Tomato Photos with variety names

[applestar]

Here's a selection of tomatoes picked today:
Clockwise rom Top Left: biggest round one is Moskvich; egg-shaped one next to it is a volulnteer; the tapered one is Bellstar sauce tomato; then the egg-shaped one next to that is April Fool (another volunteer, though it looks like 2nd tomato); a group of grape tomatoes are Sugar Plum grown from store bought tomato -- one plant is yielding pear-shaped ones that are equally sweet; a volunteer cherry tomato; the group of pointy ones are Principe Borghese sun-drying tomatoes.


A cluster of green Bellstars and another cluster of ripening ones:


This one's a volunteer, probably from last year's Brandywine. This is the only tomato on a 2' plant:


Lyn's Mahogany Garnet:


I have these volunteers that are starting out palest green/almost white. They're startling in twilight/dusk light conditions:

Here's a second plant of the same with Sugar Plums in the background for comparison:

[Duh_Vinci]

Good looking maters, thumbs up!!!

How does Moskvich taste?

Regards,
D

[Duh_Vinci]

That Lyn's mahogany - is it the same as Black Zebra?

[SP8]

Here is a shot of my Reggae Roma Tomato plant:

[mjd]

I've 5 green fruits on 1 plant of different sizes; 3 on another plant. One golf size fruit was ravaged by 2 marauding caterpillars, I picked it off.

Many flower clusters on both plants so I'm patiently excited to see more fruits.

I'm worried that both are looking dry, the leaves are curled and papery, with some yellow mottling. I'm taking great care not to over/underwater. With 3 digit temps, should I perhaps give a little shade? Both are potted.

[splat42069]

Apple awesome pictures you have there! I cant wait til next year alrdy to start some hybrids. I'v been looking on the internet for websites that sell exotic,and irregular plants..

Where did you get seeds for your plants? and do you kno of any online nusseries I can check out?

[applestar]

That Lyn's mahogany - is it the same as Black Zebra?

I know you asked this before. I didn't know, but, looking up the Black Zebra parentage, their origins are different. Well actually, the plant/fruit descriptions are different, too, so I'd say they ARE different!

I bought Lyn's Mahogany Garnet seeds from John Scheeper's Kitchen Garden Seeds
"From our good friend Lyn Brown at the famous Forni Brown Gardens in Napa Valley, comes Lyn’s Mahogany Garnet. A new cross between Black Russian and Green Zebra, it is a rare mahogany-garnet tomato with faint dark green stripes. Its determinate vines produce loads of 8-ounce gems with a mildly tart yet sweet taste and a tender thin skin. They hate to travel (except into your mouth). (OP.)"

According to Gary Ibsen's Tomato Fest Black Zebra is
"A natural and stabilized cross between Green Zebra and a black tomato by Jeff Dawson. This is one of the STARS of my whole tomato showcase. A proven success with markets and friends. Our TomatoFest organic tomato seeds produce vigorous, indeterminate, regular-leaf tomato plants that produce 4 oz., 1 1/2", juicy, round tomatoes with purple/mahogany-colored skin with green stripes (like brush strokes) with exceptionally rich, complex, really delightful tomato flavors that contain hints of smoke and sweetness. Its flavor also carries the rich complexity associated with the best of black tomatoes. This this is one of our favorites for looks and taste. A winner! Once tried, you will keep this black tomato a place in your garden"

Where did you get seeds for your plants? and do you kno of any online nusseries I can check out?

In accordance with my new theory that I would do better with seeds and plants adapted to the same/similar climate/geological location as my own garden -- and, in case of nursery stock, that *standard* shipping distance should be kept at a minimum -- I've given up buying from seed/plant nurseries in *exotic* locale like the West coast (even though there are sources that I really liked in the past). John Scheeper's is in Connecticut.

I've also purchased seeds from Johnny's Selected Seeds in Maine (a bit of a stretch there, but they provide extensive and in depth growing info.), and Southern Exposure Seed Exchange in Virginia (best climate match according to Sunset -- a nod and to cynthia_h)

I like sources that provide ALL the necessary info. Cook's Gardens in Pa has lovely descriptions but doesn't provide days to maturity, which is essential info, IMO. I would've considered Burpee, also in Pa, but they tend not to have as many *interesting* varieties and/or are not as focused on heirlooms and open pollinated varieties, which is another feature I'm looking for.

