Is anyone else growing Great Whites?...What's your favorite Tomato for eating?.....
I just recently got a "Morgage Lifter" because it was huge and in a 4 inch pot. So I thought why not....I have several types.....I hope I like Champion and Early Girl......My mom likes Roma and Polish Linguisa.
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ApertureF11Sniper
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applestar
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I’ve grown Great White before. If I remember correctly, it’s a milder flavored tomato like most whites.
I (and my family) like stronger flavors that I like to evaluate as “front end” sweetness and solid tomato flavor at first bite, “middle” as you chew and all of the tastebuds are engaged in test/quest for that rising umami, and then “finishes” with a lingering tang without the sharp acid pucker.
For this reason, hubby has declared “no more yellow (and white) tomatoes”. But we do like Mikado White PL, and I’m growing it again this year. And Captain Lucky which is a bicolor yellow with red interior streaks. Oh and Pineapple — another bicolor.
I haven’t had Mortgage Lifter in a while but it probably fits in the good heirloom flavor type. The fact that I haven’t put it in returning favorites might mean it was milder than our preference. But my BIL likes them and I think he said he bought them to grow again at the farmers market.
Roma wasn’t our favorite Italian paste type. Polish Linguisa … hmm — I think I had trouble with BER…? So be ready with all the preventative steps needed to avoid.
— I stopped growing most of the sausage-shaped paste types because of persistent BER disappointment — when others weren’t being so fussy. (Also, great tasting tomatoes make great tasting sauces, whichever type they are.)
Overall I landed on Opalka as my choice. (I would be growing it in my garden this year, except I accidentally gave all of them to my BIL.)
Our picks tend towards pinks rather than reds, but Wes is a locked in favorite. Most of the known varieties I’m growing this year are returning favorites with only a couple of new-to-me varieties to trial. But I’m putting a lot of the gardening space towards my own cross-breeding project growouts as well.
I grow hybrids when I can’t seem to overcome or figure out how to get around environmental difficulties, but with tomatoes, there have been many successes, so my preferences are heirlooms and stabilized recently developed varieties. (Because I want to be able to save seeds and grow them again.)
Taste preferences are very individual though, so you will have to find out what you like as you grow different varieties.
I (and my family) like stronger flavors that I like to evaluate as “front end” sweetness and solid tomato flavor at first bite, “middle” as you chew and all of the tastebuds are engaged in test/quest for that rising umami, and then “finishes” with a lingering tang without the sharp acid pucker.
For this reason, hubby has declared “no more yellow (and white) tomatoes”. But we do like Mikado White PL, and I’m growing it again this year. And Captain Lucky which is a bicolor yellow with red interior streaks. Oh and Pineapple — another bicolor.
I haven’t had Mortgage Lifter in a while but it probably fits in the good heirloom flavor type. The fact that I haven’t put it in returning favorites might mean it was milder than our preference. But my BIL likes them and I think he said he bought them to grow again at the farmers market.
Roma wasn’t our favorite Italian paste type. Polish Linguisa … hmm — I think I had trouble with BER…? So be ready with all the preventative steps needed to avoid.
— I stopped growing most of the sausage-shaped paste types because of persistent BER disappointment — when others weren’t being so fussy. (Also, great tasting tomatoes make great tasting sauces, whichever type they are.)
Overall I landed on Opalka as my choice. (I would be growing it in my garden this year, except I accidentally gave all of them to my BIL.)
Our picks tend towards pinks rather than reds, but Wes is a locked in favorite. Most of the known varieties I’m growing this year are returning favorites with only a couple of new-to-me varieties to trial. But I’m putting a lot of the gardening space towards my own cross-breeding project growouts as well.
I grow hybrids when I can’t seem to overcome or figure out how to get around environmental difficulties, but with tomatoes, there have been many successes, so my preferences are heirlooms and stabilized recently developed varieties. (Because I want to be able to save seeds and grow them again.)
