4 Northerners-any toms you've found that do poorly in our area?

[Dr.Cindy]

Hi all,

I'm specifically referring to those varieties that have been touted to taste really good, but just may not do well in the north. I'm in the Seattle/Tacoma area where the growing season is fairly short and the summers are mild. I was fortunate enough to buy a greenhouse in early 2014. It's unheated but I was able to plant out my toms a month early. We built 3 x 12 raised beds in the greenhouse. I purchased seedlings from a great grower in Alabama who has varieties that aren't available in my area. Some of those which are supposed to have fantastic flavors included Earl of Edgecombe, Dr. Carolyn, KBX, and Marianna's Peace. The latter 2 were decent in taste but nothing memorable. The first 2 were absolutely bland, worse than the supermarket on-the-vine tomatoes! So I don't know if those varieties simply don't do well in my geographic area, or if there were other factors. We had an unseasonably warm summer, 80's +, and then of course it was warmer in the greenhouse. The soil was all new garden/vegetable soil (since the greenhouse was new) so there shouldn't have been issues with that. I found the greenhouse obviously tends to run a bit humid; sometimes there was condensation on the plants but that didn't seem to affect their growth.

I'm basically wondering if I had an off year and should I try these varieties again, or should I just move on...

[Gardeneer]

I am also in the Seattle Area (Redmond ).
You are right, for growing tomatoes, peppers we have short season. Our season starts in May and ends in September ( ~5 months). But with greenhouse you can extend your season by at least 2 months.

I grow just about any variety but try to stay away from LATE season ones. As far as the taste goes, it is very difficult to make a universal judgment. Of the varieties that I grew in 2014, The following were fine:

Cherokee Purple
Ananas Noire
Siletz
Japanese Black Trifele.
Red large cherry (no name)
Sun Gold (cherry)
Matina

This year I am trying 20 new varieties. Hopefully few of those will become repeats. That is one way to find out what grow well and tastes good too.


Have a nice 2015 grow season !

[rxkeith]

the one year i tried mariannas peace, every tomato had blossom end rot. i never grew it again. i have 2 months that can be called warm, july and august. maybe half of june, and half of september too. i try to stick with early to mid season varieties, and many of them have done well. very little luck with growing any late variety. i end up with green tomatoes that have to be picked because of frost or they don't size up in time most years. 75-80 day maturity is my limit until i get a green house. i still have lots to choose from in that range.


keith

[bughunter99]

JDs Special C Rex , Stump of the World, KBX and Japanese Black Trifle are all popular and all that have been repeat major fails for me. Either due to bad disease issues or very poor or in the case of KBX no production. JBT was very mealy.

Tomatoes can have bad year so since you have the seeds you should consider retrying them. Dr Carolyn in particular is one that is very good for me in some years and not good in others. That one seems to definitely want heat and less wet conditions.

I'm in the Chicago area. Snow is almost gone , whee! This year I did something different and am only planting varieties that have done well for me here. Here is what I am planting.

Cherry: Gajo de Melon

Early: Forest Fire
Darby Red and Yellow
Siletz
Gary O Sena

Freaky: Woolly Kate

Mid-Season: Black Krim
Carbon
Indian Stripe
Amazon Chocolate
Chocolate Stripes
Hays
Amazon Chocolate
Crykovic Yugoslavian
Sibirskiy Velikan Rozovyi

Late: Ludmillas Red Plum
Striped Roman
Copia
Pineapple

[Lindalana]

Bughunter, Chicago suburb is here too. Plant swap still scheduled at Evanston at Memorial day weekend. If you have any extras, would be welcome to peeps. I am growing variety this year as well.
Dr Cindy, Marianne Peace is one of my favs and does very well in Chicago area. Taste of course depends on taste buds but as well on the soil and what is in the soil. Plus greenhouse settings are different that open ground.
There are many varieties that work very well for short summers with mild weather. Watering schedule does make a difference in taste as well, rainy season might ruin lots of taste, never mind overwatering garden beds.
here is some interesting article on soil. In my experience taste and quality all start there http://foliarsprays.com/en/mineralized-soil.html

[Dr.Cindy]

Thanks for the feedback! I've grown some of the early season tomatoes like Siletz and haven't been impressed by the taste. The late season ones have been hit or miss but now that I have my greenhouse, I am trying more late season varieties. I'm still experimenting with the greenhouse; I think my husband overwatered a bit last summer with the drip hoses. But at least I don't have to worry so much about unexpected/early rains cracking the toms and ruining the taste. I'm just trying to figure out if some varieties are more "fickle" than others in producing the flavor they're purported to. That way I can decide whether or not to try something again. Lindalana-thanks for the link! I do agree everything starts with the soil.

