Best hearts out there?

tgplp · November 10, 2011

What are your favorite hearts to grow? I would like to grow some in 2012. It doesn't get very hot here (western Washington) but I have a small hoophouse.

So. What are your favorite hearts and why?

Taryn

FILMNET · November 10, 2011

Brads Black Heart for me
Loaded all year, even September here one of my last plant which died

Elizabeth · November 10, 2011

This year my favorite heart was Orange Strawberry. It's very meaty, some had almost no seeds. Nice rich flavor. The ocean is only a couple miles from me so it doesn't get really hot here either and it did fine. It wasn't a heavy producer for me, but the size of the fruit made up for it.

tam91 · November 10, 2011

Brad's Black Heart was good here - so was Kosovo. And I was still picking lots of Kosovo's yesterday. Today, we have hail. German Red Strawberry was not a favorite for me.

recruiterg · November 10, 2011

#1 is Prue, #2 is Wes

Not sure if it is really a heart, but I like Prue. Prue is productive, has great taste and I like the consistency better than most hearts. After that, I like Wes and Kosovo.

Iva · November 10, 2011

All of these were amongst the tastiest varieties this year:
Kosovo
Orange Oxheart
Russkaja Krasaviza

Brad's Black Heart tasted good but cracked like hell and had very low production...

cloz · November 10, 2011

Granny's Heart was my favorite heart. It was early, tasted great and produced all season long. German Red strawberry gave no fruit, Wes was good but low production, Kosovo was Ok but late to produce, Reif Red Heart was good with large tomatoes, Anna Russian was early and first tomatoes were large and the rest were small.
Brad's Black Heart was in a container and produced well but did not taste great so I put it in my sauce.

tgplp · November 10, 2011

Thanks! has anyone grown Donskoi or Berkely Tie Dye Heart? Glad to hear about Brad's Black Heart from multiple people. I was hoping to grow that one next year. Also Elizabeth, glad to hear you could grow Orange Strawberry.
Nice pictures, too everybody.

FILMNET · November 10, 2011

Me a huge fan of BTD Regular one, i did hear that the heart one is not good at all? a littlle baby BTD CUTE GUY.

Back left side is last years BTD

**carolyn137** · November 10, 2011

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...Eart+varieties

Above is a 5 page thread about hearts from 2010 and I know there are others out there as well. B/c I remember making a list of heart varieties that I liked.

I can't recreate that here, but I can think of some off the top of my head, some known for many years and some rather brand new.

Anna Russian
Russian #117
Linnie's Oxheart
Kosovo
Indiana Red
German Red Strawberry
Ukrainian Heart
Danko
Anna Maria's Heart
Ludmilla's Pink Heart
Granny's Heart
Tsar-Kolokol, aka Tsar of Bells
Orange Strawberry, original seeds to me fromn Marjorie Morris who found it as a stray seed in a pack of commercial Pineapple seeds and she named it. Marjorie also sent me her original seeds for German Red Strawberry which was a her family her heirloom. For me OJ is not as juicy as most other hearts and doesn't have that depth of flavor that I prefer, but a darn good variety anyway,

OK, I can't think of the others right now due to mental fatigue b'c Of what's occurred here at home today. And I don't mean just finding one shoe, a dress shoe, on one of the rugs in my bathroom. The perps are my two cat kids who have been chasing a mouse in the house for two weeks now, and the mouse is winning, but it keeps the cats happy and keeps me from sleeping with their constant running around at night.

And soon to come:

Orange Minsk Heart, need more seeds

Kukla's Portuguese Heart; may have enough seeds to list for my seed offer

Cuore del Drago, aka Dragon Heart, which turned out to be not a heart, but a long red paste shape with a twisted blossom end and pointy, and darn good taste. I suppose it was named after that famous dragon who had a congenital heart malformation.

Podorok, a small orange heart, not sweet, but interesting. May have seeds for my next seed offer.

I say I may have seeds for my seed offer( late Dec/early Jan, when I get it done is when it goes up) b'c I also list in the SSE Yearbook, 2012 one coming up, and sometimes I have enough to both SSE list and offer here and sometimes I have enough to just SSE list and sometimes I have enough seeds just to list in my seed offer here.

Yes, I am a long time dedicated lover of heart shaped varieties and always will be.

