Which heirloom varieties do you really like for flavor? which ones were a bust?
How many days are they if you know for the good ones?
These are my favorites:
1.STUPICE - 65 days. Czech variety, about 6 oz red. Very prolific. Have grown 4 years in a row now. Always produces well.
2.WAPSIPINICON - 75 Days. Yellow, fuzzy like a peach. Maybe 6 oz too. This one has great flavor.
3.JEUNE COEUR DE PIGEON. ? days. This was a thin skinned yellow pear. Delicios. Wish I could find it again. I even wrote a haiku about it it was so good.
In the heat, you burst
Little yellow hearts of birds.
Yummm. French is better.
4.ANNA'S RUSSIAN. 65 DAYS (? THIS IS A GUESS) very sweet. kind of thick skinned
5.Sugar Lump - very flavorful red cherry. But the horned worms got it and I just got a few tomatoes. Didn't know about insecticidal soap then.
Weakened by horned worms.
One lump or two? Break my heart.
Your life, short and sweet.
Busts:
1. BIG RAINBOW - no flavor
Big Rainbow, you fraud.
Big, yes. But dull. No color here.
Where is your flavor?
2. JULIA CHILD - didn't produce
You did not grace us,
Julia, with your presence.
We did not taste you.
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RedEyedRooster
- Newly Registered
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Thu Apr 03, 2008 10:28 pm
- Location: Hope, Indiana
These are the Heirlooms I'm tying out this year in 25gal homemade earth box style containers.
1. Black Krim ~ 75days
2. Black from tula ~ 75days
3. Cherokee Purple ~ 80days
4. Brandywine/Betterboy (hybrid) ~ 78days
5. Brandywine ~ 80days
6. Mortgage lifter ~ 80days
7. Odoriko (Japanese hybrid) ~ 75days
8. Italian tree ~ 85days
9. Neves Azorean ~ 75days
10. Sainte Lucie ~ 85days
I started putting on tomatoes June 27th I'll let you know what our family thinks shortly. All plants are looking great we cant wait to start the judging. As far as the fruit looks go, I'm impressed with numbers 2, 5, and 6
1. Black Krim ~ 75days
2. Black from tula ~ 75days
3. Cherokee Purple ~ 80days
4. Brandywine/Betterboy (hybrid) ~ 78days
5. Brandywine ~ 80days
6. Mortgage lifter ~ 80days
7. Odoriko (Japanese hybrid) ~ 75days
8. Italian tree ~ 85days
9. Neves Azorean ~ 75days
10. Sainte Lucie ~ 85days
I started putting on tomatoes June 27th I'll let you know what our family thinks shortly. All plants are looking great we cant wait to start the judging. As far as the fruit looks go, I'm impressed with numbers 2, 5, and 6
I thought that pruning the suckers would give you less fruit, but bigger? I only pruned the suckers off the bottom 18" or so, and am letting them bush out on top.mbaker410 wrote:MarkFD
Not sure if Brandywine is an indeterminate or not but if it is a little pruning of the suckers and control of how many stems you allow the plant to have may help in the production of fruit.
I am doing this right now with a black prince heirloom and will post results as they come in.
Mike
Actually from what I read yes it will give you bigger fruit and instead of having 10 on a plant you may only have 5 but I was under the impression that the plants should continue to produce and produce throughout the season.
From what I have read without pruning the plant has to essentially build up the nutrients and things to produce a lot more fruit and it takes longer and you will produce more at first but will produce later and wont produce much after the initial harvest.
Again this is all things I have read on this site and others. Not tested by myself yet.
Mike
From what I have read without pruning the plant has to essentially build up the nutrients and things to produce a lot more fruit and it takes longer and you will produce more at first but will produce later and wont produce much after the initial harvest.
Again this is all things I have read on this site and others. Not tested by myself yet.
Mike
I'd like to hear from peeps who have experience growing plants either way... But it doesn't matter to me about less or more fruit cause it's my first garden, I've got 12 plants and have more tomatoes growing and maturing than I've bought at the store in the past year! So any harvest I get will be the biggest ever! Ah, sweet tomato day dreams...mbaker410 wrote:Actually from what I read yes it will give you bigger fruit and instead of having 10 on a plant you may only have 5 but I was under the impression that the plants should continue to produce and produce throughout the season.