[applestar]

How does Moskvich taste?

I was hesitant to reply because the flavor of that first Moskvich was nothing to brag about. It was oddly EGG'ish shaped compared to the rest of the cluster, too. Also TZ mentioned some time ago that first fruit on the plant often doesn't meet expectations in flavor, so maybe that's what it was.

In any case, I'm happy to report that we ate the SECOND Moskvich today and it tasted outstanding. Weighed in at 7.605 oz, exceeding the 4-6 oz catalog description. Even DH was impressed -- I could tell because he apologetically announced that he ate most of it.

[Duh_Vinci]

...In any case, I'm happy to report that we ate the SECOND Moskvich today and it tasted outstanding...

That's a good news! Always look forward to hear about good tasting varieties. This one - being my original hometown tomato - even more so. Have a little packet of those seeds for next season! Thanks for sharing the info on it!

Regards,
D

[applestar]

Here's my PRETTIEST tomato yet! A Principe Borghese:


I'm making her my new avatar.

[applestar]

These pale, pale volunteer tomatoes:

have ripened to this:

I thought they might turn out pink, but I was wrong -- go figure!

ETA: These tomatoes are proving to be extra juicy and tasty, and prolific to boot! I made tomato juice with them several times before the vines died off -- I guess they were determinate. I have 3 more plants that sprouted later than the photographed, so production continues.

And I discovered I have another plant with possibly Brandywine parentage:

This one grew up in the middle of a new strawberry bed. Can't wait to see how they taste. This one is more vigorous and prolific than that other possible Brandywine volunteer mentioned earlier. I harvested the single fruit off of the little one today -- just under 14 oz (I was thrilled when my little Salter digital scale with Max weight limit of 8 oz displayed <ERR> ):

Still not quite ripe but started to develop radiating cracks around the stem -- good thing I picked it because it rained last night. We'll see how it tastes in a few days.

Here's you can see the big guy surrounded by Sugar Plum babies and Principe Borghese:

[rainbowgardener]

MJD - for future reference, you would have been much better off to post your question and picture as a new topic. Not only is it not good netiquette to "hijack" someone else's thread, Applestar's in this case, but as you noticed, you don't tend to get much response that way.

To start with your tomato plant is in way too small a pot. As you've seen from other people's pictures tomatoes get to be very BIG plants. It takes a lot of water and nutrients to create all that and all those tomatoes. Repotting it now, would not be easy, maybe would be possible if you had help; definitely not a one person job. But if you don't repot, then you are certainly going to have to be watering daily and feeding frequently. Look for a tomato fertilizer that is 5-10-10 or even higher on the P-K end (the tens, where the 5 is Nitrogen). Too much nitrogen will inhibit fruiting.

Also your pot is right next to a fence. I have to assume that cuts down on the amount of sun the plant gets. Move it away from the fence to a full sun area.

[Diane]

Very nice looking plants and fruit Applestar. Did you grow those voluteers before?
Or did they pop up from your compost?
Did you start your plants inside early? I wonder because you have so much ripe fruit.

[applestar]

Thank you! I've been mixing my own compost-based soil mixes for containers and seed starting. Volunteer tomatoes seedlings are growing everywhere! All I know is that the seeds originated in my compost, but that includes store bought tomatoes as well as fallen/spoiled tomatoes from last years garden. That's why *I* call them Mysteries. They were labeled Mystery 1, Mystery 2, etc. in the pots and in my garden notes.

This year, I started from seeds on March 17 and started transplanting them out on April 27. The 27th Squad ( ) went out in Wall-o-Waters. The 28th and The 29th were simply protected with floating covers or portable greenhouses. We had some serious lows well into May this year -- low 40's until 3rd week of May and 35ºF and frost on 5/19 .

[applestar]

I keep harvesting tomatoes THEN remembering the camera. Today, I made a point of taking photos BEFORE picking all the red ripe toms:

Sugar Plum babies with Lynn's Mahogany Garnet to the left:

Same plant from the other direction with Principe Borghese in the back ground:


Principe Borghese:


PB is prone to green/yellow shoulders. At least a spot or two on every fruit except the ones that are deeply shaded by the Purple Podded Pole bean foliage. But aren't they pretty when they're "can't get any redder red"? Look at all the perfect little tomato hearts just from today:


More about PB and my new love of dehydrated tomatoes are described in this thread.

Today's harvest: