User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

I didn't count. Just bunched them up and put them in the worm bin.
She needed a hanging support like a broken limb patient in a hospital:
Image
There used to be another side branch and her entire upper canopy had been pushing against the light grid. :(

On the bright side, her fluid transport seems to be still functioning so her prognosis is much better, though I think I see a bruise on that fruit...
Image

Donomater f2 plants are continuing to grow. Here are some green fruits on #3 and #1:
ImageImage

User avatar
rainbowgardener
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 25279
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

So (just because I'm considering whether it would feel worth it to me to try to replicate your experiment some year), how many indoor grown and ripened tomatoes have you actually eaten so far? :)

Your plants continue to look beautiful! You have the greenest thumb of all!

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

You are so kind. :D. I wish I could say I'be been eating more than just that one....
That first Sophie's Choice may have been a stroke of luck due to stress -- this plant was plagued with some kind of foliage disease. It seems to be outgrowing it now, and since the ripe fruit was harvested, has been putting effort into growing the 2nd fruit, and new growth has produced floral trusses that have set fruit.

But then I started with Sophie's Choice and Zarnitsa seeds on Sept. 2.
During the growing season, I start tomato seeds between Valentine's Day and March 7, and with extraordinary effort might start harvesting earliest ripe tomatoes by end of June or early July. That's with outdoor full sun and hot June weather. So 120 days from seed to vine ripened harvest could be considered about average.

Right now, I have a 2-1/2" diameter Sophie's Choice that looks like it's thinking of breaking color soon, two 2" diameter Zarnitsa fruits that are still green, and one mega-bloom 2-1/4" diam. and biggest single 1-3/4" and two 1-1/4" diam. hard green Black Krm fruits. Largest Donomater fruit is 1". All of them also have many more smaller fruits and are continuing to bloom. I'm hoping first of these may ripen by mid-January.

It's not helping that our "normal" winter weather has arrived and outdoor overnight lows have been in the 20's, and we have had some furiously windy days. Upstairs overnight temps near the windows are probably in the low 60's and downstairs low 50's at floor level and mid-50's To low 60's at bench level. Daytime temps mid-high 60's uptairs, low-mid 60's downstairs.

I'm convinced that using a suitable variety for indoor winter grow is number one criterion for satisfaction and success.

But all of the Sophie's Choice seedlings were beset by the disease. One completely succumbed. If they were not slowed down by the fungal issues, if I had been spraying them with milk and AACT from the beginning, it's possible all of them would have produced and ripened earlier fruit. I'm definitely trying again next Winter since I really would like to be able to grow respectably sized good flavored tomatoes or it's not worth it. At this point, I have the recovering one with the large fruit and new growth, one on the cold floor with three small fruits, and one in the kitchen window/cold and limited light that is struggling to keep its floral trusses alive -- no luck so far... They all blacken and shrivel up.

Zarnitsa is a great second candidate so far. Slightly taller than Sohphie's but more vigorous and productive in terms of floral trusses and fruit set. Can't wait to taste them -- I'm hoping by mid-end of January.

Black Krim and Donomater F2 seeds were started a month later on Oct. 5. I have what appears to be an earlier maturing strain of Black Krim and some of these green fruits are already as big as Zarnitsa fruits. My strain is also shorter growing, but even so, they are not growing floral trusses as readily as the other three varieties. I have one with fruit truss of 3 at 10" above soil level, and another plant with 2 plus a fused bloom fruit at 15" above soil level (rootball was dropped to the bottom at each Uppot). With both of these plants, the next floral/fruit truss is 16" higher up the vine. But I have one plant that didn't grow a floral truss until 32" above soil level and two plants that at 40" still have not grown any mature floral trusses.

Obviously, I will be saving seeds from the lower/earlier floral truss plants for possible future winter grow and possibly culling the tall and useless plants, or testing seeds from this strain in the summer to see if they perform differently
If I manage to master the technique during this winter's grow, I might try to cross these more promising Black Krim with Zarnitsa and maybe another cross with Sophie's Choice as well.

Donomater F2's are segregating so I will keep a close eye on their performances. So far, they are similar to Zarnitsa in rate of height growth and at least one of them is prolific.