Taste preferences are very individual though, so you will have to find out what you like as you grow different varieties.
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ApertureF11Sniper
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What is BER and BIL?....... One of the kinds I got was Pink Rainbow...And I got a black Tomato, I think it's called Back From Tulsa. Maybe it's Black From Tulsa.. I have a Celebrity thats in a 6 inch pot patiently waiting for me to transplant it. I also decided to try Oregon Spring Tomatos and have 2 or 3 of those.
My Early Girl was huge but then one big section collapsed snaping off and just yesterday the same plant a big section collapsed. So I am thinking what do I have to stake EVERY branch of this plant. Good grief....
My Champions are looking good, my Sun Sugar looked amazing but then I skipped a day of watering it and that was not a good idea....So I am thinking Tomatos in 5 gallon buckets in heat over 75 degrees should be watered daily.
My Early Girl was huge but then one big section collapsed snaping off and just yesterday the same plant a big section collapsed. So I am thinking what do I have to stake EVERY branch of this plant. Good grief....
My Champions are looking good, my Sun Sugar looked amazing but then I skipped a day of watering it and that was not a good idea....So I am thinking Tomatos in 5 gallon buckets in heat over 75 degrees should be watered daily.
I don't take the risk with 80+ days-to-maturity types. Also, since there are so many slicers and cherry types through the growing season, they are used for sauce and I have seldom grown a paste variety. That may be a mistake.
Saladettes look like paste and, maybe, the Porters that I have each year would count. They have, however, a very mild flavor and that is probably why DW and my grandmother liked them. That characteristic is not how I think of as a paste type.
I have grown Sun Sugar many times. It doesn't split as easily as the very popular Sungold. I'm a snacker and especially enjoy the cherries. Yellow Jellybean has been a recent favorite.
Big Beef has been a tried-&-true slicer. Many of the beefsteak hybrids are without much flavor. That may be okay with my wife but I generally want more from them. Still, the health of the plant and production is Important!
Lots of Early Girls but not since we no longer sell at a farmers' market. Early Girl was and may still be, the most popular home garden tomato in the US. There are reasons for that and the plants for transplanting were a good choice as a market offering.
DW likes Gary O Sena and they are a pretty special variety. When those from saved seed seemed to have lost some of their characteristics, I was pleased to find that there are seed companies continuing to offer seed.
I have only had a handful of Jellybeans so far but the Bloody Butchers are very close to ripening. Another tried-&-true, an early, healthy heirloom. What I especially like about them is that they have the flavor of a larger/later tomato. That can't be said about many early varieties.
There are more tomatoes in the open garden but 3 in pots at the bottom of the backsteps. They are in 6 gallon pots and 100% compost. They don’t do quite as well as the other plants but are okay. And yes, there are few days through the season when they don’t require daily watering.
Steve
Saladettes look like paste and, maybe, the Porters that I have each year would count. They have, however, a very mild flavor and that is probably why DW and my grandmother liked them. That characteristic is not how I think of as a paste type.
I have grown Sun Sugar many times. It doesn't split as easily as the very popular Sungold. I'm a snacker and especially enjoy the cherries. Yellow Jellybean has been a recent favorite.
Big Beef has been a tried-&-true slicer. Many of the beefsteak hybrids are without much flavor. That may be okay with my wife but I generally want more from them. Still, the health of the plant and production is Important!
Lots of Early Girls but not since we no longer sell at a farmers' market. Early Girl was and may still be, the most popular home garden tomato in the US. There are reasons for that and the plants for transplanting were a good choice as a market offering.
DW likes Gary O Sena and they are a pretty special variety. When those from saved seed seemed to have lost some of their characteristics, I was pleased to find that there are seed companies continuing to offer seed.
I have only had a handful of Jellybeans so far but the Bloody Butchers are very close to ripening. Another tried-&-true, an early, healthy heirloom. What I especially like about them is that they have the flavor of a larger/later tomato. That can't be said about many early varieties.
