FFF, N Varieties?

[AlittleSalt]

I was wondering if any of you have grown FFF, N tomatoes? (Three races of Fusarium and Root Knot Nematode resistance)

If so, did any of them taste better than the supermarket tomatoes? I equate larger supermarket tomatoes as tasting like nothing - They are just red and wet.

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

I was wondering if any of you have grown FFF, N tomatoes? (Three races of Fusarium and Root Knot Nematode resistance)

If so, did any of them taste better than the supermarket tomatoes? I equate larger supermarket tomatoes as tasting like nothing - They are just red and wet.

Robert,
If those varieties turn out to resist nematode but the fruits don't taste good, then you can use them as root stock for grafting.
Just a suggestion.

[AlittleSalt]

Yes, root stock and grafting is an idea. Gardeneer, it is probably what I will have to do if I want to grow OPs and hybrids, but I really don't want to graft. Post #117 in this thread explains why - http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...t=45168&page=4

You all know that all my posts and threads are very open to different ideas and thoughts, but this one is about FFF, N varieties that might taste okay.

[Gardeneer]

Gotch ye, Robert.
I have grown Big Boy, Better Boy , Big Beef. But I am not sure they are FFF,N resistance. But they taste decent. I am growing Better Boy in my fall garden. Probably they are VFN ?

[tsipgolf12]

Robert have grown and am growing Mountain Merit and Tasti Lee. Tasti Lee is VFFFSt and Mountain Merrit is VFFFN TSWV EB LB. Both are decent tasting red hybrids

RWG

[b54red]

I have grown over a dozen of them and none of them was close to being as good as Big Beef and most were hard and not very juicy. I also used most of them for root stock and the only one that was any good as a root stock was Tasti-Lee but it wasn't very resistant to RKN so I finally tried the true grafting root stocks and found that they were so much better.

If you could go back and see all the attempts I made to get out of grafting you would realize what an uphill and futile goal you are setting for yourself. After I finally got into grafting and grew the successful grafts that I got from my first few attempts I was totally amazed at the difference in how well the OP and heirlooms did without the impediments of fusarium and RKN slowing them down. Even with far fewer plants my production was so much better with larger and tastier fruit from most of them. After that I was a total convert to grafting. I will not lie to you and say it doesn't have its ups and downs because sometimes grafting failures can be disheartening until you get the hang of it; but once you do it isn't intimidating at all. I have not planted a single non-grafted plant in my garden since then even though it is a little bit of trouble starting seed earlier and spending the time grafting and nursing the grafts through the healing time. My production now comes with much less work because I am not having to try and stop those twin plagues that hounded me for decades. Due to some health problems that make gardening very difficult I know that long before now I would have stopped growing tomatoes if I had not started grafting.

Even though they are ridiculously expensive you might want to try growing a few grafted plants by purchasing them. I don't know if anyone sells plants grafted onto a FFF resistant root stock or not but if you can grow Big Beef without problems then you should be able to find plants grafted onto Maxifort root stock without too much trouble.

Bill

[Cole_Robbie]

You might PM Fusion_Power and ask him if he sells any grafted plants. I remember looking at his web site a year or two ago, and the selection of plants he does offer is tremendous.

[gdaddybill]

Valley Cat has resistance to 3 races of nematodes and I'm sure some fusarium resistance too.
It's also determinate and the plants I grafted on it seem to be staying a bit shorter even though they are heirloom hybrid types.

[AlittleSalt]

Big Beef VFFNTA plants today. I have not seen any wilting so far. The two plants are around 3' tall and wide. The yellowing is near the top of the plants.

EDIT - I just realized I posted this on the wrong thread. Oh well, it works here too.

[My Foot Smells]

Originally Posted by b54red

I have grown over a dozen of them and none of them was close to being as good as Big Beef and most were hard and not very juicy. I also used most of them for root stock and the only one that was any good as a root stock was Tasti-Lee but it wasn't very resistant to RKN so I finally tried the true grafting root stocks and found that they were so much better.