I took some photos but the battery ran out. I'll post them after recharging.
Last edited by applestar on Wed Jan 02, 2013 1:17 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
rainbowgardener
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 25279
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

Thanks for posting all this info.

I agree 120 days from seeds to ripe fruit is what I figure. Plant seeds mid Feb, put the plants in the garden mid April, ripe fruit mid June.

That means to have Christmas tomatoes, you would need to plant seeds late August. I guess you could plant them outdoors in pots and then bring them in when it is getting too cold.

I just don't have a good space for big plants indoors that has adequate lighting. But I will keep this in mind for this year, if I can rig a space. Christmas tomatoes would just be so awesome!

User avatar
gixxerific
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 5889
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:42 pm
Location: Wentzville, MO (Just West oF St. Louis) Zone 5B

Great posting Apple.

You are saying it is getting cold. I feel ya its 16 degrees here now. That is a major problem for me at least growing in my basement, it seems for you as well. It's too cold for them to flourish like they would outside not to mention the weaker lighting espeacially for me.

If an when I finish my basement off my grow room will be a room and not an entire basement thus making it easier to keep it warmer.

I really think that would help a lot.

User avatar
ReptileAddiction
Greener Thumb
Posts: 866
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2012 12:52 am
Location: Southern California

To combat the low temps you could put some heat bulbs in pointed down at the plants (would double as more light) or you could also buy a small room heater. Both would dry the plants out though so you would have to keep them well watered.

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

I agree that there are ways to provide more heat... But I'm going to try to find cooler temp tolerant varieties. I'm compiling a list of all the short, early, cool temp tolerant varieties to comb through for possible additional candidates to try next winter. 8)

Another idea I picked up is to pick the fruits and ripen off the vine in warmer environment, but we'll see.

So, this morning, the 2nd Sopie's Choice is blushing. (you don't need any more photos, do you :lol:). I'll be sure to weigh it this time before eating, but it's about 2-1/2" in diameter.

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

OK I can't help myself :> besides, I didn't post the photos I meant to before :wink:

The blushing Sophie's Choice grew another 1/4" since this photo was taken last week:
Image

Black Krims:
ImageImage
-- don't they look sort of stripey with clear skin?

Have I shown how I'm using the supplemental lights?

Two-tube T-12 shoplight standing upright on the floor:
ImageImage
This was meant for the banana and avocado plants -- oh well :roll:

Clamp-on utility lights with daylight CFL on either side. I'm adding a socket extender and Y-splitter to at least one side to double the output. I found out, though, that I'll need to extend the reflector somehow.
Image

User avatar
gixxerific
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 5889
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:42 pm
Location: Wentzville, MO (Just West oF St. Louis) Zone 5B

I haven't replied in a while on my status after watching the video you will know why. I have done what I can so far. Sprayed a home made anti-bact, another home made milk and water and a store bought fungicide. Nothing is seem to help, and I am running out of options.

I have never ever had this sort of thing happen to me. So I am struggling to keep my head above water. I fear everything will be lost, and more importantly I am very worried about all the starters I am going to be dropping soon.

So tell me I can save these or tell me to throw these in the trash. I need some kind f guidance here, I am at my Witt's end. :'( The crying emoticon is there because every time I watch this video I get a little wet on the eyes.

Arrrrrgggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :( :o >:( >:( >:( >:(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhzcH4ut ... e=youtu.be
Dono :(

Dillbert
Greener Thumb
Posts: 955
Joined: Sun Apr 04, 2010 3:29 pm
Location: Central PA

in a small closed environment, a little disease goes a long way.

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Gixx, I'm really sorry that this happened. :( I hope you are seeing progress in your efforts to knock them down. :bouncey:
If nothing else, you may discover excellent disease tolerance in some of the varieties/lines of plants you are growing. I hope so.


So my 2nd tomato harvest this winter will be very soon (kindof happy to note that it will very likely be before mid-Jan I said ealier) -- The one little faint blush on the left shoulder two days ago has already spread this much:
Image
Jumps right out at you in the green foliage :D
Image

In the mean time, the tomatoes in the cat-free bedroom upstairs has been discovered by what I believe are spider mites despite the daily misting. At first I couldn't believe they were spider mites -- and I'm not calling them red spider mites which is the usual indoor suspect because these don't look like what I recognize as red spider mites. But they have been leaving the classic tiny white spots visible on the top of the leaves. (Donomater f2#3)
Image

The trouble is when I turn the leaves over, I see no red tiny spots which should be the red spider mites, but infinitesimal microscopic, barely discernible black specks that are much tinier than red spider mites. When I rub at them with my finger, they don't streak red, but do come off as black non-streaking specks.
Image

Nevertheless, I've started spraying them off with soapy and plain water. Hopefully this will control whatever they are. :evil:

User avatar
gixxerific
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 5889
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:42 pm
Location: Wentzville, MO (Just West oF St. Louis) Zone 5B

Bad news there Apple. I know you know your pest and disease pretty well but could it possibly be flea beetles? Hopefully you can get it under control. Donomater is not having a good run so far, I really need to see what comes of this F2.

As far as me the battle is being won unfortunately I'm not the one winning. :cry: Still losing plants but I think it has slowed or maybe it's just that I'm running out of plants. :lol: -wall-

You have a good point about finding which ones have disease resistance. Though even some in the same ling are left and right on this. I have some doing pretty good while the one or two next to it is on the verge of culling (same variety).

Good news is Balkan Tiger F2 is in full turn now and I saved a green fruit from Aces High F5 that is prbably ripe by now if not it will be real soon. That plant was culled a week or so ago. I will keep plugging along, what really makes me mad is I have to remove ALL the soil I have which is a LOT!!!!!!!!!! and have to buy more as well as trying to sanitse my area for this years starts.

User avatar
Jardin du Fort
Senior Member
Posts: 243
Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2012 2:59 pm
Location: Fort Wayne, IN

Apple,

Sorry about the bugs! And being indoors (?) there won't be any natural predators.

Perhaps you could dust the leaves with diatomaceous earth. I would use food grade myself, but any would do, as it washes off before you eat the tomatoes. DE can be dusted on with any garden duster, but you may want to use a new one that's not been otherwise contaminated. Food grade DE would not need to be washed off..... :o

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Thanks! I think they are two spotted spider mites. They look like tiny black specks because their bodies are transparent or light green/color of the leaves and what I'm (barely) seeing are frass and the larger infinitismal dots are the two black looking spots which are their digestive pouches containing dark green juices they've sucked up from my tomato plant :evil:

I've thoroughly sprayed with soapy water twice today but still found active mites tonight :x dusting with DE is a good idea. I'll try tht in the morning. :twisted:

Gixx - ouch! Re: having to get all new seed starting mix :(

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

2nd Sophie's Choice fruit looks ready to pick! :D
Image

...and a Zarnitsa is starting to blush :oops: (:wink:)
Image

There is another, larger fruit on a Zarnitsa by the window that may also be breaking color, but I have to get past an avocado and another Zarnitsa plant to see better.... :roll:

I've been harvesting these salad greens and it's ready for another cutting:
Image
...and thinning these radishes will supply great addition to the salad
8)
Image

User avatar
gixxerific
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 5889
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:42 pm
Location: Wentzville, MO (Just West oF St. Louis) Zone 5B

Looking good Apple. All is not lost here I come with updates. :lol:

This is Caught In A Mosh F3. Uhhhh.....Antho is a go go! :-/

Image
Image
Image
Image
Image

User avatar
gixxerific
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 5889
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:42 pm
Location: Wentzville, MO (Just West oF St. Louis) Zone 5B

I managed to get fruit of off Balkan Tiger F2. There are a few more ripening as well. It is a very dark pink I believe. I forgot to check the skin cause I was too busy eating it. The flavor was good considering the plants condition. The one pictured is a blunt heart you might say. This was the first fruit, the rest on the plant are definitely heart like the shape Josh had. It seems solid no stripes.

The plant is fighting its way slowly but surely. If it were in the garden thus better conditions I really think this would have outpaced this disease much better and probably given a good crop.

Image
Image
Image
Image

User avatar
gixxerific
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 5889
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:42 pm
Location: Wentzville, MO (Just West oF St. Louis) Zone 5B

Well here is what I came up with from one plant of Aces High F3. The plant died due to disease. I harvested the green fruit and let them ripen off the vine. I did not get a taste them they were a bit over ripe but they had a good tomato smell.

Image
Image
Image
Image

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Look at you with all those ripe tomatoes! Didn't you start later than I did?
...and in spide of the problems too. :mrgreen: 8)

That Caught in a Mosh is a looker. I hope you have that one under the superduper T-5's ...and don't forget the mirror trick to shine the light everywhere (I hope tht works under indoor conditions too)

The larger Aces High s a double, right? The lobed fruit shape reminds me f Costoluto Genovese, but much bigger. x-section slice would look/looks beautiful on a sandwich it would be a shame to cover it with the second slice of bread.

I took another picture of Zarnitsa fruit. I'm obsessing, I know :roll: but the blush had spread since ths morning :>
Image

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

We ate the Sophie's Choice today:
Image

It weighed a fraction over 3 oz so still no more than a saladette size. Not sure if I'll be getting those 4-8 oz fruits.
Image

It's a very TANGY tomato -- almost lemony with strong acidity, but with great tomato flavor tones. My daughter who gives high praise to dark and pink tomatoes -- Black Krim, Haley's Purple Comet, Pruden's Purple, Black Cherry, Brandywine, and other full flavored tomatoes and snacks on sugary Sun Sugar and Matt's Wild Cherry concluded that out of (1) plain vs. (2) salted vs. (3) good sprinkling of sugar, sugar made it taste like the good tomatoes.

Zarnitsa is continuing to :oops:
Image

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Zarnitsa is almost ready 8)
Image

...and for maybe later this month or next month, this Donomater F2 is very prolific: :shock:
Image

...and my first attempts to breed tomatoes. We'll know in a few days, but I *may* have botched the pink-yarn marked one. ...well, there are more blooms to practice on :wink:
Image
Image

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

I pollinated those Zarnitsa's with Black Krim. 8)
Yesterday, I emasculated/removed anther cones from an immature Sophie's Choice blossom and pollinated it with Donomater F2 today.
Marked with a Pink STRING:
Image

Zarnitsa fruit needs just a little more time, and the 2nd one looks like it might break color any time now:
Image

I missed the first blushing of this Black Krim which must have happened yesterday:
Image
-- it's the fused bloom and it didn't get as big as I was hoping for, but I'll take it :()

:? I hadn't been paying attention to this plant for a few days and seceral leaves were infested by aphids. This one is in a bad spot where any time there is a thaw, ants find their way in along the baseboard/window frame and bring aphids to pasture out. :evil:

User avatar
Jardin du Fort
Senior Member
Posts: 243
Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2012 2:59 pm
Location: Fort Wayne, IN

applestar said
This one is in a bad spot where any time there is a thaw, ants find their way in along the baseboard/window frame and bring aphids to pasture out.
well, this is the first time I have heard of this colonial practice! I suppose it makes sense, but I had always thought of ants as opportunists, not as wranglers who drive their charges to new pasture. So you're saying that the ants actually move the aphids from their "storage" herd location (wherever that may be) to the green pastures of our garden, in order to have a better food supply? Amazing! :o

User avatar
PunkRotten
Greener Thumb
Posts: 1989
Joined: Sat Apr 16, 2011 8:48 pm
Location: Monterey, CA.

I did that with cukes last year. Had some mini whites that had a bunch of female flowers but no males. So I walked over and plucked a male flower off the boston pickling cukes and proceeded to pollinate the mini white cukes with it. And it worked, but I did not save the seeds. I probably should play around with breeding plants, might be fun to see what you get. Hey do you think it is possible to do like a 2 in 1 or 3 in 1 tomato or pepper plant? But with grafts/cuttings like they do with fruit trees. Wouldn't it be cool to have like 3 varieties of tomatoes that mature in succession. Have an early, mid , and late season all in one. This would probably only be worth it though in areas where they can grow year round outdoors.

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

JdF -- it's true. I've actually seen them -- usually a small party of shepherd ants -- on the move with aphids in their mandibles. When I sprayed them with soapy water, they dropped their charges and ran! :twisted:

punk -- I hear you can actually graft seedling tomatoes -- I think with 2-3 pairs of true leaves -- with krazy glue if you have steady hands. For people who are not up to micro-surgery, pencil-thick stems can be grafted using laundry clothespins, or so I hear. They do sell special clear clips for the purpose -- two sizes depending on the diameter of the stems being grafted.

Mostly, they graft to special variety rootstock which are not good eating varieties but confer vigorous root system and some resistance to soil borne diseases. But I think it might be fun to experiment in the way you described.

I think I would have to lay off caffeine for 72 hrs to attempt something like this though. :roll:

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

So, much to my chagrin :oops: the variety I've been calling "Black Krim" throughout this thread has turned out to be NOT Black Krim. :oops: :oops: :oops:

I had the first inclination a while back when I noticed that the fruits didn't look like the other varieties.... This one realy looked like they have CLEAR skin:
Image

Image

...then I FINALLY noticed that these plants seem to have POTATO LEAF foliage:
Image

Image

BLACK KRIM is REGULAR leaf and has RED fruits (with green shoulders) -- in other words, YELLOW skin.

If you go back and look at the various photos I posted, you'll see distinct differences in the way the fruits have looked, green unripe to blushing, compared to Sophie's Choice, Zarnitsa, and Donomter F2 fruits, all of which have RED/yellow skin fruits.

So, what variety is this? I believe it's SPUDAKEE -- POTATO LEAF strain of Cherokee Purple (hence "spud" in it's name, though it's also because this strain was developed by "Spudleaf" Willie). PURPLE and PINK fruited tomatoes have CLEAR skin.

This made for an useful review in learning to recognize tomato leaf shapes and fruit colors. :wink:

...but now I'll have to go back and edit every single post (and this Post has landed on the 8th page of the thread.... ) :roll:

User avatar
gixxerific
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 5889
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:42 pm
Location: Wentzville, MO (Just West oF St. Louis) Zone 5B

Good luck Apple either way you come out a winner though.

User avatar
gixxerific
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 5889
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:42 pm
Location: Wentzville, MO (Just West oF St. Louis) Zone 5B

Alright Gardenfreak fresh tomatoes in Jan you have to be doing something right. 8)

User avatar
PunkRotten
Greener Thumb
Posts: 1989
Joined: Sat Apr 16, 2011 8:48 pm
Location: Monterey, CA.

I have a plant outdoors in the ground and it grew pretty good but seems to be dormant now. Has several full size tomatoes, smaller ones, and flowers. Today I noticed one of the bigger side branches cracked. I removed it and planted it into the ground. Do you think it has a chance to be a new plant?

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Tomatoes are very easy to propagate from branches. Just keep it watered. Tomato gardeners call that "cloning".

It's great to see other members growing their winter tomatoes. I'd hoped to see more folks jump in. :D

Here is the first ripe Zarnitsa fruit with the next in line coming along nicely:
Image
The 2" saladette size red one should really have been picked yesterday but hopefully, it's stil good today.

Here is the fused bloom SPUDAKEE :?: and a single bloom sib:
(...BTW I have been told that these plants' Spudakee-ness is still in question and I should wait until I do a "scrape test" on the epidermis, which I gather is scraping the flesh off the skin and holding it up to the light) 8)
Image
Scale is deceptive without a reference object -- the "bigger" fruit is actually rather small ... only bout 3" across the long way and dreaming about how big it COULD have grown if it was during the main growing season OR if it had been given a much bigger container to grow in :bouncey: ...ALMOST ready to pick. :D

P.S. during the summer months, I would have put this plant in at least a 10 gallon, but more likely a 15 gallon size container instead of the 1.75-2 gal container it's in. For winter growing, I'm determined find varieties that will perform adequately to satisfactorily in 2 to maybe 3 gal at the most containers. So this has been a good experiment. I WILL save the seeds though, like I do with all my fused bloom fruits. :wink:

P.P.S. the little red checkmark on Zarnitsa's label indicates that I added a fat earthworm from the vermicomposter in this pot. :()

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

:lol: Daughter picked and ate Zarnitsa fruit when I wasn't looking. :lol:

...I'll have to wait for the next one to taste. :wink:

DoubleDogFarm
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 6113
Joined: Sun Mar 28, 2010 11:43 pm

Not that I would do this experiment, but I'm thinking this post should be a sticky.

