need help from tomato growers in delaware

has anyone ever heard of a tomato with the name "mountain" in it. a friend of mine who has been gardening for over 40 years told me that while visiting his daughter in delaware while she attended college he bought some tomato plants at a nursery. all he remembers is the word mountain in the name. he said the tomatoes grew to be over 2 pounds in some cases. anyone have any info on this. thanks. p.s. since his daughter is now married and back in n.y. i guess it would have been a few years ago.

I found 2 varieties with mountain in their names - Mountain Crest and Mountain Spring. Both are saladette varieties. I think these are sauce tomatoes like Roma. Never seen a 2 Lb. Roma!

Herbie,

I'm not from Delaware, but......

Dr. Randy Gardner of NCSU is famous for his whole series of varieties that all have as the first word Mountain.

Mountain Belle
Mountain Delight
Mountain Fresh
Mountain Gold
Mountain Pride
Mountain Spring..

I know Mountain Pride best but most of them are beloved of commercial farmers b/c they are reliable, blemish free beefsteak varieties that are widely known and grown, and that includes all areas here in the East and in the midwest.

Go to tomatogrowers.com to read about them

Carolyn

Around here (NC mountains), there are "Mountain Early Girl" and several others. All hybrids, I believe.

All hybrids, I believe.

Yes, all hybrids and Dr. Gardner is in western NC at the NCSU place there but he, as do other tomato breeders with Universities, contract out for seed production and sales.

So his varieties can end up anywhere.

Herbie, I kjust wanted to mention that the Mountain series are not grown for size, since you mentioned that in your post.

If you want big ones that taste great try:

Zogola
Cuostralee
Omar's Lebanese

All OP and great tasting, unless you want to go with the traditional Delicious and Big Zac, the former OP and the latter a hybrid.

Carolyn

And there are two new ones in the NC State series, Mountain Fresh Plus and Carolina Gold. Mountain Fresh, Mountain Spring, Mountain Delight and the oldest Mountain Pride are all large round reds designed for fresh market production.

to all who came to my aid for the "mountain tomato"
i have got to get out more. i'm used to seeing maybe three or four different types of tomato plants in my local nursery. as i said before, i have ordered some heirlooms from johnnys seeds.
carolyn - i will keep that web site in mind for next year.

thanks to all of you for your quick response

Not so fast Herbie, I'm just finishing you up a batch of the aforementioned tomatoes from that place in Florida ...Tomato Growers supply company. Thanx to Carolyn and her insight, I'll be sowing away some seeds in about 2 weeks or so. You'll have plenty of time to do the same, or you can just save them for next season, I'd would try the latter.

I'm new to the game, and I'm actually going to take a shot this year at growing some white, and Black cherry tomatoes, a first for me, as well as you, my nursery has only a select few to choose from. And our friend Carolyn has a beautiful tomato named after her, the Dr. Carolyn, how great is that. I never new, and from Jersey mind you, that there were soooo many different types of tomatoes, mama mia. So Herb, get ready, you'll have by the end of this week, some
Bush Early Girl Hybrid
Legend
BHN 444 Hybrid
Brandy Wine Red (Landis Valley Strain)
Celebrity Hybrid
Cobra Hybrid
Giant Valentine (Paste Tomato)
GreenHouse Hybrid
Sweet Cluster Hybrid
BrandyWine OTV
Delicious
LaRoma
Super Italian Paste
Red Cherry Large
Sweet Chelsea Hybrid
Window Box Roma (Container Tomato)
Black Cherry
SunSugar Hybrid
Super Snow White

so have fun and plant some more, we have a lot in common, and one is Snow, so we have plenty of time.

If anyone can fill me in on what is meant when it states the tomato, and then it says it has Potato leaves, and it doesn't take much to confuse me (LOL). Basically this is a year for me to experiment,

I'm new but where I live my alotted time to grow is right around or on the cusp of some late season tomatoes that I would love to try, but the weather in Jersey is sooo unpredictable, some of the 90 to 100 day tomatoes, i.e. the Abe Lincoln, Red Ponderosa, Dr. Lyle etc. But again experience is a great professor, so I hope all is well this year for everyone and myself, keep gardening.

Your friend,
Danny

dan - can't believe you are growing (and sending) that many tomato seeds. just how big is your garden down there in jersey. well, i guess i'll have to give them a try, and if i don't have room for them i'll just save them for next year. i don't have a large garden, maybe 20 feet by 20 feet, although i am able to extend it to about `100 by 100. maybe this is the year to make it bigger. all the same, i don't think starting seeds this early is a good idea. i think that six weeks before last frost date is what i would aim for.
thanks again

Danny,

Ignore the days to matureity for they're pure guestimates.

I can mature all tomatoes up here in the wilds of true upstate NYS and you can mature everythng where you live in NJ; trust me on that.

A potato leaf variety has leaves that look just like potato leaves in that the edges are smooth, unlike regular foliage which has the typical leaves you laready know. In the TGS catalog Linda always notes which ones are PL (potato leaf).

Yes, Steve Draper did name that variety after me, and I initially had called it Ivory Mutant. LOL Being descended from Galina's Yellow it does have darn good taste.

Germination with the Black Cherry seeds from TGS is slower than others so facotr that into your seed sowing plan.

