Roma - they produced well for me last year and I use them in cooking Early Girl- I was hoping for tomatoes by the first of June, I got them about a week later Husky Cherry Red- also trying to get early tomatoes, but this plant is super productive so far and will have a place in my garden next year Tumbling Tom- cute cherry for a hanging basket, did pretty well for me last year Cherokee Purple- read good reviews online and found a transplant at the local nursery German Pink- recommended by a co-worker Pink Accordion- saw it in the Baker Creek catalog and had to have it, my first attempt at growning from seed Ponderosa- my friend loves these and can't find transplants, so I ordered the seeds as a surprise for her Black Pineapple/Ananas Noir- another from Baker Creek that sounded too good to pass up in the catalog. I currently am trying to rehome 8 transplants, as I stared the seeds kind of late 2008-06-16T12:10:30-04:00 false 3114 985 2008-06-16T12:13:18-04:00 96 I wanted to try some new varieties this year and lots of different colours. I've got pink, yellow, orange, black and red. I ended up with many more plants than I had planned, but managed to fit them all in! Orange Cherry & Sugary - My kids love cherry tomatoes. Last year I grew Sungold & Sweet Million with great success, but I decided to try two new one this year because of the oustanding reviews from Vesey’s trial gardens Classica (4) - A new pear hybrid that supposedly surpasses ‘Roma’, my usual paste tomato, with larger and more flavourful fruit. I use it for canning salsa. Golden Girl - DH really liked the orange cherries I grew last year, so I wanted to try a regular sized orange. Tomande (2) - A new hybrid that is reported to have ‘heirloom taste’ with hybrid yields. I'll be so happy if it really does! Early Girl (2) - I always grow an Early Girl because they are so quick to ripen. This year I planted one out 4 weeks before our frost free date inside of a Wall of Water, and a second at our typical planting time so I can test out the claims that WOW produce earlier fruit. BeefMaster - For my husband. Yellow Ping Pong, Pink Ping Pong, Black Cherry - My husband bought them for me. Persimmon - I've read lots about this one, sounds really yummy! Black Krim - I'm curious about a black tomato. 2008-06-16T13:23:34-04:00 false 3117 985 2008-06-16T13:23:57-04:00 1452 We did 2 each of 5 different varieties. Brandywine - grew this last year. Low yield but each one is huge and amazing to eat raw. Cherokee Purple - also grew this last year and saved seed. Made for this climate, it's juicy and good raw or cooked. Super Sweet VF - ok, not an heirloom, but we've grown these for 2 years and had great yields with good taste and texture for a cherry tomato. They seem to grow fast and are pretty disease-resistant. Japanese Trifele Black - new this year. Leaves look like the Brandywine, but I'm hoping it'll produce more fruit. Silvery Fir Tree - new this year. A determinant, bushy tomato with fern-like leaves. No idea what it'll taste like. 2008-06-16T22:21:58-04:00 false 3130 985 2008-06-16T22:21:58-04:00 996 I've got a few varieties going this year: Red Robin: Tiny tomato plant, only about 30 cm (1 foot) tall. I planted about five of these in a row along the front of the garden. They catch a good bit of sun here. Recommended by another gardener, bought on the internet. Prisca F1: Tried and failed last year (all my toms perished last year). Label reads 'authentic tomato flavor' Olive: Tried and failed last year (all my toms perished last year). Doing well so far. Label reads 'Rain and disease resistent. Ideal in stir-fries' Green grape': Tried and failed last year (all my toms perished last year). Label reads: 'stand out because of their delicious flavor!' Sungella: New this year. It was a freebie, and I want to try as many as possible. Description says: 'delicious vine tomato' Tangella: New this year. Award of Garden Merit. 'Sweet, yet robust'. We'll soon find out.. Puple Russian: New this year. I'm particularly excited about that beautiful color. They're supposed to be very tasty! 2008-06-17T04:28:40-04:00 false 3135 985 2008-06-18T04:29:12-04:00 372 From the local hardware place: A *yellow cherry" - cherry tomatoes are a must in the tropics. They tend to be hardy. these tend to produce earlier too. Good for the kids. Apollo: a new one. Celebration:no idea about this one From seed: Because I had to have something different or with taste: *The Diggers Favourite Flavours Collection* which includes *Tommy Toe, jaune Flamee,": *Black Krim":, and Amish Paste. Tommy toe-which is supposed to be good in the tropics *Diggers Russian Mix": - probably Black Russian, Siberian, Anna Russian Oxheart. *Big Boy": because it was on special and it produces big fruit, Apologies for the wacko fonts. I am using Linux and tried to pretty my post up while addig my latest tomato. 2008-06-17T11:52:10-04:00 false 3155 985 2008-06-18T03:34:38-04:00 300 Grosse Lisse - because "Leonie Norrington":http://www.librarything.com/work/3080043/book/26422659 says these are a variety she has great success with. Tommy Toe - rated well for flavour and yield "Diggers":http://diggers.com.au 10 Colour Heirloom Mixture - for fun, and to see if any of them work here in the Tropics. Collection includes Green Zebra, Lemon Drop, Black Krim, White Beauty, Red Tommy Toe, Brandywine Pink, Purple Russian, Wapsipinicon Peach and cherry tomatoes Brownberry and orange Jaune Flammée. 2008-06-17T19:10:00-04:00 false 3173 985 2008-06-17T19:14:14-04:00 794 Brandywine - Fourth year. After years of eating insipid hothouse tomatoes, this one had so much flavor that I thought there was something wrong with it! Now that I'm used to the flavor, we eat as many as we can fresh, and cook or barter the rest. They've yielded pretty well for us in the past, but this is turning out to be a cold year. Pineapple - Second year. Large, sweet, low-acid, and beautiful when sliced (yellow with red streaks). My favorite last year. Black Krim - First year. I've read good things about it, and had to try it for myself. Persimmon - First year. Bought one of these at a farmers' market last year and was really impressed-- good flavor and large orange fruit with few blemishes. Momotaro - First year. This one is for the sentimental value-- I'm Japanese-American, and this large, pink tomato is named for a character from a famous Japanese children's folktale. My mom grew them once from heirloom seeds that she got from a friend when I was a kid, and they were the first tomatoes I can remember actually *wanting* to eat. Chocolate Cherry - First year. It has "chocolate" in the name ;-) San Marzano - Third year. I didn't grow them last year and ended up regretting it. They're famous as paste tomatoes, but I also missed their hollowness and unique shape. Early Girl - Fourth year. Early and reliable. Green Zebra - Second year. This was the only one that I bought instead of starting from seed. I mostly like it for its color and (smaller) size. ...and seeing as it's still relatively cold here, I might pick up some more cherry tomato starts! 2008-06-18T01:21:15-04:00 false 3184 985 2008-06-18T01:21:15-04:00 25 Sub Arctic Plenty: First year. Advertised as very early, short-season bush tomato. Bought. Silver Fir Tree: First year. Also advertised as very early, short-season bush tomato. This spring is so cool here in Seattle that if we get anything, it may be from the bush tomatoes. We keep being told that it is warmer in Siberia than it is here in Seattle. I think Silver Fir Tree was bred in Siberia. It may want to go home. Bought. Early Girl: Second year. I wanted at least one short-season indeterminate, and Early Girl produced very well for us last year. Bought. Brandywine: First year. So much is said about how good this tastes, I've wanted to grow one, even though it is a long-season grower. I don't know how this will turn out: we may get very little hot weather this summer. One bought; one started from seed, that's only six inches high, and if I plant it out at all it will be in a container I can move inside when the frost comes. Two Sweet Million cherry tomatoes: Of the cherry tomatoes we grew last year, the Sweet 100s were the most prolific. I wanted to try Sweet Million. Both bought; the Sweet Millions I started from seed grew up way too big before the weather warmed, and I gave them away. Two Sungold cherry tomatoes: First year. My husband likes the little yellow pear tomatoes, but the Sungold looked like it matures a little faster, so I'll try him on that. One Sungold is bought; the other I started from seed. Two mystery tomatoes I started from seed; I lost track of the labels. I started Oregon Spring, Matina, Fourth of July, Sweet Million, and Sungold -- these could be any of them. I just know they aren't Brandywines or Marianna's Peace. Two rogue tomatoes that came up from worm compost I spread on the chard seeds. Since the birds ate most of the chard seedlings, I let the rogues grow. 2008-06-18T02:54:38-04:00 false 3186 985 2008-06-18T02:54:38-04:00 3139 This is my first year of growing vegetables and I really like colorful salads. I'm growing 2 Cherokee Purple; 1 Sungold Cherry which I'm already starting to get fruit off of, very nice yellow and orange tomatos; 1 Red Robin, also getting some fruit from it; Big Beef and wow! they are getting really really big; Sweet 100, the tomatoes are growing but I think it's got a bug as the leaves are not looking too great - growing in a container; Heirloom Cherry Roma, Grape type and this one is amazing, filled with clusters of really big Cherry Roma's that are starting to ripen already. I have some photos in my "plantings" of this if anyone wants to see. I'm just amazed at how big they are getting. I'm also growing a Red Sweet Cherry, heirloom that I've gotten a small bowlful of fruit off of already. 