended to better than I did. Things like soil amendment and consistent watering were two things I was not able to do [for certain reasons].
  Reply With Quote
Old March 14, 2011   #6
puttgirl
Tomatovillian™
 
puttgirl's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: SW PA
Posts: 281
Default

I wasn't able to take care of my garden much last year, either-hope it goes better this time around.
puttgirl is offline   Reply With Quote
Old March 14, 2011   #7
organichris
Tomatovillian™
 
organichris's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Tulsa, OK
Posts: 630
Default

I haven't grown out Box Car Willie, but I have some seedlings right now and they are dominating every other variety where overall vigor is concerned.
organichris is offline   Reply With Quote
Old March 14, 2011   #8
puttgirl
Tomatovillian™
 
puttgirl's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: SW PA
Posts: 281
Default

Sounds like BCW is in the lead.
puttgirl is offline   Reply With Quote
Old March 16, 2011   #9
puttgirl
Tomatovillian™
 
puttgirl's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: SW PA
Posts: 281
Default

I still need some advice about the pastes-anyone?
puttgirl is offline   Reply With Quote
Old March 16, 2011   #10
camochef
Tomatovillian™
 
camochef's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Posts: 707
Default

Puttgirl,
I've grown Box-car Willie for quite a few years but not the past two or so. It's been replaced in my gardens by Tarasenko6 which has become my favorite red tomato. A little larger than BCW and somewhat more productive and I find it to be a little better tasting...but BCW is a great tomato too.
I've grown sausage in the past then switched to Opalka until we had that wet year in '09. My opalkas all bloated and tasted so bland. The paste that outperformed all others that year was Wessel's Purple Pride, a Cherokee Purple/sausage cross. Great producer, great taste and one of the prettiest paste tomatoes I'd ever grown.
I didn't grow any paste's last year, and only have one in this years planting...Kukla's Portugese paste which is new to me for this year. I'll check and see if I have any Wessel's seed left, but I don't think that I do.
Camo
camochef is offline   Reply With Quote
Old March 16, 2011   #11
carolyn137
Moderator Emeritus
 
carolyn137's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a
Posts: 21,169
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by puttgirl View Post
Once again, I'm trying to narrow down the tomato choices for my small garden-I'm trying to decide which of two pairs to plant. If anyone has grown both, I'd appreciate the feedback.

1. Box car willie vs. Wisconsin 55-for a good, productive all-purpose tomato

2. Federle vs. Sausage-for additions to other tomatoes for canning

Which do you prefer? Thanks for the input!
1. about the same as standard reds, slight preference to BCW on taste

2. About the same as grown by me, no preference

And I'm not going to suggest alternatives b'c that would, I think, just confuse the issue rather than help it since these are the ones you asked about. I did the same for Remy's list just now. I used to say, oh I'd grow this and not that, etc., but when someone has taken the time to make some initial decisions and list alternatives, I just crawl into the corner and cry, saying, if only__________
__________________
Carolyn
carolyn137 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old March 17, 2011   #12
puttgirl
Tomatovillian™
 
puttgirl's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: SW PA
Posts: 281
Default

Well, the federle won out, because the seed was older!
puttgirl is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 02:51 PM.


★ Tomatoville® is a registered trademark of Commerce Holdings, LLC ★ All Content ©2022 Commerce Holdings, LLC ★