There are more tomatoes in the open garden but 3 in pots at the bottom of the backsteps. They are in 6 gallon pots and 100% compost. They don’t do quite as well as the other plants but are okay. And yes, there are few days through the season when they don’t require daily watering.
Steve
Aperture: It is called Black From TULA; Ukrainian family heirloom (although the name implies that it could have originated from Tula, Russia). This variety was imported from Russia (Marina Danilenko) by Seed Savers Exchange. While many have enjoyed this black, Black From Tula has not been one of my best blacks and to date my gardens have hosted about 50 black varieties. Here's hoping you do well with it and decide to grow more blacks...blacks and hearts are my favorites.
I have a very long growing season so I can grow tomatoes all year long. I don't really need a lot of tomatoes so I usually only grow three plants. Right now I have 10 which is already unusual for me. I've grown Amish paste and used them for slicers. So, I actually would say instead of tomato types. I prefer tomatoes with good disease and heat resistance that I can use as a multi purpose tomato. Since I can grow tomatoes all year long, I can grow short, mid, and late season varieties. My days are short, so even if I plant a tomato that normally has very large fruit, it is not going to get as big as it would in temperate climates.
I grow red currant (because it is wild and will take care of itself) and valentine. They are prolific, resistant to TYLCV and so productive that I don't have to protect them from birds because the birds can't eat them all. I prefer indeterminates for their longer growing season and longer production. I really don't want 20 tomatoes to ripen at the same time. However, most of the TYLCV resistant tomatoes are determinates and only determinates can fit barely inside a tree bag.
I have more tomatoes than usual because I am growing valentine and red currant for the table and to give away, but I am trialing some of the dwarf and TYLCV resistant tomatoes to see if I can find some good ones. I have eliminated some that had good TYLCV and disease resistance, but I don't really like them. I use them for cooking. So far, none of the TYLCV resistant tomatoes have heat resistance, they will all stop producing when the temperature stays above 85 degrees. So I am looking at the dwarf tomato project. Many of their tomatoes are bred in Australia. Parts of Australia has a similar subtropical climate. And they are crossing good heirlooms like Paul Robeson, Berkeley Tie Die, Black from Tula, and stump of the world with other tomatoes which I never heard of. They do breed their tomatoes for flavor, so I am hoping to find some winners. The heirlooms don't have very good disease resistance, so it may be hard to find the right time to plant them.
Early Girl is a good short season variety that matures early, 50 days. The tomato is not large about 6 oz, but it is a good tomato for slicing or cooking.
Brandywine, is by far the best tasting tomato, but it is a vary large plant that is not disease resistant so it needs regular anti fungal sprays. It produces large tomatoes, but not a lot of them.
Pruden's Purple had a lot of the good qualities of Brandywine, but was more productive.
Cherokee purple was a big plant with very large fruit, but It was bland. It is supposed to be a good tomato. I think it was my problem because I probably needed to back off on the watering more, so the tomatoes would be more flavorful. This produced a lot of fruit.
Sungold was very prolific and sweet, but the fruit cracks when it is ripe. It also has no TYLCV resistance.
I grow red currant (because it is wild and will take care of itself) and valentine. They are prolific, resistant to TYLCV and so productive that I don't have to protect them from birds because the birds can't eat them all. I prefer indeterminates for their longer growing season and longer production. I really don't want 20 tomatoes to ripen at the same time. However, most of the TYLCV resistant tomatoes are determinates and only determinates can fit barely inside a tree bag.