2008-06-29T17:46:09-04:00 false 3562 985 2008-06-29T17:46:09-04:00 3233 I've had no luck and lots of blossom drop so far with growing tomatoes in Thailand, but I grew up in NJ growing them and I miss good tomatoes too much to give up. Floridade- They are supposed to do well in heat and humidity and yield medium sized red tomatoes, so I'm hoping that they work. Red grape tomatoes- sorry I can't be more specific, but most labels for the seeds bought here are in Thai. They are one of the few varieties here that always taste good from the supermarket, so I am hoping that they will do well in my garden. San Marzano- again, picked because they should be okay with the climate here. Also, I have a huge container for them and I'm hoping that they will grow and take over my balcony garden. Azoychka- not exactly picked for the climate, but I've heard that yellow tomatoes can fare better than red ones here and I'm interested to try them. Calypso- I don't have room for them yet, but I bought the seeds thinking that they are similar to the floridade. I can't find much more information about them, so if anyone has grown them let me know how they worked out. 2008-07-22T11:40:34-04:00 false 4160 985 2008-07-22T11:40:34-04:00 3153 i'm growing 10 varieties this year, most have 5 plants each...yay for friends and lots of space! *Green Zebra*--got these from a new grower at our farmers market. never tasted a not-as-tomatoey-tomato before and loved it! it was my first attempt at saving tomato seeds and it worked out pretty well, but i'm not sure if they were crossed with anything else so we'll see. *Black Zebra":--loved the green zebra's and thought we could start trying the whole zebra family *Isis Candy":--i'm not huge on cherry tomatoes, but felt i needed at least one kind...and this one has a star on the bottom-how cool! *Purple Cherokee":--my husband and i were given 3 free heirloom tomatoes last year from a favorite grower, we had a taste test, and this guy won *Cosulto Genovese":--good cooking/sauce tomato and it's so freakin' sweet looking! it's ruffly and my husband and i love the 'ugly' 'deformed' tomatoes so this seemed like a winner *Russian Big Roma":--huge paste tomato, good for sauces which i intend on making lots of with approx. 10 plants! *Buckbee's New":--a freebie for short season growers (i often ignore this fact about where i live) *Italian Tree":--bushels of huge tomatoes! seriously? how could i pass it up?! *Gold Medal":--have not tried a lot of yellow tomatoes and thought this would be a good one to start growing i got all the seeds for these guys from tomatofest.com except for the green zebras. Carmello--some kind of french tomato with high yields...i'm a sucker for the exotic 2008-07-24T17:12:22-04:00 false 4210 985 2008-07-24T17:12:22-04:00 580 I've got 4 varieties going - "True Black" and "Red Pear" cherry tomatoes, "San Marzano" and "Tigerella" tomatoes. I love cherry tomatoes, and they sounded like interesting varieties. The San Marzano tomatoes are slated for canning, and the Tigerella for...well, just having a cool-sounding name! *LOL* 2008-07-24T17:29:30-04:00 false 4212 985 2008-07-24T17:30:44-04:00 886 I am already making my list for next year. I want PRODUCTION! I really haven't had enough tomatoes to can in years, and this year I put in 30 plants. Ok, if this is the result of heirlooms, I need some high-production hybrids. I can eat the heirlooms fresh, but I want to be able to put up at least 3 dozen jars of tomatoes, and dry some as well. Any suggestions? My local nursery is a bunch of teenagers and people who don't really know their varieties. 2008-09-08T15:20:29-04:00 false 4910 985 2008-09-08T15:20:29-04:00 4279 I've got a little over 30 varieties I'm growing. To spare everyone the huge list I'll cut it back to the 9 I'll probably have more of : Aunt Ginny's Purple - flavor, size, production Black and Brown Boar - uniqueness, production Britain's Breakfast - uniqueness Cherokee Purple - flavor, size, production Chocolate Stripes - flavor, size, uniqueness Kellogg's Breakfast - flavor, size Neves Azorean Red - flavor, size Orange Strawberry - flavor, size, uniqueness Pruden's Purple - flavor, size, production Overall I hope to have a little under 20-30 plants for each of the ones above and about 10 of the other 20+ varieties I didn't list. 2009-02-04T18:49:18-05:00 false 6993 985 2009-02-04T18:49:18-05:00 3613 Last year I grew 28 varieties. Mostly 2-3 plants of each. Personally, I prefer Brandywine-type heirlooms for eating in season, but I also grow heavier-producing varieties for canning and