Big Beef Tomatoes!

[tedln]

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

[johnny123]

Try a Mortage Lifter {Radiator Charlie} next year an see how you like them.

[tedln]

Yep, My Mortgage Lifters have fruit on them just starting to ripen. Looking forward to trying them.

Ted

[digitS']

Ted, one of the selling points for Big Beef is its wide adaptability.

What they mean is that it can be grown in tomato-challenged areas. The term "adaptability" may be somewhat overstated, anyway. Probably, it is just that it grows and produces well in cooler than optimal temperatures, which is probably more typical of North America than Texas heat.

Big Beef also has good disease and nematode resistance and never crack in my garden - all things I really appreciate.

There aren't too many large beefsteaks I'd be able to grow with that kind of performance but, of course, that doesn't mean that this is all true for Texas.

Steve

[tedln]

Digit,

Everything you are saying about the Big Beef has been demonstrated in my garden. It is a great growing, but odd shaped plant for me. It is a heavy and early producer. Not having grown them before, I don't know if the odd plant growth habit is normal or an anomaly in my garden. The only downside of the variety for me has been the texture of the fruit and I hope for a more pronounced flavor from the future fruit. It really isn't uncommon for the first fruits of the vine or any tomato vine to not have the same texture or flavor as later fruits.

Ted

[Bobberman]

I think the beefmaser hy. is a improvement over the beef staek or is the big beef a hy.! I grew the hillbill this year which is a large red and orange tomato that is supose to be very sweet! I have about 10 varities r more I am trying this year and will report later!

[tedln]

I have Big Beef in two beds. In one bed, it has been ravaged by Septoria. The tomatoes on the vine are fine, but the plants are almost naked. I started spraying with a bleach solution to control the Septoria after the first vine was infected, so the Beef Beef vines in the second bed look beautiful with no Septoria. I was hoping Big Beef would be more resistant to Septoria. I think we will soon be entering a more dry period in June with daytime temps of ninety and above. That should take care of the Septoria. The taste of the Big Beefs should improve with the hotter weather. Hopefully the texture will improve also. I am curious to see how well the Big Beef tomato plants respond to the hot weather and if the naked plants will re-foliate.

Bobberman, I am also growing the HillBilly variety this year and I have some really large tomatoes on the vines. I am anxious to start getting some ripe fruit so i can see what they look like and how they taste.

Ted

[Bobberman]

I grew a orange red tomato last year about 1/2 a pound and they were the best I ever tasted. I saved the seeds and have alot of them this year I think they are similar to the hillbilly that is why I grew the hillbilly this year! I also have a tangerello which may be also very good!

[tedln]

I grew the HillBilly because it was one of the open pollinated varieties available after I lost my home grown seedlings to a frost. I am also growing Mr. Stripey for the same reason. It is sometimes confused with the Tigerella variety but is slightly larger and possibly more productive. It is also a bicolor like the Tigerella, but doesn't really have stripes as the name implies.

My mistake! I reread your post and you are growing the Tangerella instead of the Tigeralla. I know nothing about the Tangerella, but would be very interested in how it performs for you. I think it supposedly has good disease resistance.

Ted

[Runningtrails]

I grow a super big beefheart heirloom tomato that we love. I don't know the variety, having gotten the seed from a fellow gardener who's ancestors brought it over from Portugal with them. We just call it our 'Portugal' tomato. It gets huge, is meaty, sweet and delicious! We don't grow any other beef type tomatoes as these are better than any other's we have tried. It's definitely indeterminate! lol! It just keeps on growing!

Here are some pics of our 'Portugal' tomato:

[tedln]

Runningtrails,

Beautiful tomatoes! Are the gel cells on your "Portugal" tomatoes typically hollow? They look like great stuffer tomatoes. Why don't you have tomato seeds listed in your seed store? I may be interested in trying some of your Portugal seed.

Ted

[OrganicTexasMama]

I have only one Big Beef plant but am not seeing any of the features you mentioned. I'm still waiting on my first two (only two, at this point) to ripen, so I can't comment on texture. And it's quite hot here now (lower 90s), already, so they're getting lots of heat.

Mine is in a container, planted deep. It has grown nice and straight and is now (about 6-7 weeks after I transplanted) about 3 feet tall. It started flowering early and plenty, but only two tomatoes have developed so far, and I'm not seeing new flowers, either. I've had 8-10 flowers drop, now, and am trying to figure out if it's just too hot.

Rereading your post, I suppose the branches on mine do turn downward, but it hasn't been a problem for me. Of course, I also have not grown tomatoes before, so I have nothing to compare to!

I hope yours continue to improve!

[splat42069]

I grew big beef 2 yrs ago and was amazed at hw fast they grew. I did notice the bush you are talking about. Close to the end of the seasn they turned out to be about 4 to 5 ft tall and the biggest tomatoe I got from it was 14.7 ozs. I used cages and branches started snapping from the weight. I don't eat then so I couldn't tel you how they tasted but my wife seemed to like them.

[Joshryan]

Just a simple recipe that can give an immediate response to a hunger person.