From what I have read without pruning the plant has to essentially build up the nutrients and things to produce a lot more fruit and it takes longer and you will produce more at first but will produce later and wont produce much after the initial harvest.
Again this is all things I have read on this site and others. Not tested by myself yet.
Mike
I hear you on that. Any harvest I get will tickle me pink since this is my first garden as well. I have never pruned tomatoes prior to this year but will definitely let everyone know what the results were.petalfuzz wrote:I'd like to hear from peeps who have experience growing plants either way... But it doesn't matter to me about less or more fruit cause it's my first garden, I've got 12 plants and have more tomatoes growing and maturing than I've bought at the store in the past year! So any harvest I get will be the biggest ever! Ah, sweet tomato day dreams...
In the garden I've got:
- Chocolate cherry (new to me)
- Orange Strawberry (a favorite)
- German Red Strawberry (new)
- Caspian Pink (very good)
- Super Marzano Hybrid (new, guess not an heirloom but its Marzano parent is, I believe)
- Cuore de Toro (delicious huge fruit, not a long keeper though)
- Manyel (wonderful yellow tomatoes)
- Roman Candle (paste-type yellow tomatoes, a favorite of mine)
- Sausage (new)
- Raad Red (not an heirloom I don't think, and new)
- Wayahead (new, not an heirloom I don't think)
- German Johnson Pink (new)
And two volunteers I'm allowing to do their thing. I don't know what they are.
All except the Chocolate Cherry enjoy full sun all day long along the south side of the house. The plants are robust and setting tons of fruit. The Chocolate Cherry is in a large container on the west side, by the deck, and is predictably smaller due to its positioning.
- Chocolate cherry (new to me)
- Orange Strawberry (a favorite)
- German Red Strawberry (new)
- Caspian Pink (very good)
- Super Marzano Hybrid (new, guess not an heirloom but its Marzano parent is, I believe)
- Cuore de Toro (delicious huge fruit, not a long keeper though)
- Manyel (wonderful yellow tomatoes)
- Roman Candle (paste-type yellow tomatoes, a favorite of mine)
- Sausage (new)
- Raad Red (not an heirloom I don't think, and new)
- Wayahead (new, not an heirloom I don't think)
- German Johnson Pink (new)
And two volunteers I'm allowing to do their thing. I don't know what they are.
All except the Chocolate Cherry enjoy full sun all day long along the south side of the house. The plants are robust and setting tons of fruit. The Chocolate Cherry is in a large container on the west side, by the deck, and is predictably smaller due to its positioning.
Hey all,
This is my first year growing heirloom tomatoes, and I have 9 plants. They grow faster and more vigorously than any tomatoes I have grown before, and as I have limited space, I have been pruing excess stems (with only leaves on them, not flowers yet) to keep them under control a bit, so that they don't grow into each other. Just thought I'd throw all that info out there, and I'll keep everyone updated as to how things progress. Right now, I have a lot of cherry tomatoes (sugar lump, yellow perfection), a good amount of green zebra and Black prince, and a few mortgage lifter and dixie golden giant (those two are taking longer to produce fruits, only a few on each plant, and some of them are splitting). So far one sugar lump tomato has ripened, still waiting on everything else.
Joe
This is my first year growing heirloom tomatoes, and I have 9 plants. They grow faster and more vigorously than any tomatoes I have grown before, and as I have limited space, I have been pruing excess stems (with only leaves on them, not flowers yet) to keep them under control a bit, so that they don't grow into each other. Just thought I'd throw all that info out there, and I'll keep everyone updated as to how things progress. Right now, I have a lot of cherry tomatoes (sugar lump, yellow perfection), a good amount of green zebra and Black prince, and a few mortgage lifter and dixie golden giant (those two are taking longer to produce fruits, only a few on each plant, and some of them are splitting). So far one sugar lump tomato has ripened, still waiting on everything else.
Joe
Here are the tomatoes I'm trying for this year.
-Hillbilly
-Oxheart
-Large Cherry
-Arkansas Travler
-Soldacki (Poland)
-Blask Russian
-Tigerella
-Dixie Golden Giant
-Brandy Wine
-New Yorker
-Grape
-Yellow Pear
-Italian Trip-L-Pear
-Mountain Fresh
I have always pinched off the suckers from my plants which has made the plants less bushy but its interesting reading that I'll get lesser tomatoes but bigger. I tried something new this year by cutting the bottom stems off the plants (something I've read here) so I can't wait to see what happens. I wish I knew about this site years ago. You can't beat learning from other people's experance.
