Weird Stupice Tomatoes!

[tedln]

I planted Stupice seed to germinate with other heirloom seed at the same time this past spring with the understanding it is an early producer of small tomatoes. It was the first tomato plant to germinate. It grew quickly as a seedling and was planted at the same time, after last frost; as the other plants. It continued growing faster than the other plants. After high heat arrived, the Stupice had only produced a few blooms and set two or three small tomaotes which didn't develop in the heat. Most of the other plants were also barely blooming. I finished the spring garden still not having a taste of the Stupice and most of my other tomatoes.

During the hot summer, with the three Stupice plants looking near death; I considered pulling them for a donation to the compost pile. In mid to late August with temperatures still high, the Stupice was the first plant to start producing new growth and new blossoms. They actually set fruit in August which started ripening in September. We ate our first Stupice tomatoes this past weekend. They were slightly smaller than golf balls, but they had the taste I had waited for all summer. Real tomato taste, right off the vine; is hard to beat.

I don't know if they tasted so good because I had nothing to compare them with or not. It doesn't matter because they tasted great.

Ted

[engineeredgarden]

I grew stupice this year, too - and had similar results. I'm thinking about starting mine from seed around the end of May next year, so that they can enter the fruit development stage in early September.

EG

[keen gardener]

Hi, The main reason your tomatoes didn't produce fruit is due to the heat. They are very temperature sensitive. Once it gets over 35Cel. the plants shut down. Low temperatures and wind can also stop the plants for growing. It is very annoying, but unless you have a green house where you can control the temperatures, there is not much you can do.
Cheers Keen Gardener Australia

[tedln]

Hi, The main reason your tomatoes didn't produce fruit is due to the heat. They are very temperature sensitive. Once it gets over 35Cel. the plants shut down. Low temperatures and wind can also stop the plants for growing. It is very annoying, but unless you have a green house where you can control the temperatures, there is not much you can do.
Cheers Keen Gardener Australia

Hi Keen Gardener and Cheers to you. Welcome to the forum. Glad to have your information. Which part of Australia are you in? We used to have a regular contributor on The Gold Coast. Do you have a lot of experience with tomatoes? Which other vegetables do you grow? We love to have garden photos posted from other countries and continents.

Ted

[engineeredgarden]

Hi, The main reason your tomatoes didn't produce fruit is due to the heat. They are very temperature sensitive. Once it gets over 35Cel. the plants shut down.

Thanks for that information. I was wondering about that.

EG

[tedln]

Hi, The main reason your tomatoes didn't produce fruit is due to the heat. They are very temperature sensitive. Once it gets over 35Cel. the plants shut down.

Thanks for that information. I was wondering about that.

EG

[vnmjohnson]

I'm probably too late on this post, but I just started growing tomatoes for the first time this year and Stupice is one that I chose. Your post came up on Google.

Of the 6 variations I chose this is the first one to give me a tomato, ripe and ready today. Haven't taken it off the vine yet. I'm growing mine in a pot because I didn't want to dig up the yard until I knew I could do this. Did you plant yours in the ground? How many tomatoes did you get from your plant? Were you able to save the seeds for the next year?

[suncitylinda]

Hi Valerie - I have grown Stupice before and found it to be a very productive tomato, until, as mentioned, it gets too hot. Yes, you can save the seed as it is open pollinated.