How come you're growing so many hybrids? I ask only b/c you don't have that many systemic diseases in NJ and some of the hybrid varieties you purchased I don't understand re the lack of some pathogens that are not a problem in NJ.

Carolyn

Carolyn, I'm new to gardening, and I wasn't sure I had enough time with the heirloom varieties. I'm like the kid in the candy store(The 35 year old version), with the seed catalogues, everything looks to nice to " Just Say No", so I often purchase more than my little garden can handle. I hope to have some nice property soon, I bet it's nice upstate by you, I have friends and family that live up that way, and it's Gods country across the board. That's a beautiful thing, gardening space galore. I'm doing some, Motgage Lifters, Brandywine, and I don't know this one, Tree Tomatoes, but I think those are Heirlooms, I still don't know the difference. I'm still trying learn, I read that you wrote "open pollinated", what does that refer to. I hope I'm not asking too many questions, I don't want to be a pain the back-side. Thanx, Danny

danny - i tried those mortgage lifters two seasons ago with absoulutely no luck at all. good luck.

Mortgage Lifters have little disease resistance.With out Bees With in 2 miles of your garden Forget it . We Have a nice small farm in Montville New Jersey with a roadside stand. Any Questions Ask at our web sight www.SudolsFarms.com

Hmm...howdy MrTomato (wondering how you got that name)...
bees are not necessary for tomato pollination so am wondering about your statement about them.

I've grown Mortgage Lifters for nearly 18 years now...haven't noticed they are diseased any more frequently than others.

Dan, you should give them another try (heck, there are so many "mortage lifters" out there now who knows what you actually grew?) :>) They do like heat tho...was it a year of good heat, and plenty of water?

Carolyn stated "Ignore the days to matureity for they're pure guestimates". Yep, I agree. Days to maturity are also a factor of daylight/heat/nutrition/water/variety and not necessarily governed by what the latest write-up or catalog says. (For example, I've had Abe Lincoln mature in 67 days.)

Thanx all once again, Horseshoe, I'm giving them a shot, Herb had no luck. I'm excited this year to try a few new varieties, like the Mortgage Lifter as well as the Tree Tomato, anyone ever hear of this one? That's what I was trying to ask Dr. Carolyn, or all my other friends, what is open pollination? I actually get plenty of bees in my yard if that equates to success, maybe it's because I can't resist something sweet, so they have the same urges. If I did propagate my seeds, or sow them for that matter a little early, say now 3/14/04, about 8 weeks until they are planted in my garden, is that ok, and if not, can I just transplant them to a larger container until the due date? Thanx again, your friend Danny
I had to edit that last version, spelling errors galore, one too many glasses of Chianti with my cherry tomato and fresh mozzarella salad.

This message was edited Mar 15, 2004 10:42 AM

With out Bees With in 2 miles of your garden Forget it .

I echo the same as Shoe here; bees are not necessary for pollination since self pollenization is the rule about 95% of the time. My NCP (natural X pollination rate) runs about 5%, which means out of seed saved from 100 varieties, on anverage only 5 varieties will be X pollinated. NCP does depend on many factors and may vary depending on where you live and the particular season.

Danny, tell me more about your "tree tomato". Is this something you bought from a legit seed source or the ones they advertize in the Sunday supplement?

I ask b/c there are some folks selling what's called a tree tomato and it isn't a tomato, it's Cyphomandra betaceae, a shrub, actually, with foul tasting non-tomato fruits, but the ads make it look like a small tree with roma shaped tomatoes.

But there also is a tomato variety called Giant Tree, but it is not a tree. Sigh.

Mr. Tomato, I'm wondering if you've been one of the market gardners who has interacted with Dr. Wes Klein from Rutgers. He's been doing a study of heirloom tomatoes in NJ and has solicited input from many of the market gardeners.

He's thru with the first set of trials and this summmer will be trialing many of the finalists as to the best growing methods.

Carolyn, who didn't edit the above

Dan, "open-pollinated" (OP) refers to a plant being pollinated w/out human intervention (like wind, bugs, or self-pollinating) AND the fact that seeds from those plants will begat offspring like the parent.

Altho hybrid plants can also be self-pollinated the seed will not necessarily come back true to the parent stock. (There are many threads here on this topic so probably a search for OP will bring up more in-depth info.)

As for sowing your seeds, most people will start tomatoes 6-8 weeks before their planting out date. Peppers could use a bit more time (as you may know) and more heat while growing.

Thanx to all once again, Carolyn, in regards to the Tree Tomato, it was sent to me from a young lady friend from Missouri, so that term is probably some local vegetable jargon, or flavor, as Salada is and was to the other gentleman, local dialect. With sooo many varieties of tomatoes, it gets confusing with all the names and terms, proper(Botanical) or improper, so I'm glad I have so many friends to aid me like yourself and The Shoe-Man, and so many others. I'm actually looking to get out and explore the Tri-County soon, so if anyone knows of any up and coming events, flower or vegetable gatherings(Now you know I'm a 35 year old, bored man)how to's, seminars etc., let me know. I'm on my Spring Break now from college and what do I see,Snow, and more Snow, ouch. So all the good news about warm weather and production, will shed some light on this Psych Major, keep it coming. Danny