freezing. I also grow several varieties of cherry tomatoes for easy snacks for the family. And I am always trying something new. Tomatoes are the one vegetable that always produces reliably for me. If I have a surplus, I can always trade them for veggies that I don't do so well with. 2009-02-18T20:35:30-05:00 false 7283 985 2009-02-18T20:35:30-05:00 4006 One - a variety bred for the SF Bay Area by Baia Nicchia. Yellow, medium size, round. Saved the seeds from last year. Black Plum - was sold to me as Black Cherry. Saved the seeds from last year. Black Krim - doesn't do well here but it tastes so good I can't resist trying. That's it so far. I'm trying to economize this year so I'll need to find someone to trade with to get Principe Borghese, Amish Paste and any others I want to try. I'm hoping Sungold will pop up as volunteers from where it grew last year. 2009-02-18T22:15:55-05:00 false 7284 985 2009-02-18T22:15:55-05:00 278 I am planting over 50 tomato varieties....... 2009-02-19T10:55:42-05:00 false 7299 985 2009-02-19T10:55:42-05:00 5272 I'm not a tomato lover but the wife and kids are. I'm just the gardener. I'm starting off with only two varieties this year but I'm sure at least one more will be added at a later date. Rutegers: why? I don't know but the wife thought they were good fresh and canned some last year and the canned sauce tastes fine to me. Large Red Cherry: I'm guessing the wife picked these because her and the kids like to eat them right off the plant when they are playing in the yard. 2009-02-24T21:33:06-05:00 false 7416 985 2009-02-24T21:33:06-05:00 4628 *Red Grape* (x1): The only type of raw tomato that my husband will eat. *Sungold* (x1): Tasted these for the first time last year and really liked them, they're supposed to be very productive, and I'm a fan of bite-sized tomatoes. *Black Prince* (x1): I love the "black tomato" flavor, and these seem like a good size (larger than cherries to allow for varied presentation, but not so large that they'll take forever to ripen). *Tomatillo 'Toma Verde'* (x2 for pollination thanks to cmagnus' heads up): I love the tangy flavor of tomatillos, and my co-workers have never eaten unprocessed ones so I'm looking forward to introducing them to a new food. :) ... and this way I'll have red, yellow, black, and green tomatoes - fun!! 2009-02-24T23:01:14-05:00 false 7418 985 2009-03-08T23:14:24-04:00 2243 Last year I randomly picked up some transplants from Lowes or HD, a couple of bush tomatoes and a couple of cherry types. I don't remember the varieties. I was extremely disappointed - I started them late, but I only got 4 tomatoes and 3 (yes, three) cherry tomatoes. This year I am going in a bit more prepared. My seedlings are started and almost ready to transplant. I've worked over my beds and prepped the soil. I am determined. *Amazon Chocolate Tomato": - As someone else said.. they have chocolate in the name. *Black Cherry": - Reminds me of a black cherry cola that I loved. And I love cherry tomatoes. *Copia:": red, orange, yellow striped - I chose these just because they photo looked so pretty. *Golden Sunrise": - I wanted a yellow variety. These seem suited to our hot summers. *Micro Tom ":- Couldn't resist. They only grow to be 6 inches tall and produce a couple of dozen cherry tomatoes each. *Brandywine":- Bought these at the Home depot when I thought my online order wasn't coming. There was little selection. *Burpee's Supersteak Hybrid": - Same reason as above. And before I knew about OP. *Super Sweet 100 Hybrid": - These supposedly have high production in our heat. *San Marzano": - I wanted a sauce tomato and everyone says this it the one. *Stupice Tomato* - I heard good things about this. It is also cold tolerant, so I'm thinking with our mild winters I might have a chance to have tomatoes year round. maybe. There's so many I want to try!! And reading everyone's list makes me want even more. I now have more seedlings than I have space for. I had no idea how to guesstimate this... So far I'm surprised they all lived. Now I just need them to live through the transplanting and make me some tomatoes. I think seed buying is kinda like computer buying. You do all your research, check what everyone else has, try to figure out what's new and different, see what's on sale or what you can barter for and then at some point you just have to choose and purchase. Then if you know what's best for you, you stop reading the sales ads (or seed catalogs) until at least next year. 2009-02-24T23:17:05-05:00 false 7419 985 2009-02-24T23:17:05-05:00 4933 Great lists everyone, i will be deciding on all of mine this weekend. 