I have more tomatoes than usual because I am growing valentine and red currant for the table and to give away, but I am trialing some of the dwarf and TYLCV resistant tomatoes to see if I can find some good ones. I have eliminated some that had good TYLCV and disease resistance, but I don't really like them. I use them for cooking. So far, none of the TYLCV resistant tomatoes have heat resistance, they will all stop producing when the temperature stays above 85 degrees. So I am looking at the dwarf tomato project. Many of their tomatoes are bred in Australia. Parts of Australia has a similar subtropical climate. And they are crossing good heirlooms like Paul Robeson, Berkeley Tie Die, Black from Tula, and stump of the world with other tomatoes which I never heard of. They do breed their tomatoes for flavor, so I am hoping to find some winners. The heirlooms don't have very good disease resistance, so it may be hard to find the right time to plant them.
Early Girl is a good short season variety that matures early, 50 days. The tomato is not large about 6 oz, but it is a good tomato for slicing or cooking.
Brandywine, is by far the best tasting tomato, but it is a vary large plant that is not disease resistant so it needs regular anti fungal sprays. It produces large tomatoes, but not a lot of them.
Pruden's Purple had a lot of the good qualities of Brandywine, but was more productive.
Cherokee purple was a big plant with very large fruit, but It was bland. It is supposed to be a good tomato. I think it was my problem because I probably needed to back off on the watering more, so the tomatoes would be more flavorful. This produced a lot of fruit.
Sungold was very prolific and sweet, but the fruit cracks when it is ripe. It also has no TYLCV resistance.
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ApertureF11Sniper
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what a great thread this is.....I was doing some more transplanting of my peppers and then came in to this. I really have to get some sleep. I am going to post here in the morning but could not leave without saying something...
Today I had a ham sandwich on onion hamburger buns with Havarti cheese and slices of Roma Tomato's....Store bought but thats all I have right now.
Tomorrow I will add more to this and answer post, thank you all for your nice post Nighty night all....
Today I had a ham sandwich on onion hamburger buns with Havarti cheese and slices of Roma Tomato's....Store bought but thats all I have right now.
Tomorrow I will add more to this and answer post, thank you all for your nice post Nighty night all....
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applestar
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I haven’t tried them all or anything, and I think I haven’t grown any of the most recent releases, but two of our favorite Dwarf project varieties for flavor are Chocolate Lightning and Dwarf Blazing Beauty.
When I was growing them in big batches, I found out that they took longer to mature and needed to be started with peppers, and they needed to be treated differently than other varieties partly due to their dense foliage. I needed to actively thin the interior out or they were prone to fungal leaf issues.
When I was growing them in big batches, I found out that they took longer to mature and needed to be started with peppers, and they needed to be treated differently than other varieties partly due to their dense foliage. I needed to actively thin the interior out or they were prone to fungal leaf issues.
I have only tried the Rosella Crimson. It has rugose leaves, so I knew it would have fungal issues. It was not that bad, but did need regular antifungal sprays in warm wet conditions. I had BER issues that were not the tomato's fault. I also thought this was going to be a smaller tomato. I turned out it was about 4 ft tall so my cage was too small. I was only expecting a 3ft tall plant at most. Since, this was not the best circumstances for it. I will try again with better soil and a bigger trellis. I am going to try to save seeds from it and plant it again. Considering it was not growing in the best of conditions, it produced a good number of tomatoes.
I got seeds of dwarf Sweet Sue, Fred's Tie Dye, Rosella Purple, and Tasmanian Chocolate at the same time. I haven't tried these yet. All of the tomatoes seeds I got this year from the dwarf tomato project are sold out except for Fred's Tie Dye which is among the tallest of the dwarfs.
Thanks for the growing tips. I did not find Rosella Crimson to be slow. It was planted the same time as other tomatoes and it germinated about the same time. The other tomato is a larger variety that I have grown before, so it was faster growing, but it was also in a bigger pot with better soil. I ended up having to pull the other tomato because it was showing signs of break through TYLCV and I did not want to build a better bug. Despite, the poor growing conditions, the Rosella Crimson does hang in there, so it is worth trying again just for its tenaciousness.
