I've read so many glowing reports of the Big Beef variety on different forums, I decided I had to try them this year. I planted four plants in different beds. So far, we have eaten four tomatoes with each slightly under one pound in size. They were ripe in about sixty days. While the flavor has been very good and I hope it will improve with warmer weather, I have not liked the mealy texture of the tomatoes. I prefer a tomato with excellent flavor and a firm texture. I hope the texture also improves in hotter weather. The plants have been very productive with about forty tomatoes already on the vines and more to come. I also was expecting a plant that would grow upright and work well on a vertical trellis. The Big Beef plants seem to have more of a tendency to want to grow as bush varieties with the branches bending back towards the ground instead of up. Its okay, but I really have to force the vines up and into the rope on the trellis. While the plants around them are about five feet tall, the Big Beef are only about three and one half feet tall. If the flavor and texture don't improve as the weather gets hotter, they will not be in my garden next year and may be pulled and replaced this year.
Anyone one else noticed the same traits with their Big Beef's?
Ted