Need red/yellow bicolor recommendation please.

[edweather]

Beginning to think about next year already. I tried to grow Hillbilly West Virginia 2 or 3 times in the past and didn't have very good results. Late development, cracked rotted shoulders, etc. Can someone please recommend the best tasting, idiot-proof, earliest, best looking when sliced (meaning nice red and yellow colors,) red/yellow bicolor that I can grow here in zone 5. Hope I'm not asking for too much. Thanks. Ed.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by edweather

Beginning to think about next year already. I tried to grow Hillbilly West Virginia 2 or 3 times in the past and didn't have very good results. Late development, cracked rotted shoulders, etc. Can someone please recommend the best tasting, idiot-proof, earliest, best looking when sliced (meaning nice red and yellow colors,) red/yellow bicolor that I can grow here in zone 5. Hope I'm not asking for too much. Thanks. Ed.

Ed, you aren't that far from me in NYS as we determined earlier.

There are over 200 named gold/red bicolors and I've grown maybe 20 of them and will just share with you what grows best for me in my zone 5 garden.

Big Rainbow
Marizol Gold
Lucky Cross
Virginia Sweets
Mary Robinson

,,, to name a few.

Over the years I've noticed that they are very influenced by weather in any one season and a variety that was sweet and delicious one season, and then grown the next season can be bland and mealy.

They also have very soft flesh, so are not good keepers at all.

[Alpinejs]

Hey, Carolyn, thanks for that. I am growing three on your list and didn't even realize that
they were bicolors. Dumb me. Back to Tania's website, I guess. What would I do without
all you folks. Oh, I know. Stumble, fall, bruise, etc.

[edweather]

Thanks Carolyn. Funny, have a book mark in the Big Rainbow page in your book bought about 7 years ago. Guess I was just looking for confirmation. Really like sweet tomatoes. So Big Rainbow it is. Thanks again.

[Tania]

I'd highly recommend Northern Lights bicolor for productivity, taste, and relative earliness compared to other bicolors I grew. It performs wonderfully in our area, and it is beautiful.

[edweather]

Tania thanks. Will definitely keep Northern Lights in mind also. Ed.

I don't know if Hillbilly and Hillbilly West Virginia are the same plant/tomato. I've had very good luck with Hillbilly. It has produced very large tomatoes that are gorgeous, looking like a kaleidoscope of colors when sliced. It also has provided the bonus of great production and great taste.

Ted

[nancyruhl]

I have been looking for a great red/gold tomato, also. I like Copia very much, but it comes in rather late. There are several new introductions from Wild Boar Farms I am trying this year including Solar Flare, Sweet Carneros Pink, Red Boar and Trentons Tiger. Sweet Carneros Pink is producing very well, but I have not had a ripe one to sample, yet. Also trying Northern Lights and Hawaiian Pineapple. I figure I'll have stick-with variety figured out by the end of the season. Lucky Cross was a little too mild in flavor for my tastes.

[TightenUp]

vintage wine was a freebie in a seed order. tasted pretty darn good. didnt grow again this year but only cause i was in a seed buying frenzy and had way more varieties than i had room for. i will def grow again at some point

[TightenUp]

forgot to hit upload. here is the vintage wine

[nancyruhl]

Had my first Beauty Queen and she's a winner and found herself a permanent spot in the lineup. The flavor was great, and she was very juicy. But color of the slices was what sold me. The color was not just skin deep.

[kath]

I really love Hawaiian Pineapple. It might not be the earliest or the reddest but we've been eating them since 7/9 from a 4/30 planting and they are beginning to blush on another plant set out on 5/12. The taste is my favorite of any of the dozens of bicolors I've tried so far- they are sweet but more flavorful than many others and they are consistently within the 10 oz. to over 1 pound range.

I've got a bagged fruit and will happily send you some seeds later in the season if you're interested.

kath

[Mlm1]

I second Kath on that. Hawaiian Pinapple and the bicolor Stripped German are long time favorites of mine.

Marla

[b54red]

I had good luck with Lucky Cross last year but it was an extremely dry year and the flavor was wonderful. The problem for me is it takes too darn long. With the fusarium so bad this year none of mine made it long enough to get any fruit off of them. Royal Hillbilly was very productive here but the taste was far too bland and I thought they were a bit mealy textured.

Kath and Marla, how long from set out to first fruit with Hawaiian Pineapple?

[kath]

Originally Posted by b54red

Kath and Marla, how long from set out to first fruit with Hawaiian Pineapple?

This year about 70 days; last year about 75.

Ed, I included another pic of HP showing a fruit that's more ripe since you said you like 'em red. I'll try to take a picture of one that's cut- they usually wind up eaten before I remember.

kath