2009-02-25T07:34:09-05:00 false 7420 985 2009-02-25T07:34:09-05:00 5297 I am growing _Big Boy_- because I like the full size tomato for hamburgers. The sugar tomato that I am growing says that it is great for tomato sauce, and having been raised Italian, ( I am only part, my grandfather is full) I love anything with tomato sauce, (except marinara, I can't stand marinara. Most places that I have eaten out, seem to have no idea of how it should taste! The _Super Sweet Cherry 100 Hybrid_ is our favorite. It goes well in salads, and we just love to eat them plain for a snack! 2009-03-04T23:21:56-05:00 false 7594 985 2009-03-04T23:21:56-05:00 5779 Growing two rows (40) Onion Hercules and a row of Shallot Golden Gourmet from the Thompson & Morgan group Ipswich UK. first time i've used them but i hope all work. 2009-03-07T11:24:15-05:00 false 7665 985 2009-03-07T11:24:15-05:00 5844 Sorry wrong group (I'm new to this) 2009-03-07T11:26:53-05:00 false 7666 985 2009-03-07T11:26:53-05:00 5844 Okay, I thought I'd do this since my list is finally complete for this year! Warning: it's a long one, I have 33 varieties I'm expecting to plant (hopefully... I theoretically have enough room...): *Aunt Ruby's German Green* - This I choose simply because somebody gave me seeds and I haven't grown it before. As you can see, sometimes my selection process isn't very rigorous. *Azoychka* - This one was described as having a "hint of citrus". I love citrus, I love tomatoes. Seemed like an obvious choice! *Black From Tula* - I've been wanting to grow this one for several years, and finally just got around to it this year. I have a gut feeling it will do well in my area (although it's simply a feeling, I could be very wrong). *Black Krim* - This tomato reportedly has one of the best flavours, ever. So I thought I'd give it a try! *Black Sea Man* - Previously grown before, I loved the taste, I love how it's a smaller determinate variety, making it a prime candidate to be grown in pots, leaving room in the ground for some of the larger indeterminates I'm growing this year. *Bramki* - Seed sent to me from another tomato lover in my general area. Polish heirloom, it's supposed to tolerate heat, which is great because it can get REALLY hot here in the summer. *Chocolate Stripes* - Red and black striped tomato, I've never grown anything quite like it, and nothing looked like it in my garden this year so I thought I'd give it a try, even if it does reportedly have a tendency to split. *Dr. Wynche's Yellow* - I LOVE the story of this tomato (see the folia entry on it) and everything I ever read said it was one of the best tasting yellows there ever was. *Eva Purple Ball* - Wanted to try it, but I didn't want to go all out for getting seeds. Ceae sent me some seeds, so I thought it must be a sign that I have to try it! Anybody who's ever tried this variety that I've spoken to makes it a staple in their garden. It must be good. *Fantome Du Laos* - this one I was REALLY excited about. Very rare (some sources say extinct, which obviously is not the case), white tomato, with very good flavour. Has a fun myth that follows it around (see folia entry) AND to boot, reportedly it can keep as long as February in a cold cellar or similar location. Having been spoilt by homegrown tomatoes and no longer to enjoy store bought, I knew this tomato was one I had to try. *Ferris Wheel* - endangered heirloom variety (if it says endangered I'm a sucker for it, I really am!) but an old standard. Has reportedly really good flavour. Thought I'd give it a try! *German Cascade* - Heirloom which I'd never heard of, and apparently neither has anybody else because I can't find ANY information on it anywhere! *Great White* - Seed started for a friend, but I thought I'd give this one a try this year too (there's that rigorous selection process again...) *Green Zebra* - A standard in my garden, and a favourite in the house. I grow one every year. Really good acidity, which I love. *Orange Jubilee* - Different than 'Jubilee' - this is another orange, bushy and determinate, so another good candidate for container culture. *Orange Strawberry* - Always described has having a really good rich taste, and one of the best tasting oranges there is, so now I'm trying it! *Oxheart* - This one was just labelled "oxheart" so I'm not sure exactly what kind of oxheart, but it was grown by the same lady from her saved seed for a very, very long time. Not having any other oxhearts this year, I went with it! *Purple Calabash* - this is commonly referred to as "The World's Ugliest Tomato". I'm a HUGE fan of heavily ribbed and pleated tomatoes, and it's purple. The title and the reported excellent flavour clinched the deal. *Purple Prince* - Once again, somebody gave me the seed. I don't know much about it, other than everybody says it's really productive. So I thought "let's see how productive it is!". *Reisetomate* - Now THIS is one freaky looking tomato, and that's my sole purpose for really wanting