-Hillbilly
-Oxheart
-Large Cherry
-Arkansas Travler
-Soldacki (Poland)
-Blask Russian
-Tigerella
-Dixie Golden Giant
-Brandy Wine
-New Yorker
-Grape
-Yellow Pear
-Italian Trip-L-Pear
-Mountain Fresh
I have always pinched off the suckers from my plants which has made the plants less bushy but its interesting reading that I'll get lesser tomatoes but bigger. I tried something new this year by cutting the bottom stems off the plants (something I've read here) so I can't wait to see what happens. I wish I knew about this site years ago. You can't beat learning from other people's experance.
I'm not sure which kind I like, but they have a deep, wet-red color, and are very soft to the touch, and bursting with flavor--as opposed to the brighter-red, firmer, dryer-looking tomatoes from the supermarket, which taste like nothing.
I'm guessing they're a variety of beefsteak, but I don't know much about varieties so I'm not sure. I do know they're heirloom, they're sold at a local farmer's market (not a farmers' market--this one sells products from one farmer only.)
I'm guessing they're a variety of beefsteak, but I don't know much about varieties so I'm not sure. I do know they're heirloom, they're sold at a local farmer's market (not a farmers' market--this one sells products from one farmer only.)
If they're kind of misshapen and craggily looking they might be Brandy Wine. I've seen these a couple time in the local supermarket of all places. I wish I knew where they got them from. Actually, thinking about it, brandy wine is not really a deep red color but they are soft and full of flavor. I would definitely ask what type they are. And then buy some...
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noqgardener
- Full Member
- Posts: 32
- Joined: Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:04 am
- Location: Zone 4
They're all pretty smooth and round. Once I grew some from the seeds, and they were the same I think. But I still buy them from that market as well. I can't grow enough in the few pots we have, plus I like supporting local heirloom-grower farmers.MarkFD wrote:If they're kind of misshapen and craggily looking they might be Brandy Wine. I've seen these a couple time in the local supermarket of all places. I wish I knew where they got them from. Actually, thinking about it, brandy wine is not really a deep red color but they are soft and full of flavor. I would definitely ask what type they are. And then buy some...
Last edited by webgrunt on Fri Jul 25, 2008 4:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Brandywinegirl
- Senior Member
- Posts: 147
- Joined: Sun May 25, 2008 1:21 am
- Location: East Coast
I bought most of my heirlooms from QVC. I have:
Green Zebra
Mortgage Lifter
Brandywine - my favorite so far
Dixie Golden Giant
Sugar Lump
Yellow Perfection - died for no good reason (R.I.P)
Cherokee Purple - my first ripe tomato this season! YUMMY.
I also have Razzle Dazzle that I got from Burpee. All in all I have 16 plants.
Green Zebra
Mortgage Lifter
Brandywine - my favorite so far
Dixie Golden Giant
Sugar Lump
Yellow Perfection - died for no good reason (R.I.P)
Cherokee Purple - my first ripe tomato this season! YUMMY.
I also have Razzle Dazzle that I got from Burpee. All in all I have 16 plants.
I got 16 plants from a man nearby who deals only in heirlooms. The plants were beautiful when I picked them up, and have done really well since I put them in the ground. I've got:
-Italian Tree
-Green Zebra
-Chocolate Stripes
-Homer Fike's Oxheart Gold
-Lahman's Pink
-Sun Gold Cherry
-Black Krim
-Stupice
-Vintage Wine
The Sun Gold Cherry, Stupice and Green Zebras are covered in fruit. The rest of the plants have just a smattering of fruit thus far (but I'm in Zone 4-5). The Vintage Wine appears to be putting all its energy into just one tomato - anyone ever grown this one before?
-Italian Tree
-Green Zebra
-Chocolate Stripes
-Homer Fike's Oxheart Gold
-Lahman's Pink
-Sun Gold Cherry
-Black Krim
-Stupice
-Vintage Wine
The Sun Gold Cherry, Stupice and Green Zebras are covered in fruit. The rest of the plants have just a smattering of fruit thus far (but I'm in Zone 4-5). The Vintage Wine appears to be putting all its energy into just one tomato - anyone ever grown this one before?
I'm new to this forum and this is the first posting I've done.
I grew/am growing about 21 varieties this year, added a few new ones and got rid of a few that didn't perform so well in the past. One really good one is the Paul Robison black tomato, really a dark, dark red with a purplish tone near the top. Had some cracking issues but nothing much deeper than the skin. Great flavor med. size plant and fruit.
Old Fashion Red is pretty good, no cracking, no end rot, etc. Have always liked the San Marsano Redorta for sauces and tried the Super San Marsano this year; a lot smaller fruit and not nearly as good but the plant set close to 50 or more as compared to only about 10 of the Redorta's.
Tropic set really well this year as did the Glacier (golf ball size).
Aussie is one of my favorites but it only set about 3 this year. We had a really hot spell mid bloom and most all the blossums dried on the vine.
I've always had an end rot problem so this year I added a bunch of calcium to the soil and pruned off the bottom 8-10 inches of leaves for air circulation and it seems to have helped a lot. Very little if any end rot.
Always good to see what everyone else is planting and how they turn out. Thanks, Randy.
I grew/am growing about 21 varieties this year, added a few new ones and got rid of a few that didn't perform so well in the past. One really good one is the Paul Robison black tomato, really a dark, dark red with a purplish tone near the top. Had some cracking issues but nothing much deeper than the skin. Great flavor med. size plant and fruit.
Old Fashion Red is pretty good, no cracking, no end rot, etc. Have always liked the San Marsano Redorta for sauces and tried the Super San Marsano this year; a lot smaller fruit and not nearly as good but the plant set close to 50 or more as compared to only about 10 of the Redorta's.
Tropic set really well this year as did the Glacier (golf ball size).
Aussie is one of my favorites but it only set about 3 this year. We had a really hot spell mid bloom and most all the blossums dried on the vine.
I've always had an end rot problem so this year I added a bunch of calcium to the soil and pruned off the bottom 8-10 inches of leaves for air circulation and it seems to have helped a lot. Very little if any end rot.
Always good to see what everyone else is planting and how they turn out. Thanks, Randy.
This year I planted the following
9 black varieties
5 cherries
4 green/white
7 pinks
7 reds
5 yellow/bicolor
These consisted of popular "big name" heirlooms and all were tasty and productive, at least 20-70 fruits per plant counted in early August.
My overall favorite is Black Krim for taste, and it is a mid-sized 5 ft plant, above average production ripening early in the midseason. Japanese Black Trifele also was a cut above in taste but a little late to ripen here. Prudens Purple was the earliest of the big pinks and comparable in flavor to the rest. Big plant w/ lots of big fruit over the whole season.
Pink Ping Pong surprized me with its wonderful sugary flavor.
A stray seed turned out to be what I think is Lemony. A pale yellow w/ white flesh...1 lb beefsteak. Tastes like a SweetTart candy when first ripe. It should make some awsome salsas etc. Everyone should try it for a change.
I could see no difference between Nyagous and Black Prince except for a little more cracking with BP and a little more fruit with Nyagous. Identical flavor. Both are slicer/salad tomatoes with too much gel/juice to cook with so high productivity is not much of a plus in my circumstance.
Black plum is a huge plant with hundreds of fruits, the flavor is good but not exceptional (but the plants only get 6-8 hours sun). Unfortunately the fruits are too small to provide enough for cooking/preserving at any one time. It acts like a cherry in that way.
9 black varieties
5 cherries
4 green/white
7 pinks
7 reds
5 yellow/bicolor
These consisted of popular "big name" heirlooms and all were tasty and productive, at least 20-70 fruits per plant counted in early August.
My overall favorite is Black Krim for taste, and it is a mid-sized 5 ft plant, above average production ripening early in the midseason. Japanese Black Trifele also was a cut above in taste but a little late to ripen here. Prudens Purple was the earliest of the big pinks and comparable in flavor to the rest. Big plant w/ lots of big fruit over the whole season.
Pink Ping Pong surprized me with its wonderful sugary flavor.
A stray seed turned out to be what I think is Lemony. A pale yellow w/ white flesh...1 lb beefsteak. Tastes like a SweetTart candy when first ripe. It should make some awsome salsas etc. Everyone should try it for a change.