**carolyn137** · November 10, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by recruiterg

#1 is Prue, #2 is Wes

Not sure if it is really a heart, but I like Prue. Prue is productive, has great taste and I like the consistency better than most hearts. After that, I like Wes and Kosovo.

Nope, not really a heart b'c all different shapes can be found on a single plant. Tom Galucci is the source for this variety and he posts here as tig, something or other, sorry Tom.

But I was just reminded from a post here that I forgot to list Wes, which a great blunt heart. I know, I know, there are many varieties I forgot to list. If anyone wants to research heart varieties they can go to Tania's site and pull up a list of ALL heart varieties.

OK, I'll do it now:

http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/w...haped_Tomatoes

tjg911 · November 10, 2011

you beat me to it carolyn!

prue is not a heart but in my opinion prue is every bit as sweet as the best hearts.

my favorite tomato is prue but wes is close, prue is a 99 and wes is a 98.5 also kosovo is very good. i grew brad's black heart and was unimpressed. and this year bull's heart, and it was dreadful but i'm sure it is good as it was highly recommended. this summer was not a good year for tomatoes and i think bull's heart was in the wrong place at the wrong time! even wes was disappointing but prue was great as ever. prue never seems to have a bad year ever, it even survived that summer (2009 ?) when everyone in the east had late blight and it was infected.

tom

lakelady · November 10, 2011

It's always good to hear from those of you with more experience about which varieties are productive, even in the worst of times. thanks!

Structure · November 11, 2011

I grew Kosovo and Brad's Black Heart in the hoop-house this season. We have cool temps but a very long season. Anyway, Kosovo did outstanding. Ate the first one in early June and we're still eating them (tonight in fact). The plants are about done, but we'll still get a few. Brad's Black Heart was slow to produce. For me it's a very dense bushy plant. In the hoop-house this encouraged gray mold. The more wispy with less foliage growth of the Kosovo resisted gray mold and EB better. We are still getting BBHs though. So it's certainly not a bad choice. I'd give a slight flavor edge to BBH too. Though, I do love Kosovo....hmmm so hard to decide. Good problems to have.

tgplp · November 11, 2011

Hey guys! Thanks for sharing the pictures, Filmnet, I love the strange growth on BTD and the cat's ear in the second picture.

Love hearing about all the different hearts out there. There certainly are alot!

Taryn

November 10, 2011	#3
Elizabeth Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: San Diego Coastal - Zone 10b Posts: 204	This year my favorite heart was Orange Strawberry. It's very meaty, some had almost no seeds. Nice rich flavor. The ocean is only a couple miles from me so it doesn't get really hot here either and it did fine. It wasn't a heavy producer for me, but the size of the fruit made up for it. __________________ Elizabeth If I'm going to water and care for a plant it had better give me food, flowers or shade.

November 10, 2011	#4
tam91 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Crystal Lake IL Posts: 2,484	Brad's Black Heart was good here - so was Kosovo. And I was still picking lots of Kosovo's yesterday. Today, we have hail. German Red Strawberry was not a favorite for me. __________________ Tracy

November 10, 2011	#5
recruiterg Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Edina, MN (Zone 4) Posts: 945	Hearts #1 is Prue, #2 is Wes Not sure if it is really a heart, but I like Prue. Prue is productive, has great taste and I like the consistency better than most hearts. After that, I like Wes and Kosovo.

November 10, 2011	#10
carolyn137 Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a Posts: 21,169	http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...Eart+varieties Above is a 5 page thread about hearts from 2010 and I know there are others out there as well. B/c I remember making a list of heart varieties that I liked. I can't recreate that here, but I can think of some off the top of my head, some known for many years and some rather brand new. Anna Russian Russian #117 Linnie's Oxheart Kosovo Indiana Red German Red Strawberry Ukrainian Heart Danko Anna Maria's Heart Ludmilla's Pink Heart Granny's Heart Tsar-Kolokol, aka Tsar of Bells Orange Strawberry, original seeds to me fromn Marjorie Morris who found it as a stray seed in a pack of commercial Pineapple seeds and she named it. Marjorie also sent me her original seeds for German Red Strawberry which was a her family her heirloom. For me OJ is not as juicy as most other hearts and doesn't have that depth of flavor that I prefer, but a darn good variety anyway, OK, I can't think of the others right now due to mental fatigue b'c Of what's occurred here at home today. And I don't mean just finding one shoe, a dress shoe, on one of the rugs in my bathroom. The perps are my two cat kids who have been chasing a mouse in the house for two weeks now, and the mouse is winning, but it keeps the cats happy and keeps me from sleeping with their constant running around at night. And soon to come: Orange Minsk Heart, need more seeds Kukla's Portuguese Heart; may have enough seeds to list for my seed offer Cuore del Drago, aka Dragon Heart, which turned out to be not a heart, but a long red paste shape with a twisted blossom end and pointy, and darn good taste. I suppose it was named after that famous dragon who had a congenital heart malformation. Podorok, a small orange heart, not sweet, but interesting. May have seeds for my next seed offer. I say I may have seeds for my seed offer( late Dec/early Jan, when I get it done is when it goes up) b'c I also list in the SSE Yearbook, 2012 one coming up, and sometimes I have enough to both SSE list and offer here and sometimes I have enough to just SSE list and sometimes I have enough seeds just to list in my seed offer here. Yes, I am a long time dedicated lover of heart shaped varieties and always will be. __________________ Carolyn

November 10, 2011	#12
tjg911 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: zone 5b northwest connecticut Posts: 2,570	you beat me to it carolyn! prue is not a heart but in my opinion prue is every bit as sweet as the best hearts. my favorite tomato is prue but wes is close, prue is a 99 and wes is a 98.5 also kosovo is very good. i grew brad's black heart and was unimpressed. and this year bull's heart, and it was dreadful but i'm sure it is good as it was highly recommended. this summer was not a good year for tomatoes and i think bull's heart was in the wrong place at the wrong time! even wes was disappointing but prue was great as ever. prue never seems to have a bad year ever, it even survived that summer (2009 ?) when everyone in the east had late blight and it was infected. tom __________________ I need a hero I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the end of the night He’s gotta be strong And he’s gotta be fast And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight I need a hero I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the morning light He’s gotta be sure And it’s gotta be soon And he’s gotta be larger than life

November 10, 2011	#1
tgplp Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Pacific North West, zone 8a Posts: 510	Best hearts out there? What are your favorite hearts to grow? I would like to grow some in 2012. It doesn't get very hot here (western Washington) but I have a small hoophouse. So. What are your favorite hearts and why? Taryn

November 10, 2011	#6
Iva Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Slovenia, EU Posts: 249	All of these were amongst the tastiest varieties this year: Kosovo Orange Oxheart Russkaja Krasaviza Brad's Black Heart tasted good but cracked like hell and had very low production...

November 10, 2011	#7
cloz Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Southern Connecticut Posts: 435	Granny's Heart was my favorite heart. It was early, tasted great and produced all season long. German Red strawberry gave no fruit, Wes was good but low production, Kosovo was Ok but late to produce, Reif Red Heart was good with large tomatoes, Anna Russian was early and first tomatoes were large and the rest were small. Brad's Black Heart was in a container and produced well but did not taste great so I put it in my sauce.

November 10, 2011	#9
FILMNET Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: North Charleston,South Carolina, USA Posts: 1,803	Me a huge fan of BTD Regular one, i did hear that the heart one is not good at all? a littlle baby BTD CUTE GUY. Back left side is last years BTD

November 10, 2011	#13
lakelady Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: northern NJ zone 6b Posts: 1,862	It's always good to hear from those of you with more experience about which varieties are productive, even in the worst of times. thanks! __________________ Antoniette

November 11, 2011	#14
Structure Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: SLO, CA Posts: 99	I grew Kosovo and Brad's Black Heart in the hoop-house this season. We have cool temps but a very long season. Anyway, Kosovo did outstanding. Ate the first one in early June and we're still eating them (tonight in fact). The plants are about done, but we'll still get a few. Brad's Black Heart was slow to produce. For me it's a very dense bushy plant. In the hoop-house this encouraged gray mold. The more wispy with less foliage growth of the Kosovo resisted gray mold and EB better. We are still getting BBHs though. So it's certainly not a bad choice. I'd give a slight flavor edge to BBH too. Though, I do love Kosovo....hmmm so hard to decide. Good problems to have.