If you could go back and see all the attempts I made to get out of grafting you would realize what an uphill and futile goal you are setting for yourself. After I finally got into grafting and grew the successful grafts that I got from my first few attempts I was totally amazed at the difference in how well the OP and heirlooms did without the impediments of fusarium and RKN slowing them down. Even with far fewer plants my production was so much better with larger and tastier fruit from most of them. After that I was a total convert to grafting. I will not lie to you and say it doesn't have its ups and downs because sometimes grafting failures can be disheartening until you get the hang of it; but once you do it isn't intimidating at all. I have not planted a single non-grafted plant in my garden since then even though it is a little bit of trouble starting seed earlier and spending the time grafting and nursing the grafts through the healing time. My production now comes with much less work because I am not having to try and stop those twin plagues that hounded me for decades. Due to some health problems that make gardening very difficult I know that long before now I would have stopped growing tomatoes if I had not started grafting.

Even though they are ridiculously expensive you might want to try growing a few grafted plants by purchasing them. I don't know if anyone sells plants grafted onto a FFF resistant root stock or not but if you can grow Big Beef without problems then you should be able to find plants grafted onto Maxifort root stock without too much trouble.

Bill

Nice testimony. I am going to graft next year.

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."

I do not understand the reluctance.

I mean, really, how hard can it be to weld two plants together?

[b54red]

Originally Posted by My Foot Smells

Nice testimony. I am going to graft next year.

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."

I do not understand the reluctance.

I mean, really, how hard can it be to weld two plants together?

Harder than you think at first. Read the grafting threads and have everything set up before you start. Have multiple sizes of grafting clips to make it much easier. Have a healing chamber ready before you begin grafting and if you are doing it in the middle of the summer then keep it inside in the air conditioning for a few days at least so the plants aren't stressed so much by the intense heat which can cause early wilting. Made sure the two halves fit together cleanly by holding it up to a bright light that allows you to see if there is a gap between the two halves and if there is one try to make the fit tighter so there is no gap. This time of the year my success rate falls off due to the heat and the stress that creates in the healing process but even so I still get a good number of successful grafts out of every batch but not the 90% to 100% success that I frequently get in very early spring grafting attempts.

Bill

[My Foot Smells]

Originally Posted by b54red

Harder than you think at first. Read the grafting threads and have everything set up before you start. Have multiple sizes of grafting clips to make it much easier. Have a healing chamber ready before you begin grafting and if you are doing it in the middle of the summer then keep it inside in the air conditioning for a few days at least so the plants aren't stressed so much by the intense heat which can cause early wilting. Made sure the two halves fit together cleanly by holding it up to a bright light that allows you to see if there is a gap between the two halves and if there is one try to make the fit tighter so there is no gap. This time of the year my success rate falls off due to the heat and the stress that creates in the healing process but even so I still get a good number of successful grafts out of every batch but not the 90% to 100% success that I frequently get in very early spring grafting attempts.

Bill

Definitely will read up, have supplies on hand, and be mentally ready. I only have 30 plants (approx.) each year, so seems doable; and if only a handful take, we go with that to see if there is a difference.

Furthermore, I think there is a grow market for grafted plants in the warmer climates and would be a great seller. However, I am not into becoming a vendor of anything (time constraints), but I'm sure they would illicit conversation.

It does not seem feasible if one had a very large crop, but that is the advantage of being a backyard gardner is quality of product and produce.

[AlittleSalt]

The pictures I posted here is the reason why I'm asking about FFF, N varieties. I did look up Mountain Merit and Tasti Lee. Mountain Merit would have a chance here. Tasti Lee has no RKN resistance.

Bill, I talked to my wife about grafting and she's 100% into it, so I'll be asking questions.

[HudsonValley]

I haven't grown it yet, but was interested in Amelia F1 (because of the variety's name, which it shares with a close friend). According to my list of varieties to grow in the future, it is VFFFNSt TSWV resistant, does well in high heat, and is widely described as both flavorful and a heavy yielder. Like many of the highly disease-resistant varieties I've read about, it's determinate. Perhaps someone on these boards has experience with it and could say more...

[Cole_Robbie]

Originally Posted by My Foot Smells

It does not seem feasible if one had a very large crop

http://www.oired.vt.edu/ipmil/wp-con...2014-compr.pdf

That link shows large-scale grafting efforts, in the pics at the bottom. It looks like several hundred plants at once. It was a university project, so maybe they had a lot of free student labor. I don't know if I could do it or not, but it would be fun to try.