2013 Wild Boar Tomatoes - How are they Growing?

[TheWaterbug]

What variety is that?

[gixxerific]

What variety is that?

Indigo Apple.

[applestar]

Here are mine.
First blushed and harvested:

...more to come:

[applestar]

TRYING TO GET AN EVEN TAN "UNDER THE CHIN"

...reminds me of the Quad scene in spring at school...

[TheWaterbug]

What variety is that?

Indigo Apple.

Heh. I was reading on my phone's tiny screen, so I didn't see the "Indigo Apple" written on the tomato!

My IAs are starting to bear more heavily, and right now they're all purple and green.

I'm surprised (and a tad disappointed) that they don't keep more of the purple color when they ripen. The pictures on the internet all show that deep black/purple shoulder.

How's the flavor?

[rainbowgardener]

Sorry no pictures, but I have some kind of wild boar, that's kind of stripey. Not sure what it will look at ripened up. The plant and the tomatoes are smaller than the one next to it, which is some kind of beefsteak. But the wild boar one is COVERED in clusters of tomatoes, just taking awhile to ripen up.

[applestar]

Remember, the purple/black color develops from exposure to the sun -- it's the tomato's equivalent of melanin or sun tan. So remove any foliage obscuring the fruits for maximum exposure.

In the photo above, you can see what I'm doing to try to get the bottom half of the fruits to get some color. Container plants can be aid on their sides.

[rainbowgardener]

Mine are currently dark green on the top/stem end and look like a watermelon on the blossom end. They are a bit heart shaped - longer than spherical and with a bit of a point on the bottom - but rounded, not a sharp point like your principessa. I'm thinking they are one of the wild boar ones from last years giveaway.

[applestar]

I think the aluminum tray reflectors are producing desired effect -- what do you think?

Yesterday:

Today:

[applestar]

More pictures of Indigo Apple: Earlier picked, fully ripe ones with less "blue"/Antho on the shoulders, and ones after the reflectors were put in place

-- look at the stripes on the double fruit!
-- look at the big one!
-- look at the REALLY dark one after removing all foliage above it

[gixxerific]

You are a nut Apple, I love it. The reflectors really work.

[TheWaterbug]

Catastrophe! Every one of my IA fruits has BER!

None of my other 8 tomato plants has it, and they're adjacent to this one, on the same watering system, with the same soil, fertilizer, etc.

[gixxerific]

That is odd, and I am sorry but it will go away give it time.

Mine never showed any sign I did have minor BER this year in a few variety's.

[applestar]

Here are three more I harvested today. If you are growing Indigo Apple (or any other Antho expression variety), playing with reflective material is definitely worth it. I was also going to try putting a sticker on the shoulder, but I forgot. I need to try pulling the calyx off of these....

1d9ad3dc5c9f0aa30b85b8cb5fc663fd.jpg (55.57 KiB) Viewed 3212 times

[TheWaterbug]

That is odd, and I am sorry but it will go away give it time.

So I read through the perpetual BER thread, and it looks sudden drought can cause BER for fruit in a critical stage of development.

My entire garden is on a timered drip watering system, but about 3 weeks ago it mysteriously got shut off, without me noticing, for nearly a week. It was also pretty hot during that week. I don't track my tomatoes the way I do my pumpkins and such, but I think this roughly coincides with when these fruits were going through their rapid growth stage.

I checked some of my younger IAs, and they appear to be developing properly, so this might just be a one-time thing.

I don't understand why none of my other 8 varieties suffered similarly, but I suppose each variety has its own vulnerabilities.

[applestar]

Yeah, BER is a pain because whatever it was, it was in the past. (Nice work tracing back the probable cause) Indigo Apple seems pretty productive once it gets going, so hopefully, there will be many new fruits for you.

[applestar]

I've been thinking that the Indigo Apple has an unique flavor when eaten with skin on, especially near the shoulder -- the skin itself and the underlying flesh.

...unfortunately, my Indigo Apple fruits have been lackluster in flavor below the equator. They don't have the lingering intense flavor that I like and worse ones can be watery and bland.

But I've been trying to puzzle out what I'm tasting in the upper half, and whether the antho in the skin has something to do with it. ...today, I ate my first eggplant out of the garden. I just sliced it and baked them in the toaster oven with meatballs in tomato sauce. The skin of this eggplant was tough and as I was chewing on the outer slice with all that skin, it occurred to me that the flavor was very similar to the Indigo Apple upper half with skin on that I just ate not 5 minutes ago (I had one of the solid antho-black shoulder fruits.)

...anyone else notice the same? ...or is it psychosomatic, eyes to brains kind of false recognition on my part?

Compare the eggplant at top of the photo with solid antho Indigo Apple next to it

(I promise to post something about the Amos Coli next time )

[dustyrivergardens]

Amos Coli tomatoes have been doing wonderful huge paste tomatoes absolutely one of the best fresh eating tomatoes for a paste, I would put them above Opalka. I am going to bottle some whole and sauce some so time will tell on just how good a tomato these really are but right now I am thinking they might have a spot in my garden for years to come. Next to my Rio Grande's and my San Marzano's lol....

[webmaster]

I haven't noticed the taste issue with the Indigos. Terroir? The Indigos were some of my best producers. The color in the skin has anti-oxidents I think.

Glad you had a good experience with the Amos Coli!

[applestar]

This is actually from seed giveaway a couple of years ago, but it seems the Berkeley Tie-Dye turned out to be Berkeley Tie Dye Heart -- all fruits were heart shaped -- and Wild Boar Farms does have this listed as a separate variety.

Here's what it looked like inside:

This last fruit harvested was absolutely delicious with rich lingering flavor.

I didn't take a pic after it was fully ripe, but here's one from when it was picked about a week ago:

Green and yellow striped heart at 3 o' clock is the Berkeley Tie-Dye Heart

[gixxerific]

I haven't noticed the taste issue with the Indigos. Terroir? The Indigos were some of my best producers. The color in the skin has anti-oxidents I think.

My Indigo's were very productive but flavor was lackluster for me.

Yes, Webmaster, they are high in antioxidants, however the real facts on any positive effects are unknown. Though we are led to believe that there is some benefit just form past encounters. The pigment is called anthocyanin. It is what makes purple and blue fruit their color.

In addition to their role as light-attenuators, anthocyanins also act as powerful antioxidants. However, it is not clear whether anthocyanins can significantly contribute to scavenging of free radicals produced through metabolic processes in leaves, since they are located in the vacuole and, thus, spatially separated from metabolic reactive oxygen species. Some studies have shown hydrogen peroxide produced in other organelles can be neutralized by vacuolar anthocyanin.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthocyanin