Tomatoes - 2017

New year, new thread.
I haven't started tomatoes to sell as plants yet. Probably next week. We will offer;
Celebrity, seems to be a favorite.
Big Beef
Early Girl
Heirlooms,
Mortgage Lifter
Brandywine Pink
Giant Belgium
Amish Paste
Plus huge variety of cherry tomatoes.
We have Arbason plants ready to go in the ground in our hoop houses.
Will plant them out soon.

If you need to go back to 2016:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1414435/

This message was edited Mar 23, 2017 12:18 PM

I have just copied this list from the 2016 thread, but the tomatoes are what's growing now. I am not a commercial grower, but just an old lady who likes to garden. In fact, most of the tomatoes I grow, I put them in large pots or in Square Foot Gardens.

I have a small enclosed garden area with a deer fence. Yes, my first experience growing from seed was very interesting, some number of years ago. I ended up with 100 tomato seedlings. We were not even in our house yet, as my husband built our log home. So since we had old furniture in the mobile home, I had tomato seedlings in front of every window, on the back of the sofa...etc. I know, this really is a silly story, and then it became sad. When the tomatoes just started to ripen, I saw them everywhere...broken, half-eaten and also taken down the gopher holes!!! We had a fence, but it was not very tall, and certainly no threat to the deer. And what the deer didn't damage, others disappeared down gopher holes! We did, however, get some tomatoes. I really didn't need 100 plants, but I was hoping to donate them to our local food shelter.Anyway, that was the beginning of my tomato growing. I refused to do any more, however, until we had a decent deer fence, which eventually came. Still, I wasn't sure if gophers would still attack.

At the time, I watched Victory Garden (the original one on PBS) and Square Foot Gardening with Mel Bartholomew, Mike McGrath had a show, but I do not recall what it was, or maybe he was on the Victory Garden. I do not recall at the moment. We recorded them on our VCR at the time, as we both worked full time. (I digress...!!!) The main takeaway was that I could grow tomatoes and protect them from the gophers by putting hardware cloth on the bottom of the boxes. That worked very well. I like the idea of a hoop house or greenhouse, but that just never happened.

Here is a list of what I have sown this year, which were just sown on 3/9 and 3/10. I did not use heat this time. I don't have a fancy setup. Just a desk lamp with a compact fluorescent bulb.I do have shop lights downstairs, over some metal shelves in the basement, but it has been so cold this winter, I didn't start anything in there yet. I have to use heat mats if I start anything down there.

Variety Source Year Quantity

Amish Paste Cherry Gal 2010 0/3
Black Krim Patti 2009 3/3
Blue Beauty Tatiana 2013 6/6
Cour di Bue Patti 2009 3/3
Jaune Flamme Julianna 2011 4/6
Kellogg's Breakfast Pinetree 2002 1/3
Linnie's Oxheart Trade 2010 3/3
OSU Blue Patti 2010 6/6
Pink Brandywine Trade 2009 1/3
Pink Ping Pong Patti 2010 3/3
Roma (for DH) Pinetree 2010 3/3
San Marzano Lampadina Pinetree 2010 2/3
Snowberry Poisondartfrog 2013 2/3
Sungold Trade ? 0/1
Sungold Select Tatiana 2014 2/2
Yellow Pear (for Su) Pinetree 2003 2/3

So you see, I had only one seed left of Sungold, and I did purchase a seedling from the nursery. It is sitting on my back porch, as it is too cold and wet to plant quite yet, since we live up in the mountains. It snowed this morning, on our way to town, so I usually wait until May to put them out. I did cover the Sungold which was already outside acclimated, and put it closer to the house. That will most likely be the one I will start eating, and yes, when they are ripe, I usually eat most in the garden for a snack, although, later in the season, there might be too many to eat. It is our favorite one to put in salads.

I made this into a chart, but the default program here, put them all together.

This message was edited Mar 23, 2017 1:22 PM

I've pared down for this year. From seed I've started

Cherokee Purple
Sun Sugar
Sweet Million
Black Vernissage (free seed)

I'll probably grow a couple of Better Boys and will just buy those plants. The first three are our favorites. I posted a question about Black Vernissage on the old thread. Have any of you had any experience with these? Since they were free I decided to try them and so far they are vigorous plants. The fruit is small (about golf ball or slightly larger), and some reviews say they are mealy but good flavored. But good for paste. If that's all I use them for, that is fine as I will have plenty for the two of us plus some for roasting and freezing for sauce.

Last year, even with the drought (I irrigate), we had a flush of new blooms and more tomatoes on our Sun Sugars and Cherokee Purples well into late October. I finally pulled the vines just before a major frost.

Another year, another tomato. Growing fewer varieties this year but will probably have about the same number of plants...35-40. The goal last year was to update seed stock.

