Tomato 'Big Beef'

I grew several Big Beefs this year. The plants were vigorous and productive. However, 90% of the fruit cracked. They even cracked when th...Read Moreey were green. I also planted Early Girls in the same row and watered them the same and they had virtually no cracking. Quite disappointed in this variety.

Reliable, heavy producer with exceptional disease resistance, although like most tomatoes it will succumb quickly to late blight. Crack-r...Read Moreesistant, very little cat-facing. Fruits typically 8-12 ounces, but I've grown some to 21 or 22 ounces. Flavor and texture are consistently good under a variety of growing conditions. My favorite hybrid beefsteak tomato.

Hi there, I live in Southern California and for the first time I'm growing tomatoes in homemade earthboxes! I have planted a Big Beef and...Read More the Aunt Ruby's German plants.
[The next one will be yellow - I'm debating b/w Old German or Lemon Boy...?]

So the Big Beef plant has been in the earthbox for 4-5 day but I can see that the leaves at the bottom near the soil are curling upwards at the edges.

I've researched and seems it could be from a few diff reasons from transplant shock, not enough water, to various diseases.

The soil in this container is pretty damp, almost wet, so I don't think it's from being dry...?

Friend of mine who has grown tomatoes for years says to give it another full week and pay attention to it, but not sure if you guys might recommend anything in the meantime.

Thank you in advance!

[in case it helps, it's in an 18 gallon container, i'm using miracle grow potting mix and the tomato plant food called vigoro.]

It's everything the description says it is. This is the mainstay of my tomato plantings.

All America Selections Winner in 1994.

The most consistently productive tomato that I have found in over 30 years of growing tomatoes. It will always have a spot in my garden....Read More It is a good tasting juicy hybrid that compares favorably with many heirlooms with the bonus of great disease and nematode resistance.

Agree with Suze--good flavor, not great. I'm going to give it another try next year (or maybe for this fall) with improved soil because i...Read Moret was the most prolific variety of the season with perfect, crack-free and BER-free fruit. Better with a tiny pinch of sea salt.

This variety produces good-sized, great-tasting tomatoes. I would say that this one is a winner in my trials.

I have been growing this one since it was introduced and have no reason to stop growing it. Very heavy production for such a big slicer. ...Read MoreDependable with all the disease resistance. Very good flavour, dare I say that it was not too far from Brandywine. Even the occasional "scrawny" plant produced lots of good big fruit. It did seem to need a little bit more pampering (bottom heat) at seedling stage (as did Goliath), but worth the little extra work.

Like others have noted, this plant is vigorous, disease resistant and high yielding. Nice uniform tomatoes with no cracking and good colo...Read Moreur. Jarred many for the past winter and still have some. Beats store bought tomatoes any day. I'd have to say though that I've tasted better hybrids (Goliath and Ultra Girl). If you want a bumper crop of large and tasty tomatoes with a lot of disease resistance, go for Goliath. (Canadian Zone 6b)

I find the flavor to be pretty good - but not great. Fairly crack resistant, uniform fruit, usually 8-14 oz or so, productive.
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Note -- There is also a dehybridized version available.

This is by far my favorite tomato. I sowed the seed Jan 30. I grew them in my greenhouse. they had ripe tomatoes in 17 weeks. They...Read More were so huge they were braking the truss (blossom stem) . One truss had 18 or 20 tomatoes on it. Great flavor. Not too firm and not too watery. Just right. And on the acid side.
The early tomatoes had some cat facing but that was due to some cold spells while they were blooming. They all did great. I only grew them til they were too tall to handle. That was about 12 feet tall By July 5th. (5 months growing) But I did trim the plants to only one stem per plant. That might be why they grew so tall in such short time span.

Cricket

I've been growing this tomato for four years now. I find it to be an outstanding variety. It is disease resistant, bears tons of fruit an...Read Mored I find the taste comparable to "Brandywine" and other heirlooms. I now grow it from seed so I know I'll have some each year

I tried Big Beef for the first time summer of 2003 and it performed great for me. Tomatoes were large and ripened evenly on vine. Flavour...Read More was very good to excellent. I live in Nova Scotia.

So far ,as a greenhouse crop it is surviving I bought Johnnys big beef,for a trial this year[I don't know if there is a differen...Read Morece] -in 15 years of tomato growing[mostly organically]-this is the 3rd one to last the season[10 months]still in production and still good quality-the other 2 are Miracle Sweet,and Goliath,[hybrids too]

I live in the San Joaquin Valley, CA. This tomato wintered over with no shelter and I just picked 5 pounds or so of large green tomatoes...Read More. We had frost 5 days or so this winter. It is January and it is blooming. The plant was very vigorous and set tasty tomatoes.

This is one of the very few hybrids that I grow anymore in this world of exciting heirlooms. Big Beef proves, time and time again, to be ...Read Morea highly productive variety which seems very resistant to disease and sometimes resists late blight here in the Pacific Northwest. The flavor is very good and texture is firm and juicy. I highly recommend this variety!

This is one of my favorite tomatoes. I have had good germination of seed, good disease resistance, and all plants have been extremel...Read Morey heavy bearers. The tomato is a very large beefsteak type with good flavor. It is excellent for slicing or in salads. If I could only plant one variety each year, it would have to be this one.