to grow it. Described as looking like "brains". Excellent. Visitors to my garden already think I grow the weirdest tomatoes, just wait until they see this one. *Rhodes Heirloom* - This is a family heirloom from, obviously, the Rhodes family, but I don't know anymore than that. It's a bi-coloured beefsteak type fruit, very pretty looking, and it does well with people who live in the same climate as me. *Russian Persimmon* - This is another one I'm planning for container culture for sure. Another one that's supposedly really productive, and with a sweet flavour. Generally I'm not a fan of tomatoes with more sweetness then acidity (I LOVE the acidity in tomatoes) but I thought I'd give it a shot anyway. *Silvery Fir Tree* - Grown before, great for container culture, beautiful foliage (worth growing just for that) good flavour. An all around great tomato! *Sophie's Choice* - A family heirloom from my home town, it's endangered, and I'd hate to see this tomato get more and more rare since it's such a great one. Shorter season, does well in cool temperatures as well, like to be a little more wet then most tomatoes, good production, great for containers, an all around good tomato. I've grown this one before too. *Stupice* - now this is THE standard in my garden. I LOVE Stupice. Very early, but produces all summer long right up until the hard frost kills the plant. Delicious flavour, good acidity/sweet balance, a great all around tomato. Good for cooking and eating fresh (we literally just pick them off and eat them like apples in my house). *Sylvan Guame* - This is another Canadian heirloom, and one I had my eye on for quite a while. Originally from Russia, also endangered, big meaty tomato that I've been dying to try for years. Ceae generously sent me some seeds this year so I was finally able to give this one a shot! *Tlacolula Pink* - Remember how I said I was a fan of heavily pleated tomatoes? Especially a fan if they're heirlooms from Latin America and this one fits the bill on both those areas. A great sister tomato I thought for my Zapotec Pleated, which is a favourite of mine. *Tsygan* - OP commercial from Russia, possible Russian commercial heirloom. Black tomato said to have a smoky flavour, with more acidity than sweet, and supposedly a great one for sauces. Since I wasn't really growing any other sauce tomatoes, thought this one would be a great choice. *Japanese Black Trifele* - ever since I saw a picture of this one I was dying to try it. I managed to finagle a swap with Stephanie here on Folia, and voila, I have the seeds and am now growing for this year. *Yellow Pear* - Just about the only cherry that I really love (not a HUGE cherry tomato fan). Not a typical cherry, you either love this one or hate it. Good acidity, I eat them like candy. *Yellow Ruffled* - there's that love of pleated tomatoes again! Now I have two pinks, AND a yellow ruffled tomato in the garden. Not to mention the stylings of the heavily pleated Purple Calabash. *Zapotec Pleated* - Ah, the Zapotec Pleated. Grew this one last year for the first time and completely fell in love. A hollow tomato, with a mild, yet unique flavour. Would be great for stuffing, although these have never lasted long enough to be used for such, we always eat them too fast. Lower acidity than one would expect, but that certainly doesn't detract from it. Another heirloom from Oaxaca, Mexico. *Zomu* - Not much of the history seems to be known of this tomato. But a good little compact determinate for the containers again. The only rugose leafed plant I'm growing this year. There we have it! My that was long. 2009-03-07T13:34:25-05:00 false 7673 985 2009-03-07T13:34:25-05:00 12 Wow. Kelly, I want to come visit when all these tomatoes are ripening!!!!! :) 2009-03-07T14:18:53-05:00 false 7674 985 2009-03-07T14:18:53-05:00 1713 Haha - sure, come on over! We'll have a tomato party (which is of course, the best kind of party to be had). 2009-03-07T14:45:52-05:00 false 7675 985 2009-03-07T14:45:52-05:00 12 Kelly, you are growing some interesting varieties. I will have to keep up with your progress during the season, especially at harvest time. 2009-03-07T20:23:35-05:00 false 7681 985 2009-03-07T20:23:35-05:00 4006 Thanks maggiemom! I figured since I had the room this year that I'd just go all out and try a bunch of varieties that I've never tried before. I live in an interesting climate, so it'll be even more interesting to see what varieties fare well here. 2009-03-08T16:08:35-04:00 false 7705 985 2009-03-08T16:08:35-04:00 12 You are a bit warmer than we are. I envy gardeners in your climate. Our winters are just so unpredictable and take up 5 months of the year. Summer takes up most of another 4. Which tells you how short and fleeting our springs and autumns can be. The garden has to deal