Bush Tomato

Looking for a "bush" tomato that grows no more than 3 feet high,but with larger fruit than "cherry" type toms,colour not important . Thanks John in OZ.

Sophie's Choice John. But methinks you already know about that one.

Determinate, red fruits about 6-8 oz, early ,prolific and tasty.

And there are many paste tomatoes that meet your description as well. Are you interested in those?

I speak of OP's above for there are also several bush ( determinate ) type hybrids as well, with which I'm less familiar.

Carolyn, assuming you are John S altho I don't know that name handle of "holty" for you.

Carolyn, Holty is what people have called me for years. My name is John Holt , and so was my Dads he got called Jack and I got Holty. I live in the Far North Coast of NSW Australia. Have not heard of Sophies Choice but will try and find a seed supplier in OZ.How do they handle humidity ? Are paste tomatos Romas ? egg shape?
Thanks for your reply,John.

Holty,If you are looking for bush tomatoes try "Tomatoe Growers Supply" on the net. Don't know if they'll ship to you but their catalog is more like an encyclopedia and they show pictures and complete info on each. Hope this is some help!

Tplant, a Brilliant website, have you posted this to other forums , Thanks John.

Sure have Holty. I live an hour and a half away from them and never have been disappointed. The pictures are true and the info is so descriptive. Most of the time I just read it for enjoyment. Sure am glad you like it. If you have problems obtaining seeds,look up our seed trading forum!

This message was edited Nov 15, 2003 1:55 AM

What are the rules and regs on posting seeds globally?
I thought this was a definate "no no" ?John

Don't know? But I know there is a lot of trading. This is how we get some heirlooms. I guess you could find out. Going to turn in now. It's 2:15 AM.
G'Day!!

This message was edited Nov 15, 2003 2:17 AM

Whoops John, you're not the John I thought you were.LOL

Tomato Growers does not ship to Australia. Linda is a good friend of long standing and many of the heirloom varieties in the catalog/website are ones I sent her.

But go to Sand Hill Preservation b/c they do and Glenn has a nice selection of several hundred varieties.

You have Diggers as a source in OZ and there's Eden Seeds in NZ as well.

It really isn't clear to me if you're after hybrids or heirlooms so if you would mention that I'd be happy to list some other determinate varieties that might work for you.

You asked about paste tomatoes being equal to Romas/ A Roma type really refers just to a shape but paste tomatoes come in several different shapes. I'm not one who encourages folks to grow paste tomatoes b/c as a group I find them to have the lousiest tastes and they also are quite susceptible to blossom end rot and Early Blight (Alternaria) Better to grow a great tasting variety and just cook down the sauce a bit more.There are some exceptioons on the taste side and Glenn does carry several of those good ones.

And I really have to share with you that with few exceptions, most determinate varieties, if we're talkng OP heirlooms, are not that good in terms of taste and production.

The situation with sending seeds to Australia and NZ has improved greatly over the past 15 years. In the past I've had to hide seeds in magazines, etc. But your customs officials now seem to be more in tune with what is and isn't accepted. When I've sent large amounts of seed to OZ, which I did about two months ago, I always but always use the green customns slip. When sending small amounts just sent in a letter with the seed packs taped down so the seeds don't rattle usually works. No, I'm not a seed source, this was a special dealie. (smile)

Nevertheless, buying seeds in the US to have sent can be costly, what with the exchange rate. That's one of the reasons I suggested Sand Hill b/c if you buy 10 packs your cost can be as low as $1.25/pack for a minimum of 30 seeds and Glenn has an excellent reputation re seed purity.

Please read his simple website b'c he only ships at certain times of the year. He works full time as a Science teacher and goes crazy trying to grow out and maintain his extensive stocks of seeds and heirloom poultry. he's also the Curator for Cucurbits for Seed Savers Exchange.

Carolyn

Hi Carolyn, thanks for the detailed reply . Am looking for a bush variety to grow on a small scale to sell but not red cannonballs like supermarkets stock these days. Not a greeny but try to avoid chemicals as much as possible so resistant to the Tom/blues would be good.Need a bush because of location , very raised beds and high winds . Pic is of a area planted out a few days ago with Zola and Black Russians for an experiment (as usual). Know of Diggers and Eden ,there is also www.greenpatchseeds.com.au but more into organics.Again ,thanks John in OZ.

This pic should explain what I wish to do. Use the raised beds between the Irises over summer but do not wish to go too high .John

Holty, What is the other crop you are growing? Is it onions?

Louisana Irises in the valleys , Chillis on the mounds , Hot and Spicy and Scotch Bonnet.

Holty,

Still waiting for you to say if it's hybrids or OP heirlooms that you're interesterd in. (smile)

What diseases do you have to contend with since I don't know what you mean by the "tomato blues".

Foliage diseases, which are the most common, have no tolerances with either hybrids or OP's.

Many hybrids do have Fusarium, Verticillium, Root Knot Nematode and TMV tolerances bred in.

But with Fusarium it really depends on which of the three races is common in your area.

Such tolerances only give a couple of more weeks of production since there is no such thing as resistance, the word is tolerance.

Carolyn

Carolyn, sorry, have watched the Rugby last night, League 5 am this morning , taken the dogs for a 5 mile walk (pets forum) planted out 30 native shrubs ,weeded the vege garden, done the washing, prepared this evenings meal ( green chicken curry thai),replied to 17 emails 12 work 5 forum , stiched up a deal for long term website design for some of my URLS with a local coder and yes, forgot to reply to your post.Are you in tears yet? Bigger smile :-)))
This will be a commercial interest so appearance ,size ,colour ,flavour ..Have not grown toms in summer here yet but talking to a long term gardener this morning (forgot this one) humidity is a big killer here.Am open to suggestions hence the original post. Humble Holty in OZ.