I got seeds of dwarf Sweet Sue, Fred's Tie Dye, Rosella Purple, and Tasmanian Chocolate at the same time. I haven't tried these yet. All of the tomatoes seeds I got this year from the dwarf tomato project are sold out except for Fred's Tie Dye which is among the tallest of the dwarfs.
Thanks for the growing tips. I did not find Rosella Crimson to be slow. It was planted the same time as other tomatoes and it germinated about the same time. The other tomato is a larger variety that I have grown before, so it was faster growing, but it was also in a bigger pot with better soil. I ended up having to pull the other tomato because it was showing signs of break through TYLCV and I did not want to build a better bug. Despite, the poor growing conditions, the Rosella Crimson does hang in there, so it is worth trying again just for its tenaciousness.
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ApertureF11Sniper
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On the Tomato tag it will say Big Boy VFN, what does VFN stand for?
I have Big Rainbow Tomato and Oregon Spring and a couple of Champion. Today I hope to get my Celebrity Tomato transplanted....I got one called a "Morgage Lifter" just cause it was in a 4 inch pot and it was huge so I thought why not..... I cant remember all the names of the Tomato's I have. Lemon Boy and Lemony are 2. The house is kind of a lavender color so I put the Lemon boy on the porch. On the opposite side I put a Roma as that is one of my moms favorite.
Okay guys so I want to get a basic, organic anti fungal spray. Something I can spray them once with early in the season to give them a bit of protection. I'm not going to get too too into the Tomato's. I am a pepper guy...But I will grow a few. I think 50 or 60 is a good number. My last count I had 45 But like 3 are nearly dead. I will make it a point to count today. I have to re-count my pepper plants, last count I had 315 transplanted
I have Big Rainbow Tomato and Oregon Spring and a couple of Champion. Today I hope to get my Celebrity Tomato transplanted....I got one called a "Morgage Lifter" just cause it was in a 4 inch pot and it was huge so I thought why not..... I cant remember all the names of the Tomato's I have. Lemon Boy and Lemony are 2. The house is kind of a lavender color so I put the Lemon boy on the porch. On the opposite side I put a Roma as that is one of my moms favorite.
Okay guys so I want to get a basic, organic anti fungal spray. Something I can spray them once with early in the season to give them a bit of protection. I'm not going to get too too into the Tomato's. I am a pepper guy...But I will grow a few. I think 50 or 60 is a good number. My last count I had 45 But like 3 are nearly dead. I will make it a point to count today. I have to re-count my pepper plants, last count I had 315 transplanted
VFN= Verticillium, Fusarium, and Nematodes. Those are resistance codes.
the more codes, the better the disease resistance. However, for the most part tomatoes that are bred for resistance and the market are usually red round and pretty. But in exchange flavor is bred out.
Depending on where you live and your growing conditions, some types of resistance are preferred. I need nematode, multiple resistance to multiple strains of fusarium, multiple races of bacterial spot, and phytophthora. I don't have tomato spotted wilt although it is around. I do have tomato yellow leaf curl virus, so I either need to get tomatoes with that resistance or grow them inside tree bags to keep them away from the whiteflies. Most tomatoes have resistance to TMV. There are also some tomatoes, peppers, and other vegetables, that have resistance to early as well as late blight. You will also find resistance codes for cucurbits, beans, fruit, and solanaceae crops.
https://www.tomatodirt.com/disease-resi ... codes.html
https://www.vegetables.cornell.edu/pest ... varieties/
Big Rainbow is a good tomato as well as Oregon Spring, which is a long keeper. Champion, I did not like. Celebrity is a good determinate market variety, but it is grown for its market qualities and it has an o.k. flavor. Mortgage Lifter or Radiator Charlie's Tomato, is a large beefsteak heirloom with good flavor, but like brandywine, the bigger tomatoes are less productive.