Eric

User avatar
gixxerific
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 5889
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:42 pm
Location: Wentzville, MO (Just West oF St. Louis) Zone 5B

DoubleDogFarm wrote:Not that I would do this experiment, but I'm thinking this post should be a sticky.

Eric
Good idea though this will happen again next winter. So there will be new adventures in a new thread. Hopefully we can get more people to join in.

User avatar
gixxerific
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 5889
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:42 pm
Location: Wentzville, MO (Just West oF St. Louis) Zone 5B

yes Apple the "scrape test" is as you said. You should be able to tell if it is clear or yellow. Which as we know makes the difference betwen pink and red or between purple and black.

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Thanks Gixx.
We ate the mystery tomato yesterday. And let me tell you these fruits were incredibly yummy. I was concerned that in low temp and less light, flavor would be lackluster, but not with this variety (whatever it is :P ).

Tomato-loving daughter ate most of them, but I snagged two small pieces and she shared one piece with DH. She normally salts all her tomatoes, but I gave these to her unsalted and she ate -- more like gobbled :() -- them up without a comment, which sort of suggests Black Krim with it's reputation for "salty/no salt needed" flavor.

The fruits were small as you can see, but if I could have a productive version of this -- well three at once with 4th to follow today or tomorrow isn't bad at all for THIS harvest, but the rest of the fruits on this plant are 3-4 wks away I think -- that would be ideal. I've decided to put "productive" "loaded with fruits" "good cropper" etc. descriptors higher on my winter indoor variety criteria.

Image
Image Image
-- one reason we had to eat them yesterday was that the fruits split after I watered the plant as you can see. Now I'm wondering if this might be Cherokee Purple. :roll:

I tried the skin scrape test but may have not done it correctly. Here are a couple of photos. What do you think? Yellow or clear?
Image
...I had trouble with the scraped skin rolling up, so I tried sticking them to the window :lol:
Image

We will probably have the 4th mystery tomato (yes I'm counting the twin fruit pictured above as two fruits :wink: -- and there was a 4th fruit behind the cluster that you couldn't see in the picture) and a Zarnitsa (2nd fruit pictured above) today. So I can do another skin scrape test using a refinement to the technique I learned, and can also make a comparison.8) Then there is a fruit that is on a plant marked Zarnitsa but is looking more like Sophie's Choice which should be ready to eat in the next couple of days. :D

Image

ETA -- just now realized that even though I was pushing aside foliage to take the above picture, I was so intent I completely missed yet another Zarnitsa that looks almost ripe -- maybe two more days. These Zarnitsa fruits are globe shaped, evenly colored, and about 1.75" diam. The above flattened fruit is probably about 2.5" in diam. -- it *could* be a fused bloom fruit though....

User avatar
gixxerific
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 5889
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:42 pm
Location: Wentzville, MO (Just West oF St. Louis) Zone 5B

Hard to tell from the pics but I'm leaning towards clear skin. What do you think?

Window, Nice!

Maybe if you can find one of those examination lights for X-ray's that would be the ticket. :lol:

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

I'm still not sure.... :?

...I think it's time to take another look at entire plants :wink:

Winter Wonderland -- all tomato plants except Sophie's Choice are approx. 26" tall and I'm topping them now. SC is about 22".
Image
Image
Image

3 of the Spudakee/Black Krim plants:
(1) Topped at 4' high:
Image
(2) and (3) Two plants on either ends of the bench -- upper branches trained on strings strung across :P. There is a Sophie's Choice in the middle.
Image
...oops cut off the developing fruits at the top -- here's another view:
Image

User avatar
rainbowgardener
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 25279
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

Wonderful, applestar! Just out of curiosity, what room in your house is all this stuff in? I just keep thinking, if I were going to try this for this coming winter, where would I put it all?

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Currently ripening fruits 8)
Image
Image
Image
Image
Very :() but I'm positive we can do better! In a way, I can't wait for next winter! :> :wink:
Last edited by applestar on Wed Jan 30, 2013 12:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
rainbowgardener
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 25279
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

We posted at the exact same minute :) See my post above your latest (gorgeous) pictures.



Return to “Tomato Garden Progress + Photos & Videos”