Old German experience

piegirl · July 4, 2007

This is my 3rd and final attempt to grow OG. Very healthy
almost 5 foot plant, dark green, leafy, and as usual no buds
seem to appear. Those that do appear far down the mature
stems and seem to drop off. The 1st one I grew did produce
a few fruits that were very creamy and great (maybe my memory
isn't as good as it once was). May be this just isn't the right
area of the country (zone 5, Nebraska) but we have had very mild
weather up until the past few days and more heat coming. Any
one have good experience with this one? Piegirl

feldon30 · July 5, 2007

I think almost as many people have trouble with this bicolor as they do with Mr. Stripey (not Tigerella). The one fruit I got out of it last year (my first year gardening, many many mistakes made) was pretty good.

Big Rainbow is a popular one. Burracker's Favorite is a producer, but made a poor showing in the flavor department for me.

For bicolors, I'd maybe grow Lucky Cross.

**carolyn137** · July 5, 2007

There are now close to about 100 gold/red bicolors listed in the SSE Yearbooks. Most are about the same, some stand out as being better able to withstand the weather which can make them produce less and be mealy and not as sweet as one might like.

For me Old German was not all that different from many others of this type that I've grown, excepting Mr. Stripey which is a loser for me.

I could tell you what does best in my zone 5 NE location if that would help.

piegirl · July 5, 2007

Thank you Feldon and Carolyn. Carolyn, I would love to know
what grows well for you in your zone 5. I have Hillbilly PL
growing, a little spindly, nice green color, and about to set
buds - maybe the weather is finally getting hot and muggy enough
if its origins are in the south. Piegirl

Worth1 · July 5, 2007

Old german and hillbilly were both BIG loosers for me, no fruit and sick plants.

Worth

Suze · July 6, 2007

Denise, I've grown OG before, and had not-so-good results with it in terms of both productivity and flavor.

To my mind, there are are two categories of med-lg to large fruited bicolors--

(1) Lucky Cross
(2) Pretty much everything else

I've tried several gold-red bicolor varieties, and Lucky Cross is the only one I would consider to consistently have very good flavor in my garden. Burracker's Favorite did fairly well for me in a drought, but wasn't so impressive this year. I also tried Virginia Sweets this year, and find it to be okay, but not great.

Besides Lucky Cross, I really like Tom's Yellow Wonder. Okay, it's technically not a bicolor, but it sure is pretty.

While processing seeds tonight, I sliced a Virginia Sweets in half and set it on top of a plate of TYW for comparison purposes.

toms yellow wonder and va sweets.jpg

Beauty King also shows potential as a "grow again" - good flavor.

pooklette · July 6, 2007

Well heck. I'm trying Old German for the first time this year and it looks pretty encouraging so far. My zone 5 weather has been almost ideal this year though...highs 85-90 on average and nighttime lows in the 60s. We get a good dose of rain maybe twice a week that waters the plants thoroughly without turning the gardens into swamp land. Perhaps my plant is doing well out of sheer dumb luck this season?

On a side note, I tried Lucky Cross last year and got literally two tomatoes from it before frost. Those two tomatoes were fabulous and the plant itself was massive...but the poor thing got hit with frost before it really had a chance to do anything. Bummer.

Big Rainbow has always performed pretty well in my zone 5 garden, if that helps any...

**carolyn137** · July 6, 2007

Carolyn, I would love to know
what grows well for you in your zone 5.

*****

The best variety for my area is Big Rainbow. As opposed to so many other gold/red bicolors I've grown, it seems to do better in a wider range of environmental conditions frpm year to year and seldom is the flesh mealy as I find with some others.

Others that I like are:

Virginia Sweets
Lucky Cross
Regina's Yellow
Marizol Gold

and a few others.

But I think I should fess up and say that the bicolors are not really my fave kind of tomato to grow. Too much variation from year to year b'c they are so influenced by weather.

When they're sweet and fruity fine, but that isn't often the case in my experience.

I won't bore you with the ones I've grown that never got a second chance.

Besides, I'd have to go look them up and I'm not in the mood to do that.

barefootgardener · July 6, 2007

I have grown Old German in my zone 4 garden now for the past 4 years and it does really well for me. The plant's are huge and the tomatoe's are huge. Excellent flavor! I grow it faithfully every year. Now last year all of my tomatoes were a hit and miss.The plants were huge and the tomatoes were a plenty but I had a hard time getting anything to ripen when they should have. The tomatoes seemed to just want to stay green.
So far my old German tomato plants are doing really well and have little tomatoes on the vines here and their.