Fungal sprays unfortunately are not a once and done thing. Systemic fungal sprays are for the most part not for edible crops. Fungicide sprays need to be timed to when the environmental conditions (warm, wet, humid) exist, you have to do preventive spraying weekly or more if it rains. You have about a 24 hour window to act before the spores take hold. Good culture helps, trellis your tomatoes up, take off the bottom leaves you don't need, space plants and prune suckers on indeterminates to promote air circulation. and be ruthless and don't try to save any weak plants. For prophylaxis there are a number of choices. You could use neem oil as a preventive anti fungal spray, but it is not very good at control after the fact.
Hydrogen peroxide, can be used immediately after the rain stops to kill any spores on the leaves, but it must be followed up with a longer acting anti fungal like sulfur or copper sulfate if you have downy mildew. Finding tomato varieties with better resistance to powdery mildew also helps as they will be easier to treat. Baking soda works as a desiccant and has the opposite effect of sulfur which lowers pH. Baking soda has a very high pH. Sulfur and baking soda work in the same way, by creating an environment where the pH is either too high or too low to support fungal growth. Bacterial spot is another thing you want to have resistance for in both tomatoes and peppers. You should get disease resistance to the common viruses in your area.
https://www.vegetables.cornell.edu/pest ... varieties/
You have space for hundreds of varieties. For me, finding space for a dozen plants would be a lot.
the more codes, the better the disease resistance. However, for the most part tomatoes that are bred for resistance and the market are usually red round and pretty. But in exchange flavor is bred out.
Depending on where you live and your growing conditions, some types of resistance are preferred. I need nematode, multiple resistance to multiple strains of fusarium, multiple races of bacterial spot, and phytophthora. I don't have tomato spotted wilt although it is around. I do have tomato yellow leaf curl virus, so I either need to get tomatoes with that resistance or grow them inside tree bags to keep them away from the whiteflies. Most tomatoes have resistance to TMV. There are also some tomatoes, peppers, and other vegetables, that have resistance to early as well as late blight. You will also find resistance codes for cucurbits, beans, fruit, and solanaceae crops.
https://www.tomatodirt.com/disease-resi ... codes.html
https://www.vegetables.cornell.edu/pest ... varieties/
Big Rainbow is a good tomato as well as Oregon Spring, which is a long keeper. Champion, I did not like. Celebrity is a good determinate market variety, but it is grown for its market qualities and it has an o.k. flavor. Mortgage Lifter or Radiator Charlie's Tomato, is a large beefsteak heirloom with good flavor, but like brandywine, the bigger tomatoes are less productive.
Fungal sprays unfortunately are not a once and done thing. Systemic fungal sprays are for the most part not for edible crops. Fungicide sprays need to be timed to when the environmental conditions (warm, wet, humid) exist, you have to do preventive spraying weekly or more if it rains. You have about a 24 hour window to act before the spores take hold. Good culture helps, trellis your tomatoes up, take off the bottom leaves you don't need, space plants and prune suckers on indeterminates to promote air circulation. and be ruthless and don't try to save any weak plants. For prophylaxis there are a number of choices. You could use neem oil as a preventive anti fungal spray, but it is not very good at control after the fact.
Hydrogen peroxide, can be used immediately after the rain stops to kill any spores on the leaves, but it must be followed up with a longer acting anti fungal like sulfur or copper sulfate if you have downy mildew. Finding tomato varieties with better resistance to powdery mildew also helps as they will be easier to treat. Baking soda works as a desiccant and has the opposite effect of sulfur which lowers pH. Baking soda has a very high pH. Sulfur and baking soda work in the same way, by creating an environment where the pH is either too high or too low to support fungal growth. Bacterial spot is another thing you want to have resistance for in both tomatoes and peppers. You should get disease resistance to the common viruses in your area.
https://www.vegetables.cornell.edu/pest ... varieties/
You have space for hundreds of varieties. For me, finding space for a dozen plants would be a lot.
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Vanisle_BC
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