- BEEFSTEAK 
- Alfred Orange
- Red Beefsteak
- SLICER
- Box Car Willie
- Black Krim
- Cherokee Purple
- Eva Purple Ball
- Hazelfield Farm
- Mortgage Lifter
- CHERRY/SALADETTE
- Black Cherry
- Golden Willie (F3 from natural hybrid Box Car Willie/Sungold)
- Riesentraube
- Yellow Pear
-GERMAN
German Johnson

For me i am growing:

-Berkley's Tye Dye, trying for the first time
-Black Vernissage, trying this one for the first time as well
-Sweet Million, grew this last year and was pretty happy with it
-Blue Berries, grew this last year, impressed with the production from just one plant
-Red Pride, because we have to have a good ol' red tomato in the mix :)

Sowed a week ago (with lights & heat) and most have popped up by now.
Red: Nepal, Mountain Fresh, Russian 117, Waratah, 4th of July, Kimberley, Opalka
Pink: Polish C, Joes Pink Oxheart, PinkPinkPong,
Yellow: Summertime Gold, KangarooPawYellow,
BiColor: Pineapple, Lucky Cross, Adelaide Festival
Dark: Cherokee Purple, Amazon Chocolate, Dwarf Purple Heart
Cherry: Riesentraube, Husky Cherry Red, Galina, Michael Pollan
I'm also experimenting with some Patio/Short varieties in a windowsill, more later.

At season's end will describe size,shape,earliness,flavor. Hope everyone does the same with theirs!

Cherokee Purple
Gold Medal
Kellog's Breakfast
Moldovan Green
The top two are favorites.
We will be growing a noid gold cherry tomato that was tasty at the Farmer's Market. It's an heirloom so should come true to the original fruit.
Oh, and Stupice as I was given two plants. I was told they do well Early which is why I am growing it. Then, when heat sets in they peter out.

I haven't been on here for awhile life got in the way of my growing . Who is a good source to order tomato plants in the mail? Thanks

Deanna:
Check the Garden Watchdog pages (click on the Products and Sources icon at the top of every page to find a link to it. Among their recommended Watchdog 30, Victory, Sample, Hudson, Baker Creek and SeedsNow offer tomato seeds.
There are dozens of others you can try. In Alphabetical order, Burpee, Diane Seeds, Heirloom, HeritageHarvest, Johnny's, Laurel, Reimer, SandHill, SouthernExposure, Stokes, Tatiana, Territorial, TomatoFest, TomatoGrowers and Totally Tomato all have extensive lists from 90 to over 1000 tomato varieties.

This season
Roma
Rutgers
Yellow Pear
Black pear
Black Cherry
Jubilee
Lemon Boy
Juanne Flamme
Great White
Farmstead Huge
Mammoth Wonder
Broad Ripple Currant
Fuzzy pic Lemon pear

What? No Gold Medal or Kellog's Breakfast?? :)

birder17 If I had them I would try them , not for now and I am three spaces beyond room , with the plants I have ,

A slightly better look at yellow pear

I didn't put my tomatoes out until the end of May, so none yet, just blooms now. It never did "snow on the dogwood", but I did wait for the dogwoods to bloom.

Black Krim
Blue Beauty
Cour de Bue
Jaune Flamme
Linnie's Oxheart
OSU Blue
Pink Brandywine
Roma
San Marzano Lampidina
Snowberry
Sun Gold
Pink Ping Pong

First ripe ones. These are Arbasons.

Well, we generally don't get tomatoes until the first of July. I have a few that have some green ones, but I'm buying mine at Farmers Market. They are hybrids and some of them have been grown in greenhouses and waterponics (whatever that is called.) None have heirlooms yet. What is offered at the Farmers Markets is mediocre at best, but they beat what's offered in the grocery stores.

@CountryGardens
Yours is the first report I've seen from a grower of the Arbason variety. Could you give us some idea of the flavor and how it compares with other hybrids? Sweet or Tart, Mild or Intense?
One seller says it grows 5-6 ft high, is that what you get in your greenhouse? And it looks like a goodly yield of medium-sized tomatoes even though you seemed to have pruned them to just one stem. Very neat support arrangement.

A very good tomato. You don't need sugar or salt. (I don't know why people want to kill a tomato with salt.) These were set in the ground March 27. Tunnel has furnace in case of to cold.
These will be 15 to 20 feet by the time they freeze around November 1. We sell them at Farmers Market & that season ends Oct 31.
I have another 260 plants in a cold tunnel. They will probably start ripening in 3 weeks.
All are pruned to one stem & supported on a twine that can be lowered. Never over 7 ft off the ground.

Wrong picture. Here is the right one.