with temperature extremes during the majority of the year. 2009-03-08T16:12:47-04:00 false 7706 985 2009-03-08T16:12:47-04:00 4006 Maggiemom - our winters are about 5 months of the year here too, and really we only get about 5 months of weather we can actually grow outside in (mid May to Mid Sept usually). I'm at a very high altitude, but in a very strange microclimate (almost everywhere directly surrounding me is considered a zone 5), so weather can be unpredictable and can go to the extremes relatively quickly. Often it gets up to 30-35C during height of summer (at which point I retreat into my house and only come out at dusk and nighttime). But, because it rarely goes below -15C here (and usually in the winter the coldest it will get is around -10C) we're considered to almost be a zone 7. It shows you how the zoning system can definitely fail at times. The trick is to growing long season plants indoors early in the year. Which is why my tomatoes, peppers, and the longest season squash I'm growing (those in the 100-150 day range) have already been started under lights for the last month :). 2009-03-09T13:46:41-04:00 false 7742 985 2009-03-09T13:46:41-04:00 12 My tomatoes and peppers are also started. I wish I could start the long season squash, but I am currently working without grow lights. I don't know if they would last indoors until it was time to plant them out. I will try starting some soon, though, in the hopes that I will be able to set them out on the porch on warm days for the extra lighting. 2009-03-09T21:40:40-04:00 false 7753 985 2009-03-09T21:40:40-04:00 4006 This year, I'm going to grow the following varieties: * Black Zebra, because I didn't have much luck with Tigerella last year, but I really want a striped variety * Matt's Wild Cherry, because they are supposed to be REALLY tasty and prolific * Black Cherry, because I grew them last year and they were excellent * Red Pear, because they were tasty, and looked really nice * San Marzano Select Redorte, because I want a plum-like tomato * St. Pierre, because I can :) 2009-03-10T12:15:41-04:00 false 7767 985 2009-03-10T12:15:41-04:00 886 Matt mentioned that he did not have much luck with Tigerella. I have tried Mr. Stripey and although they looked beautiful, they were not the greatest tomato. They had a very short window of harvest and if you missed it, you ended up with very mushy tomatoes. Does anyone have a recommendation for a striped variety that has worked out well? 2009-03-10T15:37:58-04:00 false 7775 985 2009-03-10T15:37:58-04:00 4006 Here's what I'm growing this year: * *Arbuus* The name is Russian for watermelon, but beyond that I know little about it * *Banjan Roomii* A large red beefsteak from Afghanistan * *Black Cherry* Everyone raves about this one, so I want to try it too * *Bonny Best* I know that it's red, but beyond that, I don't know much about it * *Chia Tai* A plum tomato from Thailand. I don't know what color. * *Esther's Cherry* A yellow cherry * *Golden Jubilee* * *Green Zebra* I love this guy -- it's not sweet but it's very flavorful * *Italian Market Wonder* A medium-size red salad tomato * *Brandywine* I love these * Plus four hybrids that I'll buy later -- I want an early girl, big boy and a plum. I grow these for early harvest and for yield. 2009-03-10T17:28:51-04:00 false 7780 985 2009-03-10T17:30:44-04:00 1713 So far I've started seeds for: * Celebrity * Roma * Gardener's Delight Cherry But I normally don't have too good of luck with seeds so I'll most likely be picking up some tomato starts at the farmer's market this spring. Wow, there's so many types of tomatoes I didn't even know about, my mouth is watering! :) 2009-03-10T18:29:22-04:00 false 7784 985 2009-03-10T18:29:22-04:00 5740 Every year: *Big Beef": productive, good flavor, terrific disease resistance *Viva Italia": determinate paste, favorite for canning, good disease resistance *Striped German": productive, good tasting heirloom *Supersonic": productive red slicer, another with disease resistance *Sungold Cherry": early, unique taste Frequent appearances, but probably not this year: *Green Zebra": *Brandywine": *Persimmon": New this year, all heirlooms: *Cherokee Purple": *Cherokee Green": *Bloody Butcher": a disturbing name for a reportedly early maturing red *Nyagous": *Absinthe": *Black Cherry": *Opalka": large paste *Yellow Husk Ground Cherry": like a yellow tomatillo, supposedly good for jam *Heatwave": *Kellogg's Breakfast": Hoping for more consistent rainfall this year, but planning for more drought. We'll be canning, freezing and drying. Good luck to all with your gardens! 