I could see no difference between Nyagous and Black Prince except for a little more cracking with BP and a little more fruit with Nyagous. Identical flavor. Both are slicer/salad tomatoes with too much gel/juice to cook with so high productivity is not much of a plus in my circumstance.
Black plum is a huge plant with hundreds of fruits, the flavor is good but not exceptional (but the plants only get 6-8 hours sun). Unfortunately the fruits are too small to provide enough for cooking/preserving at any one time. It acts like a cherry in that way.
I enjoyed reading all of these postings...I have four "better bush" plants ranging from 8" to 14" in height and no flowers yet, nor have I pruned anything off of them. I did not start them from seed. and what exactly are the "suckers"? After reading about the different varieties and breeds, DOES anyone know of a website that may have pics to go with the different breeds and varieties and maybe summaries? Would like to do more research and get an idea of what might be good for my area and size of yard, etc...for next season. (Zone 10, I think?) 
Any info you can impart would be totally appreciated!
Aloha, Vicki
Any info you can impart would be totally appreciated!Aloha, Vicki
Suckers are simply branches that arise from leaf axils.
I think that one of the best sites for information is Laurel's heirloomtomatoplants. She lists plant and fruit size, days to maturity (DTM), and how well they do under different conditions (cold, hot etc). As far as DTMs go, plants can't count, so pretty much ignor the value and look to see if it is early, mid or late season. Of course anyone selling tomato seeds or plants is going to say how wonderfull each variety is even if it is a spitter, but all Laurel's favorites are high on most people's lists. I'm not going to spend $5 on a mail order plant so I go elsewhere to buy seeds.
TomatoFest, Sandhill Preservation, Mariannas seeds, and Tomatogrowers supplies all have large lists of open pollinated (nonhybrid) varieties. Victory Seeds is also excellent
I think that one of the best sites for information is Laurel's heirloomtomatoplants. She lists plant and fruit size, days to maturity (DTM), and how well they do under different conditions (cold, hot etc). As far as DTMs go, plants can't count, so pretty much ignor the value and look to see if it is early, mid or late season. Of course anyone selling tomato seeds or plants is going to say how wonderfull each variety is even if it is a spitter, but all Laurel's favorites are high on most people's lists. I'm not going to spend $5 on a mail order plant so I go elsewhere to buy seeds.
TomatoFest, Sandhill Preservation, Mariannas seeds, and Tomatogrowers supplies all have large lists of open pollinated (nonhybrid) varieties. Victory Seeds is also excellent
and I got:
Noire de crimmée
Black plum
Jersey Devil
Native sun
Garden peach
Travel ( reistomaat)
Black zebra
Fuzzy wuzzy
Roman candle
Red zebra
Evergreen
Zapotec
Ananas noire
White beauty
Pink accordeon
Tigerella
Orange banana
White cherry
Lime green salad
Debarao geel
Dix doigts de naples
Rode peertjes
Green grape
Black cherry
Green zebra
Tinny tim
......
.....
grts
Sören
Noire de crimmée
Black plum
Jersey Devil
Native sun
Garden peach
Travel ( reistomaat)
Black zebra
Fuzzy wuzzy
Roman candle
Red zebra
Evergreen
Zapotec
Ananas noire
White beauty
Pink accordeon
Tigerella
Orange banana
White cherry
Lime green salad
Debarao geel
Dix doigts de naples
Rode peertjes
Green grape
Black cherry
Green zebra
Tinny tim
......
.....
grts
Sören
The top three flavors of heirloom tomatoes are; Caspian Pink, Marianna’s Peace, and Brandywine Pink. That being said, each individual has their own preferences and there are many wonderful flavors of heirloom tomatoes.
If you want larger, nicer fruit then I would recommend taking off the suckers. If you want a carefree way of growing tomatoes, then just leave them on the tomato plant.
If you want larger, nicer fruit then I would recommend taking off the suckers. If you want a carefree way of growing tomatoes, then just leave them on the tomato plant.
As for heirloom we only plant the Brandywine Pink. This year they were as sweet as candy with some fruits weighing nearly 4 pounds. The plants were over 8 feet tall and we keep them at least 50 feet away from other tomatoes to keep the seeds true.
Life can't get much better than to have a hamburger from the BBQ with a slice of tomato that's larger than the bun.
Life can't get much better than to have a hamburger from the BBQ with a slice of tomato that's larger than the bun.