Has anyone grown Early Red Chief?

[sjamesNorway]

Obviously, someone has grown it, but have any of you? I came across this variety for the first time today, while reading a thread about Maglia Rosa started by Fred Hempel. It's ranked 3rd in taste at University of Florida trials (behind Maglia Rosa and the University's new Garden Gem). The complete list is in the link in post #4 below:

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...ghlight=Maglia

It's an early OP determinate bearing 2-3" 10 oz. red fruit, but I haven't been able to find much from folks who've grown it. Here is one source of seeds:

https://www.humeseeds.com/tmto_erc.html

Steve

[sjamesNorway]

I've combed the web, and found a bit more about ERC. I've received no replies. I find it hard to believe no one in T'ville has grown this apparently very good tasting variety (Carolyn?). I'd appreciate any comments about it.

Here are my notes:

Early Red Chief
It’s apparently an heirloom: From Vegetable Gardener about Comstock Ferre & Co, “For example, the ‘Bonny Best’ tomato is a variety the company offered throughout the 1930s. Other tomatoes, like ‘Early Red Chief’ and ‘Ponderosa’ were first offered in the late 1880s.” (Comstock was purchased by Jere Gettle of Baker Creek in 2010 - Baker Creek doesn’t sell ERC seeds.)


Some seed vendors list it as indeterminate. Most list DTM as 65-70 days.


In a yield trial by the University of Wyoming in 2009, Early Red Chief yielded about 1/3 as many fruit as Paragon. 2/3 of the plants yielded no fruit!


While Ventmarin writes, “Round red fruit farm and 70-100 grams. Firm and juicy flesh. Acid and sweet flavor. [Tendency to split.] Very productive variety. Compact plant. 70 to 90 days. Determinate growth. Need staking. Variety from the USA.”

Postagestampvegetablegardening.com writes, “Early Red Chief 75 days. Firm, oblate, slightly ribbed, 5-8 ounce tomato. Rich tasting slicer. Tolerates considerable heat and yields over long season.”

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by sjamesNorway

I've combed the web, and found a bit more about ERC. I've received no replies. I find it hard to believe no one in T'ville has grown this apparently very good tasting variety (Carolyn?). I'd appreciate any comments about it.

Here are my notes:

Early Red Chief
It’s apparently an heirloom: From Vegetable Gardener about Comstock Ferre & Co, “For example, the ‘Bonny Best’ tomato is a variety the company offered throughout the 1930s. Other tomatoes, like ‘Early Red Chief’ and ‘Ponderosa’ were first offered in the late 1880s.” (Comstock was purchased by Jere Gettle of Baker Creek in 2010 - Baker Creek doesn’t sell ERC seeds.)


Some seed vendors list it as indeterminate. Most list DTM as 65-70 days.


In a yield trial by the University of Wyoming in 2009, Early Red Chief yielded about 1/3 as many fruit as Paragon. 2/3 of the plants yielded no fruit!


While Ventmarin writes, “Round red fruit farm and 70-100 grams. Firm and juicy flesh. Acid and sweet flavor. [Tendency to split.] Very productive variety. Compact plant. 70 to 90 days. Determinate growth. Need staking. Variety from the USA.”

Postagestampvegetablegardening.com writes, “Early Red Chief 75 days. Firm, oblate, slightly ribbed, 5-8 ounce tomato. Rich tasting slicer. Tolerates considerable heat and yields over long season.”

Steve, I see my name there and did a quick Google search for it, and you already know where to get seeds, but I didn't see any place where opinions were given by those who had grown it.

Yes, I knew about it, I think there's still a link in my faves about it that I fetched for someone else, but I've never grown it myself.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Red+..._AUIBigA&dpr=1

Carolyn

[sjamesNorway]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

Steve, I see my name there and did a quick Google search for it, and you already know where to get seeds, but I didn't see any place where opinions were given by those who had grown it.

Yes, I knew about it, I think there's still a link in my faves about it that I fetched for someone else, but I've never grown it myself.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Red+..._AUIBigA&dpr=1

Carolyn

Thanks Carolyn. I did see a post by you at one point - basically saying that there are a Red Chief, which is indeterminate, and the determinate Early Red Chief. I guess I'll just have to try it myself sometime.

Steve