[Lindalana]

Dr Cindy, I have learned the trick with watering from market grower on this forum awhile ago. I stop watering for the month of August. Heavy mulch does the rest and if I absolutely must water, I will collect all blushing tomatoes first. It does change taste significantly.
Otherwise, soil testing is a must for me. I knew something was off in tomatoes last year but would not have guessed it was sodium low. So I had to buy grocery store sea salt and apply to my soil. Can't wait to see what difference it made for me LOL

[troad]

DR. Cindy,
Too much water and the tomatoes here in Western Washington get watery and bland. Last year with the warmer weather should have helped more than you noted. I grew Pink Berkeley Tie Dye last year and they were very good. Also my KBX was pretty good just more sweet than tangy. I have grown Brandywines and some years they are excellent (save for the limited production). I use a hoophouse for the green house effect. As a caution do not let the humidity get out of hand in your greenhouse-Botrytis will make a mess of your plants.
Most years a Mid season tomato is the better choice. If we do not get a warm September you will not get most Late season beefsteaks to ripen many fruit. If you want to be sure of some production try Black From Tula it will not overwhelm you with taste but it handles the damp Springs we usually get. If the weather is warmer then Daniels, Prudens Purple, and Schilling Giant have done well for me. Also Tony's Italian is a repeat for me. I agree with Lindalana on the watering. Try not to over water for better taste.
Len

[FarmerShawn]

Of the ones you mention, I have grown Dr. Carolyn and KBX in my greenhouse and found them tasty indeed. But as Lindalana says, watering is the trick. When my tomatoes are well established, maybe two feet tall or so, I stop watering, unless I notice wilting. I water the rows about four feet away from them, where I have other stuff planted, and their rows are about five feet inside the greenhouse. I guess the water from those two sources must be enough, because I almost never water the tomatoes directly after about early July. I have yet to find a variety that does not perform better in the GH than outside, and the taste is sublime, if I do say so myself.

[spuriousmonkey]

All time favourites so far in a colder environment are:

Anna russian
Stupice
and most importantly Sibirskyi skoropelyi.

None of them needs a greenhouse, although a greenhouse helps a lot in starting them off. In fact, these varieties do better outside for me.
I gave some Sibirskyi skoropelyi to a Russian friend, and these tomatoes reminded of the tomatoes in her youth. A very good allrounder and early cropper. It's a bush type so very little maintenance. You also don't need to water them so much if you just put them in the ground.

To me it seems that tomatoes grown outside the greenhouse tend to taste the best. Probably because you don't have to water them so much.

[remy]

Aunt Gertie's Gold and Beauty King are two I would stay away from. They are very late.

[Father'sDaughter]

Originally Posted by remy

Aunt Gertie's Gold and Beauty King are two I would stay away from. They are very late.

I grew Aunt Gertie's Gold a couple of years ago and it was so late I only got one (very large) tomato before the season ended. Unfortunately the flavor was so amazing, I have to talk myself out of growing it again as tomato garden space is so precious.

[remy]

Originally Posted by Father'sDaughter

I grew Aunt Gertie's Gold a couple of years ago and it was so late I only got one (very large) tomato before the season ended. Unfortunately the flavor was so amazing, I have to talk myself out of growing it again as tomato garden space is so precious.

You remind me of my site description:
This Virginia heirloom is quite tasty. It is a favorite beefsteak of many. Unfortunately for us northern growers it is quite late to ripen. It is also stingy with its fruit which I suspect is not a problem in more southerly locations. I have a local friend that loves it so much she is willing to put up with these faults. I on the other hand am not so forgiving. The fruits average about a l lb. but can get quite big with care. There is northern customer that started plants early and set out sizable plants. They did get an earlier and more productive harvest. Maybe that is the trick for this variety? Potato leaf.

And here's Beauty King:
This is an extremely pretty tomato with its red and yellow striping. I remember the first time I saw it at the CHOPTAG party I attended, I was wowed by its looks. It is a sport or cross from Big Rainbow that was found and developed for the best striping by Brad Gates some time ago. It is assertive in flavor which is the opposite of Big Rainbow’s blandness. It is a late variety, I do not recommended it for short season growers. I won’t be growing it again.

[marieibarra85]

I live in federal way, and am trying a bunch of new types of tomatoes this year. We really do have short summers. I hope I'll have luck with some new types I'm trying. I already started A LOT of cherry tomato varieties as well as large ones. Last year my favorite was the Black Russian cherry. So good