Sophies Choice

[danielnc84]

I just added this from the greenhouse to the garden about 3 days ago... its not got hot yet but this plant does not like the heat of the carolina's I will not grow again unless it drastically turns around as far as production. also on my do not grow again list is MR. Stripey. plants just are not as strong as the rest of everything in the garden.

[lakelady]

I'm growing this as well for the first time, and mine is in a pot. While it did seem to start off slower than everything else, the past 2 weeks it has really gone gangbusters and filled out really, really well. Maybe she will turn around for you soon.

[mrdoitall]

I live in HOT & Humid north Alabama. I'm growing Sophie's choice this year for the first time in 3 gallon pots. They are going great. They are loaded in tomatoes. I do have them in an area that don't get sun after 4:00pm You may want to give them a little shade with something if you can.

[marc_groleau]

Mr Stripey was a real washout for me as well. Won't take up space in my garden again.

[bower]

I'm growing Sophie's Choice for the first time this year, in a 5 gallon bag, in an unheated greenhouse in Newfoundland. Temperatures are on the low end of the scale, although we had some warm weather in May. The plant is pretty large (over 3' tall) but so far has set and grown only one fruit. Other varieties in the same conditions/bags are doing much better, in spite of the cold.

[Tormato]

Over 3' tall?

I've never seen Sophie's Choice top 2' in my garden.

Dr. Lve Apple

[ArthurDent004]

I've got a Sophie's Choice growing indoors in a homemade 5 gallon SWC. It's just over two feet tall and has about an 18 inch spread. I've had to prune it three times to get it to fit the space it's in. I didn't realize it would get this big or I would have grown a dwarf tomato. I lost nine tomatoes earlier due to BER and lost more than a dozen flowers when a branch broke. It currently has nine tomatoes growing and five flowers blooming. I see more flowers growing on the stems. Not bad for my first attempt.

[bower]

Yep, see attached with my measuring stick - it's actually pushing the 5 ft mark!

[Tormato]

Hmm...it's supposed to be a compact determinate from what I've read, and which is what I've seen the few times I've trialed it. Perhaps others can chime in about how large it gets.

Dr. Lve Apple

[saltmarsh]

This is what Sophie's Choice should look like.

[ArthurDent004]

I bought my Sophie's Choice seeds from Tomatofest. Here's part of their description - "Strong disease resistant short determinate (24") produces an abundance of 8 to 10 oz. globes. fruit is a red-orange outside and deep red inside. Best production in cooler climates".

I just measured mine and it's now three feet tall. I assume if I had more room to let the plant branch out more and I hadn't pruned it three times it may have been more bush-shaped. You can see a couple of tomatoes that are turning red and some of the others that are growing.

[saltmarsh]

_L044774.bmpJust for comparison...

[ddsack]

Where's Carolyn when you need her?

My Sophie's choice was very short and squat, but ultra bushy. This was growing in the ground, so no pot constraints or benefits. Think Silvery Fir Tree size and shape, but with normal RL leaves. It had branches all over the place, and a fair number of tomatoes, but it was not an early for me. It had one or two large green tomatoes that refused to blush for a ridiculously long time, and the later maturing tomatoes all pretty much came at the end of the season in early September. I liked the flavor, but thought it was too late for me. Maybe in a pot it would mature faster, it certainly was a vey good size for a pot.

This picture kind of shows how close to the ground it grows. You can see the wood of my raised bed frame to the right.

[ArthurDent004]

Saltmarsh - The last picture you posted is showing with a red "X" on it.

Dee - Those are some good looking tomatoes. I too have two tomatoes that grew side by side and the one that was exposed to more grow light turned red far earlier than its neighbor hiding behind some limbs and leaves. I would have loved it if my plant had been the size of yours. I had originally thought I could grow three tomato plants in my grow area but I had to change that when I saw how big my plant grew.

I'm thinking of trying a Silvery Fir myself. What size did yours get to?

[ddsack]

I've grown Silvery Fir Tree in hanging baskets, and they don't get very large or super bushy there, probably because I don't care for them very well once I start concentrating on my in-ground plants. I did grow one in the ground once, and it got very dense and bushy, but I think was no more than 2 ft tall. I love the ferny leaves, but the flavor was blah for me, especially the earlier tomatoes - I don't consider many a spitter, but this one did qualify for me.

This is an old pic of the end of season in-ground plant, this foliage is all from only one plant, and you can see my "tape measure" from good old pin-fed computer paper. It was very productive despite being in a rather dry part of the bed.





Found this of one of the hanging pots production --