July 4, 2007	#1
piegirl Tomatovillian™ Honoree Join Date: May 2006 Location: Lincoln, NE Posts: 791	Old German experience This is my 3rd and final attempt to grow OG. Very healthy almost 5 foot plant, dark green, leafy, and as usual no buds seem to appear. Those that do appear far down the mature stems and seem to drop off. The 1st one I grew did produce a few fruits that were very creamy and great (maybe my memory isn't as good as it once was). May be this just isn't the right area of the country (zone 5, Nebraska) but we have had very mild weather up until the past few days and more heat coming. Any one have good experience with this one? Piegirl

July 5, 2007	#2
feldon30 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 5,346	I think almost as many people have trouble with this bicolor as they do with Mr. Stripey (not Tigerella). The one fruit I got out of it last year (my first year gardening, many many mistakes made) was pretty good. Big Rainbow is a popular one. Burracker's Favorite is a producer, but made a poor showing in the flavor department for me. For bicolors, I'd maybe grow Lucky Cross. __________________ [SIZE="3"]I've relaunched my gardening website -- [B]TheUnconventionalTomato.com[/B][/SIZE] * [I][SIZE="1"]I'm not allowed to post weblinks so you'll have to copy-paste it manually.[/SIZE][/I] Last edited by feldon30; July 5, 2007 at 12:55 PM.*

July 5, 2007	#3
carolyn137 Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a Posts: 21,169	There are now close to about 100 gold/red bicolors listed in the SSE Yearbooks. Most are about the same, some stand out as being better able to withstand the weather which can make them produce less and be mealy and not as sweet as one might like. For me Old German was not all that different from many others of this type that I've grown, excepting Mr. Stripey which is a loser for me. I could tell you what does best in my zone 5 NE location if that would help. __________________ Carolyn

July 6, 2007	#8
carolyn137 Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a Posts: 21,169	Carolyn, I would love to know what grows well for you in your zone 5. ***** The best variety for my area is Big Rainbow. As opposed to so many other gold/red bicolors I've grown, it seems to do better in a wider range of environmental conditions frpm year to year and seldom is the flesh mealy as I find with some others. Others that I like are: Virginia Sweets Lucky Cross Regina's Yellow Marizol Gold and a few others. But I think I should fess up and say that the bicolors are not really my fave kind of tomato to grow. Too much variation from year to year b'c they are so influenced by weather. When they're sweet and fruity fine, but that isn't often the case in my experience. I won't bore you with the ones I've grown that never got a second chance. Besides, I'd have to go look them up and I'm not in the mood to do that. __________________ Carolyn

July 5, 2007	#5
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	Old german and hillbilly were both BIG loosers for me, no fruit and sick plants. Worth

July 6, 2007	#6
Suze Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Texas Posts: 3,027	Denise, I've grown OG before, and had not-so-good results with it in terms of both productivity and flavor. To my mind, there are are two categories of med-lg to large fruited bicolors-- (1) Lucky Cross (2) Pretty much everything else I've tried several gold-red bicolor varieties, and Lucky Cross is the only one I would consider to consistently have very good flavor in my garden. Burracker's Favorite did fairly well for me in a drought, but wasn't so impressive this year. I also tried Virginia Sweets this year, and find it to be okay, but not great. Besides Lucky Cross, I really like Tom's Yellow Wonder. Okay, it's technically not a bicolor, but it sure is pretty. While processing seeds tonight, I sliced a Virginia Sweets in half and set it on top of a plate of TYW for comparison purposes. toms yellow wonder and va sweets.jpg Beauty King also shows potential as a "grow again" - good flavor.

July 6, 2007	#7
pooklette Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Zone 5 Posts: 262	Well heck. I'm trying Old German for the first time this year and it looks pretty encouraging so far. My zone 5 weather has been almost ideal this year though...highs 85-90 on average and nighttime lows in the 60s. We get a good dose of rain maybe twice a week that waters the plants thoroughly without turning the gardens into swamp land. Perhaps my plant is doing well out of sheer dumb luck this season? On a side note, I tried Lucky Cross last year and got literally two tomatoes from it before frost. Those two tomatoes were fabulous and the plant itself was massive...but the poor thing got hit with frost before it really had a chance to do anything. Bummer. Big Rainbow has always performed pretty well in my zone 5 garden, if that helps any...

July 6, 2007	#9
barefootgardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Michigan Zone 4b Posts: 1,291	I have grown Old German in my zone 4 garden now for the past 4 years and it does really well for me. The plant's are huge and the tomatoe's are huge. Excellent flavor! I grow it faithfully every year. Now last year all of my tomatoes were a hit and miss.The plants were huge and the tomatoes were a plenty but I had a hard time getting anything to ripen when they should have. The tomatoes seemed to just want to stay green. So far my old German tomato plants are doing really well and have little tomatoes on the vines here and their.