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hendi_alex
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Share your location and date of first ripe tomato for 2011

Maybe include a photo. Nothing like generating a little bit of tomato envy.

Haven't picked one yet, but a few grape tomatoes have turned light orange. Maybe will eat this year's first ripe tomato by this week-end! I'm in zone 8, central South Carolina.

[img]https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2419/5730974479_3f406f0a09_o.jpg[/img]

[img]https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2392/5731523052_d8fc4cceb0_o.jpg[/img]

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Duh_Vinci
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Looking good, Alex! "Juliette"? I remember those were always the earliest for you...

Despite the very rough early season (rain, hail and wind damage), first couple we picked yesterday from short, determinate plants growing in 10 gal containers, "Lambada". It is the earliest again! Few more today:

[img]https://drphotography.smugmug.com/photos/I-wN343Wj/0/O/I-wN343Wj.jpg[/img]

Next on to ripen would also be a container "Danko", beautiful, full size heart shaped tomatoes, can't wait.

Virginia, Zone 7.

Regards,
D

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hendi_alex
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Nice work, getting some ripe ones so early in zone 7. I started late this year and am about two to three weeks behind last year. My Juliet tomatoes are still a week or two from ripening. These in the photo are an unnamed grape variety bought from a local nursery as part of a flat.

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Duh_Vinci
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Oh, believe me, it was a little work on my part! Quite few frosts, and 6 containers were dragged back inside the garage to "overwinter". But worth it indeed! Besides, tomatoes from containers maybe the only tomatoes I'm going to eat this year...

Entire plot showing the sign of either much dreaded CMV or herbicide drift damage. Symptoms are so similar in appearance of either one, I actually took one plant to local co-op office today, it is being shipped for testing to Virginia Tech, so wish me luck!

Regards,
D

tgplp
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I'm jealous... My tomato plants just have buds, but my Sungold's biggest flower cluster is opening. ;)

Great job!!! Were they tasty?
Taryn

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rainbowgardener
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Yay!! This year's June racer tomato thread (for those of us in colder climates). Last year I had ripe tomatoes about the 20th of June. It is staying so cold and cloudy and wet so long this year, I don't know if I will make it for June tomatoes this year. My tomato plants are out there with flowers on them, but they are unhappy...

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gixxerific
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Not yet but I believe the following OSU Blue is going to be the first. I have or had flower sets on a quite a few plants. Though some have fade while other flowers are hanging on. We are having weird weather so we shall see. Rain is called for off an on for the next 6 day's. It's raining now, it rained last night and a few day's before that. So........................................ We shall see. :wink: Temps will be warm but I think some good old sun will do the trick.

[img]https://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj185/gixxerific/Gardening/DSC05201.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj185/gixxerific/Gardening/DSC05210.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj185/gixxerific/Gardening/DSC05212.jpg[/img]

And YES the majority of the plant is BLUE!

Thanks for the seed OL!! :D

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rainbowgardener
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Wow! Blue tomatoes! Looking good gixx. Last I looked I only had blossoms no tomatoes, but that was a few days ago. Been to rainy even to go out and look, any time I wasn't working.

gumbo2176
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About 3 weeks ago. I'm in New Orleans and the plants were in the ground by late February. I currently have 23 Creole tomatoes on my countertop and have given away to family and neighbors or eaten close to 40 . This has been one of my better crops with little bug damage. I put in my plum and cherry tomatoes about a month later and some of them are just starting to ripen.

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hendi_alex
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Do you have any tricks to keep tomato plants producing into the heat of summer? I had a buddy on another board who was usually pulling his vines by late July.

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hendi_alex
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Gix, that purple is certainly interesting looking. If you don't mind, please post a photo of the fully ripe fruit.

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Rogue11
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gixxerific wrote:Not yet but I believe the following OSU Blue is going to be the first.
Same here, my OSU Blue are the only ones showing any color so far. None of the tomatoes on my other plants are even blushing yet.

Question, gixxerific has your plant been blue from the beginning? Mine was mostly green until about 2 weeks ago. I had started to wonder if something was wrong. then suddenly the stem and many leaves (starting from the leave center and spreading outwards) turned purplish blue, and several days later the tomatoes started too.
Curiously we had very cool and mostly cloudy weather recently.

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gixxerific
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Rogue11 wrote:
gixxerific wrote:Not yet but I believe the following OSU Blue is going to be the first.
Same here, my OSU Blue are the only ones showing any color so far. None of the tomatoes on my other plants are even blushing yet.

Question, gixxerific has your plant been blue from the beginning? Mine was mostly green until about 2 weeks ago. I had started to wonder if something was wrong. then suddenly the stem and many leaves (starting from the leave center and spreading outwards) turned purplish blue, and several days later the tomatoes started too.
Curiously we had very cool and mostly cloudy weather recently.
Mine has been blue from the get go Even as a wee little baby.


Hendi pics to be forthcoming never fear. That plant and my other OSU Blue both have tom's there are a few others as well but the OSU are in the lead. Gonna be a while still. :(

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lorax
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Ecuador, first ripe tomato was Golden Queen, 15 January 2011. I don't have a picture, unfortunately.

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Duh_Vinci
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Taryn - yes they were quite tasty, specially for such early variety.

Dono - most intriguing looking fruit in terms of color, and early too, huh!

Lora - I have Golden Queen seeds for 2012, these are considered rather late season tomatoes for our climate, but many refer to these as excellent tasting variety. I guess next year!

As off this morning, rain is no more, Jaune Flammee is showing color on first fruits, Noire de Crimee and more Lambada... Few more days, and we will be eating tomatoes!



Happy growing all!

Regards,
D

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hendi_alex
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Today, May 21st, ate the first out of the garden grape tomato. Was just enough to be a tease, but definitely enough to make us all the more anxious for the season to get started. We have five grape tomatoes turning red, but will probably be another week or two before we start to have a constant stream of ripe tomatoes. The grapes, Juliet, and Sweet Cluster should all start ripening within the next couple of weeks.

tedln
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I planted all of my tomato plants on March 7, in zone 7b. The first to produce ripe fruit of golf ball size was an indeterminate hybrid named "Fourth Of July". The first fruit picked was in 50 days. It was good tasting, but not spectacular. Subsequent ripe fruit have improved dramatically in taste. Photo below.

[img]https://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll308/tedln/2011%20Garden/04-25-11/002.jpg[/img]

I picked the first Black Krim in 60 days. Again since it was the earliest fruit and the weather has been very mild, it was not spectacular in taste; but I expect the larger fruit on the vines to have much better flavor.

I've also picked and eaten, Big Beef, Super Fantastic, and Mountain Pride hybrids. They produced in 60 days. The Mountain Pride was a surprisingly tasty tomato with a full, deep tomato taste. I also have a Mortgage Lifter fruit setting on the kitchen counter waiting to be eaten. I've been harvesting them a little before they are red ripe on the vine because I have some Cardinals nesting in my tomato vines. If I allow the fruit to become red ripe on the vine, the Cardinals will start eating them before I can harvest them.

Ripening soon will be some very large Cherokee Purple, Brandywine, Brandywine Yellow, Pineapple, Hillbilly, Rutgers RL, and German Johnson RL.

I'm really looking forward to my Sungold F1, Black Cherry, and Jaune Flamme. They all are becoming heavy with fruit, but not quite ripe.

This has been an outstanding spring climate for Tomatoes. We started in March with a drought and a few hot days in late March. The sunny days have produced average temps in the mid eighties with nights dipping into the mid fifties and sixties. Since March, we have received significant rainfall almost on a weekly basis. The tomatoes have responded with rapid growth, heavy blooming, and heavy fruiting. I should be picking tomatoes in the doldrums of summer which pollinated in the perfect weather of mid may.

Ted
Last edited by tedln on Sat May 21, 2011 4:34 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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hendi_alex
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Nice job Ted, especially to be in zone 7. I started all of my seeds pretty late this year and am surprised to be as near harvest as is the case. Fourth of July used to be my favorite golf ball sized salad tomato until I tried Sweet Cluster. My wife and I did several taste tests and Sweet Cluster won each time. Sweet Cluster seems to be both a bit more productive and more vigorous than 4th of July. My sweet clusters usually are my second tomato to ripen, about a week behind Juliet, which is a very productive oblong salad tomato. Juliet is a dependable work horse that produces a reliable bounty of fruit every year. The plants even shake off mid to late season disease and keep setting fruit, even in the hottest weather.

tedln
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Alex,

I'm also growing the Juliet and have for many years. I didn't mention it with the other cherry tomatoes because it is not one of my favorite varieties. It is one of our daughters favorites, so I guess I will grow it forever. We have also eaten some of the Juliets already and will probably harvest a truckload before the summer is over and the first frost kills the vines.

I'm really hoping I can convince our daughter the other cherry varieties surpass the Juliet in flavor. She however prefers sweet flavored varieties while I prefer acidic or tart flavored varieties.

Ted

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Alex,

I'm growing a determinate variety this year named Mountain Pride. I really thought I was getting a recently developed hybrid variety named Mountain Magic. MM was developed by Randy Gardener for commercial growers and is only one of the Mountain series. If I can find seed for the Mountain Magic for next years garden, it will replace my Fourth Of July variety. I think it will be even earlier than the FOJ with higher production of more flavorful tomatoes. I don't see how it can be more productive than FOJ or earlier, but it may taste a little better.

The Mountain Pride variety has been a very productive variety of full size tomatoes on a small plant. So far, it has provided the best tasting tomato from my garden. With Cherokee Purple and Brandywine almost ripe, I expect it to slide down in my ratings.

Ted

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I've never heard of a blue tomato ! What does OSU mean? Where did you get them? Sweet or tart?

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Rogue11
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The Blue tomato were developed at Oregon State University (OSU) by crossing a wild Blue tomato with other tomatoes.
https://hort.oregonstate.edu/purple_tomato_faq

I got a couple of seeds from a neighbor. I think she ordered them online. I had shared some of my cherry tomato seedlings with her and she asked if I would like to try raising some seedlings for both of us, since I already had the setup. I was a little skeptic about them really being blue tomato seeds until the plant and tomatoes really were starting to turn blue.

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gixxerific
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DeborahL wrote:I've never heard of a blue tomato ! What does OSU mean? Where did you get them? Sweet or tart?

Actually in this case it stands for Ohio State University. That is the original OSU Blue. :wink:

Again Thanks Ozark Lady for the seeds.

Sorry as far as taste we shall see. These were bred to be blue first and foremost so everything else was second place including flavor. We shall see, never fear the full what's what will be forthcoming.


I have a good feeling about this year. Even though we have had a mild if not downright cold spring I have a good feeling. Last year was a disaster for most of us.

Here's to a great garden everybody. :lol: :wink:

DeborahL
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Thanks to both for explaining about blue tomatoes. I hope you'll post pictures of them when fully ripe !

mansgirl
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Wow. This zone 5 Michigan girl is jealous. My tomatoes are just little baby plants yet! I won't be posting pictures until July! Hopefully June!

tedln
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Yea Mansgirl, we are ahead of you, but you have a pile of turkey poop. You will quickly catch up with us. Just pour the poop on. :D

Ted

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hendi_alex
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Back before there were super resistant tomato varieties, I used to plant in April and the vines generally continued to produce until killed by November frost. Now I plant mostly five way resistant varieties, and in mid July just about every plant turns yellow and dies from disease in mid July. About the only way that I get tomatoes in November is to start new seedlings or rootings in June. Those vigorously growing young plants don't seem to be affected by the disease during the hot and humid July/August period. Currently my plants are the most beautiful that I've ever grown. But last year I could have said the same thing. They looked that way through the end of June. By late July most all of the plants were yellow or brown and dead.

tedln
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I planted a few hybrids and a lot of heirlooms this spring. I fully expect the heirlooms to bite the dust by the end of June. It won't matter because they are producing their little hearts out. Sometimes they just seem to get tired from all the work and die. I will be ready to replace them with some fall plants.

Many years ago, I got tired of trying different hybrids to find one which could survive the summer heat, humidity, and diseases of Southern Louisiana. I decided to grow Better Boy and nothing else. It was a very reliable variety to produce a spring crop of tomatoes most years and then go into a deep slumber very similar to death. In the fall with cooler weather, it came back to life, put out new branches and new blooms and produced a reliable fall crop until frost. The only problem I experienced was the boredom of growing it year after year. I am now much happier growing many varieties knowing some won't survive the heat in Texas summers and some will die from disease. I won't grow those the next year, but I will be excited the next winter with the prospect of trying a few other varieties I've discovered which may be exactly what I'm looking for.

The great thing about always trying something new is even if it doesn't meet your expectations, it isn't boring.

Ted

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Very interesting to read bout how you guys in the hot climate adapt your growing techniques to the given conditions! And in reality, my climate is not too much different from Alex. Summers and scorching hot and humid, and it is a chore to allow tomatoes to survive until frost from planting in late April. But succession planting in June helps indeed! Actually have a small flat of few varieties growing under the lights in the basement as we speak, should be ready in 3 weeks or so for the transplant into the garden.

For now, Early Treat has a nice cluster of 6-7 tomatoes where 3 are ripening (container), Taxi has few first fruits that are now turning color (container), Danko finally has turned yellow today, so 3-4 days I will taste the bad boy!

Today - Jaune Flamee gave us few first ripe fruits, and for such early fruits - delight indeed! Bright flavor of tart gel with it's sweet flesh - very refreshing!

[img]https://drphotography.smugmug.com/photos/I-V3ZJNcd/0/O/I-V3ZJNcd.jpg[/img]

Regards,
D

tedln
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DV,

Did you get any results back from Virginia Tech?

I've been eating a few but the few I am most anticipating are just teasing me with slow ripening. Jaune Flamme is one of those. It has small fruit, but I suspect a couple of weeks before I will experience what you have experienced. It was one of the victims of a killer frost in March so I had to plant it again. I would have been eating them if I had been smart enough to move them inside and ignore the weather forecaster.

I'm glad you are able to sample yours.

Ted

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Duh_Vinci
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Oh yeah, I remember your frost! Too bad, but you are still eating tomatoes :wink: I'm sure you will like the JF, I remember you have mentioned you like tomatoes with the "zing", JF definitely has it!

First two fruits from Noire de Crimee today:

[img]https://drphotography.smugmug.com/photos/I-BkkfS4C/0/O/I-BkkfS4C.jpg[/img]

Regards,
D

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hendi_alex
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These grape tomatoes coming off in the ones and two's are just a big tease, a mere hint of what is coming soon. Here are a few photos of what should start ripening in the next couple of weeks. It is in the 90's all this week so the ripening process will likely quicken.

Here are a few samples of the pipeline.

[img]https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3497/5759493102_1d9125a942_o.jpg[/img]

[img]https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2054/5758949467_69bfcff90a_o.jpg[/img]

[img]https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3493/5758945085_2f154f3a87_o.jpg[/img]

[img]https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3526/5758944715_54a5cb7e6a_o.jpg[/img]

[img]https://farm6.static.flickr.com/5070/5758946151_28a8f356fa_o.jpg[/img]

[img]https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2121/5758950961_4a772e2e60_o.jpg[/img]

[img]https://farm6.static.flickr.com/5070/5758950591_ba162670f3_o.jpg[/img]

[img]https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2764/5758950233_c1c7ba613a_o.jpg[/img]

[img]https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3464/5758949091_fe430e4bf0_o.jpg[/img]

[img]https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2779/5759491992_7ae595f044_o.jpg[/img]

[img]https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3555/5759491634_0b531ccb19_o.jpg[/img]

[img]https://farm6.static.flickr.com/5142/5758947983_3800f92ee3_o.jpg[/img]

[img]https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2768/5759490898_904150f4b3_o.jpg[/img]

[img]https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3518/5759490566_0c204c8ffe_o.jpg[/img]

[img]https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3124/5759490228_3092573f66_o.jpg[/img]

[img]https://farm6.static.flickr.com/5101/5759489860_ffc44f3902_o.jpg[/img]

[img]https://farm6.static.flickr.com/5066/5758945401_15ef636795_o.jpg[/img]

jibsailor75
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I'm looking for some good information on the best [url=https://www.tomatogardeningsecrets.com/tomato-types-aplenty/]tomato types[/url] to grow in the Great Lakes region, specifically SE Michigan. I found a site that has some info, but no specifics on geography. I'm new to these northern climates and would like to find a variety that has a shorter growing season.

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hendi_alex
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I think that the local extension service for your county would likely give the best detailed information on recommended varieties for your area. Here is a link to the MSU extension, but you can probably find better info from the extension for your specific county.

This web site has general info. It also has a Master Gardener helpline telephone number. That should be an excellent resource for county specific information. TEL: 269-384-8056 or email: mghelp@anr.msu.edu.

[url]https://www.msue.msu.edu/portal/default.cfm?pageset_id=27606&page_id=477653&msue_portal_id=25643[/url]

Here is MSU extension site called Gardening in Michigan:
[url]https://migarden.msu.edu/migarden/vegetables[/url]

A quick glance at their tomato fact sheet looks like all of the common varieties do fine in Michigan.

tedln
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Gotta love those Juliets for their early production. We have been eating them for about a week. I actually give the Juliets away all summer. I do freeze some because they are great to simply pour some frozen tomatoes into a dish you are cooking for some tomato flavor.

My pipeline is up and running. I covered a big portion of our kitchen counter with ripe tomatoes today. My wife said I'm going to have to find some folks to give some of the tomatoes. I never seem to have a problem finding takers for homegrown tomatoes.

Ted

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Duh_Vinci wrote: First two fruits from Noire de Crimee today:

[img]https://drphotography.smugmug.com/photos/I-BkkfS4C/0/O/I-BkkfS4C.jpg[/img]
Other that my OSU Blue the Noire de Crimee I got from you are posting up some goodness as well. Funny I thought they were white tomatoes.

I guess not. All is good though a tomato is a tomato.

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Rogue11
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Look a like my Black Pearls are in a dead heat with my OSU Blues. But nothing fully ripe yet.

[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h317/Bailey1048/DSCN0516.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h317/Bailey1048/DSCN0519.jpg[/img]

tedln
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I posted a photo of my earliest tomato which was the "Fourth Of July" hybrid variety. I wasn't impressed with the early taste in the first week of May. The later fruits have been outstanding with a very acidic, home grown tomato flavor. It is exactly the taste I am looking for in home grown tomatoes. I'm pretty sure this tomato will be in my garden as my early variety every year. The bonus for this variety is the fact that as an indeterminate, it is supposed to produce through the summer into fall. I've been cutting them in half, sprinkling a little salt on them and thoroughly enjoying five or six of them per day. My dog even enjoys them enough to try to sneak into the garden and steal the occasional green tomato.

Ted

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hendi_alex
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Be sure to try Sweet Cluster sometime. Looks almost identical to 4th of July which I grew for several years. Flavor is a bit fuller, more complex and seems to be a bit more disease resistant than the 4th of July. As posted earlier, my wife and I taste tested the two several times and Sweet Cluster won consistently. Both are excellent, very productive tomato plants however.



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