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applestar
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Returning favorite tomato varieties next season?

...I know some of you are just getting your harvests in, but join in and let us know as your August harvests start rolling in. :wink: ...

My tomato patches are started to get pretty ragged already. I think part of it is result of starting the seeds way early -- mid to late February, plus we had really favorsble weather once the late spring warmed up, so that many varieties matured quickly despite being planted later than usual and in more overgrown stressed state.

My determinates are done or mostly done, and my main season indeterminates have mostly passed their peak, so I'm ready to start thinking about this season's performances and which of these would be returning. 8)

Right off the bat, I know I want the following for their productivity and flavor:
- Kamatis Tagalog
- Snow White
- Casey's Pure Yellow
- Wes
- Orange Banana
- Jaune Flammeé
- Manö
- Coyote
- Not Earl's Green Cherry (but this may be an accidental cross and not be the same in the next generation)

These are going to get a serious consideration because of flavor, but they were either not as productive or later maturing
- Terhune
- Pineapple Pig
- Soldacki
- Stump of the World
- Cherokee Green
- (Grandma Viney's Yellow and Pink)

I know there are others -- I just can't decide where ro position them. I'll have to come back later and add to the list.

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digitS'
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I hope hybrid cherries are acceptable, Applestar.

Image

These are from today and most aren't quite ripe but I won't be back in the garden to pick the tomatoes for a few days and they may reach quail-ready before then :roll: !

The redder ones are Super Sweet 100's. I've had those nice plants each of the last 5 or so years. Used to grow the standard Sweet 100's and that seed is still available. I'm pleased that an "improvement" actually seems to be an improvement with this variety.

The golden cherries are either Sungold or SunSugar. I think the Japanese tomato folks have done a real service to the gardener by developing these. I know that I've had both in my garden for right about 10 years. I claim that I am conducting a trial of the two to learn which I prefer :wink: . I like the slightly earlier ripening of the Sungolds. They also have a wonderful flavor. The SunSugars have a more tender skin. Both resist splitting and are very much quail-approved! I don't see the slightest need to conclude my golden cherry trial anytime soon :) .

The only open-pollinated cherry I have is Dr. Carolyn and we ate the very first 2 in the garden today! I think that this is only year 3 for Dr. Carolyn but those healthy plants grow and produce very well.

Of the slicers, I've grown Original Goliath hybrid for a good long time and should continue. Thessaloniki was the first heirloom beefsteak that I grew and it did and does fine! Thessaloniki seemed to "like" my garden environment when I first grew it about 12 years ago and I enjoy saving seeds and welcoming it back each year. There are about 15 more varieties but few have been around for more than a year or 2. Maybe I shouldn't commit on them too soon . . . still, the little Casey's Pure Yellow plants are just loaded down with fruit on this, their 2nd season in my garden!

I also have my grandmother's tomato for the last 20+ years. I'd better not let that one go . . .

Steve

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applestar
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"little" Casey's Pure Yellow plants? I got my seeds from a giant tomato hobbyist so mine may be a larger vigorous vine selected over several generations to support big fruits, but it is reaching wide, far overshadowing the plants on both sides and taking up enough space for three. :shock: It IS also productive as well -- I see at least four, maybe more green baseball~softball sized fruits still on the vine, though it is also declining rapidly along with the rest of my garden. Imagine if all that energy went into just one or two fruits on a healthy vine with other fruit pruned vines supporting them. 8)

Thessaloniki fell off the list this year but I'm definitely trying it next year. I let a volunteer F3 Sunsugar grow out, but the fruit size has shrunk down -- it may have crossed with Matt's Wild Cherry which was growing next to it. :?

What does your grandmother,s tomato look and taste like?

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digitS'
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That giant might have giant plants!

No, the Casey's are almost more fruit than leaves. I really don't know how the plants have done it!

It is a mild-flavored tomato in my garden and that may be one reason for the mildness. I can imagine the nutrients that make up flavors really being supported by vines not carrying fruit also, Applestar! I guess I'll just take what it gives me and be more than happy with that :) .

Thessaloniki may be a prime choice for an arid climate like here. I really can't be sure but it holds up well to kind of droughty conditions and dodges the sunscald. It also lasts on the kitchen counter and lasts and lasts and . . . Weeks! months! Of course, the flavor doesn't improve but they just never give up!

Grandma's tomato? (LINK) Okay, what does a Porter taste like?? I have read that Texan gardeners who often grow them are lovers of the variety but some folks hate them. Very mild tomatoes - some might say they are "lacking" real tomato flavor. Other folks might think they don't like tomatoes but like Porters. I just think that they are just about the right size to cram all in my mouth at once and . . . mmm . . . mmmmm!

Steve

pfong001
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I only do cherry tomatoes, both Sungold and Sweet Gold is coming back next year for sure. I'm not sure about yellow pear as I find it a bit bland, but one of my daughters just loves them so I guess I have no choice but to grow them again (I think she just likes the shape).

I'm thinking of trying out super snow white and I am definitely going to try out the black cherry. Maybe I should try Jaune Flamme tomato too. Any suggestions on cherry types?

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digitS'
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Sweet Baby Girl?

:wink: Maybe she will like the name. It is also one of the modern cherries and very sweet. The plants are compact and it made a good container tomato for me.

Steve

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applestar
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Best performing cherry varieties I'm growing this year are

...1" globe...
Snow White -- ivory/pale yellow; XL big/tall (7-9ft) vines
(Huge plant, very productive. Sweet with concentrated tomato flavor)

...3/4" globe...
Coyote -- ivory/pale yellow; XL big/tall (7-9 ft) vines
(looks like smaller Snow White but sweeter/more intense flavor)

Matt's Wild Cherry -- red; XL big/tall (7-9 ft) vines
(returning volunteer ...it's everywhere :roll:. Sweet intense flavor probably surpasses Coyote's)

Sweet N Neat -- dark frosted pink: 12-18" bush determinate
(2 gal container plenty big. Sweet intense flavor.)
.....................

All are extra early to early, extra tasty and very productive. I have three others that deserve special mention but are not as productive in the shadier conditions I've imposed on them but may perform better in full sun:

Sweet Beverley -- pear and plum cherry shaped light orange. XL big/tall (7-9 ft) vines.
(Extolled as sweet/intense by all, and it is tasty but not as much as the others mentioned above in my garden. Again may do better in full sun. By all accounts much better tasting than Yellw Pear with same shape.)

Sinister Minister F4 -- plum cherry shaped "black" (green shoulder, brown). S/dwarf? (3-4 ft) vines
(Still F4 and not stabilized. Mine has the intense dark tomato flavor in plum cherry package. Very tasty, just not very productive for me but may do better in full sun.)

Earl's Green Cherry -- 3/4-1" globe green when ripe (green blushing to amber yellow stripes). M (5-6 ft) vines
(Intense flavor but not very productive in shady condition but my do better in full sun)
.....

I'm growing a Black Cherry but it has only just started to produce fruits. It WAS planted later than the others.
1" globe frosted brick. L (6-7ft) vines Intense flavor. Not very productive.
(This is its 2nd year with lackluster production and late maturity. If its supposed to do better, maybe I should try a different seed source)

Other varieties I'm growing were neglected and didn't get planted until they were pot bound and stunted so I can't evaluate them properly. :oops: One of them is Blondekopfchen which is just starting to produce 3/4" light orange globes with a pointed blossom end. Intensely sweet.
3b6591d58e572a0f6b7ee6ed357a7829.jpg
ae43c9607697efc98b944dcb231172b9.jpg

pfong001
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Location: Toronto, Canada Zone 5?

I might need to try Sweet Beverley. Sounds like a great alternative to Yellow Pear.



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