2009-03-15T20:52:12-04:00 false 8049 985 2009-03-15T20:52:12-04:00 5859 In a 3' x 3' square bed last year I grew 2 - Brandywine as always for flavor. BrandyBoy (hybrid Brandywine and Better Boy) for production. Not a great tomato production year in 2008 but I enjoyed both flavors. This year I am thinking a 6' x 2' square foot garden with 4 varieties. Brandywine - Always for excellence in taste. Better Boy - My Grandma has always grown this and gets good flavor and excellent production. Mortgage Lifter - In Arkansas about 10 yrs ago was the most prolific heirloom I've ever grown. Very good taste. ?? A high production tomato Maybe Celebrity - Again in Arkansas about 10 yrs ago, most prolific plants I ever had. Flavor acceptable but lots of return for my efforts and suitable for home canned soups etc. Now in Kansas and lots of neighbors swear by Arkansas Traveller. Reviewing above, maybe I should be gardening in Arkansas again :) A cherry tomato in a planter by front door. Have a handful leaving, have a handful returning, etc. Spring is coming, Not long till I can play in the dirt again. Enjoy. 2009-03-24T22:47:50-04:00 false 8481 985 2009-03-24T22:47:50-04:00 6187 I haven't grown tomatoes from seeds before, usually opting for the biggest nursery-grown plants that I can afford to plant as early as weather permits. This has left me growing some rather generic tomatoes, and it was time to branch out to the heirlooms that I craved. Also, I started canning tomatoes last year and need to add more plants to accommodate canning. This season, I'm growing seven varieties, some for practical reasons, others are more impulsive. This is my first year with each of these varieties. *Amish Paste:* A reliable and tasty tomato for slicing or canning. I always grow a paste tomato of some sort because I like their meatiness. *Fargo Yellow Pear:* An early tomato that I prefer to cherry tomatoes. Yellow pear are easy to grow; the Fargo variety is supposed to be almost twice as big. They look and taste great in salads. They dry well, too. *Rutgers:* Supposed to be great for flavor for slicing or canning. Of the seven varieties I started, this germinated first and with the least fuss. *Mule Team:* Reputed to be very durable and disease and drought tolerant, but I picked them because I have donkeys... If there was a tomato variety named _donkey_, I'd be growing it! *West Virginia Hillbilly:* A big beefsteak type, unusual orange-yellow, streaked and mottled in red and pink. Supposed to be very pretty and very tasty. I chose it because I'm next door to West Virginia and I like the name. Of the seven varieties that I started, this one was slow to germinate and some of it failed. *Cherokee Purple:* Had to grow this as it's my favorite at the farmer's market. Great fresh (so tasty!) and it cans well, too. *Lillian Yellow:* I wanted a full-sized yellow tomato in the patch and this heirloom sounded yummy! (And, uh, I have a cat named Lily. I am a sucker for an appealing name.) Wish I had included Black Krim, Brandywine and Green Zebra - all are very tasty. 2009-04-08T23:42:53-04:00 false 9006 985 2009-04-08T23:44:08-04:00 6290 OK I am another one who'll be putting in 30-40 varieties. Only 1-2 plants of each. I like stripes and weird shapes. Here's a few I started already Red Barn (large)- got this from a friend in the UK. Lg fruit up to 2 lbs Guido-heavy production Delicious- lg fruit for competition Striped (speckled) Roman- very lg, meaty, good producer Oscar's Oxheart-for my goat Baby Oscar Ruffled Orange Goat (Cow) Teat Silvery Fir Tree- for the foliage and short DTM Lg Italian Pear- like the shape Tocan- a weird looking cherry Fargo Yellow Pear- compare to reg. yellow pear Yellow Pear- grow every yr Yellow Submarine- A potato leaf yellow pear Herman's Yellow- for my pig, Herman Yellow Ruffled Nicholson's Yellow Cherry-Yellow cherry type, beefsteak shaped tomatoes, from natural crosses in a Market vendors garden which have self seeded for years, started as yellow pear and now produces flatened yellow and sometimes orange, occasionally slightly ribbed yellow beefsteak shaped cherry tomatoes of good flavor and market demand. Tiny Tim- for the containers I have on the deck Black Cherry- nice color Long Island Seed Project "Green When Ripe" Patio- selecting for largest fruit on smallest plants Kelly, please tell me you are going to save seed from the Phantome du Laos & Reisetomate this yr. They are weird enough for me. ;) :) 2009-04-13T07:36:25-04:00 false 9190 985 2009-04-13T07:36:25-04:00 6469 Well, we are not as adventurous as some other gardeners as this is only our second year in our new garden, but we think we had a great year last year, and we are hoping to better it this year. We grow tomatoes to eat fresh, and to dry and to can. Here is what we have this year: Celebrity (x3) we had six of these last year, and got a total of 262 lbs. of product. Canned lots of stuff. Super Marzano (x3) Evelyn wanted to do a paste tomato for drying and for sauces. Stupice (x1) We wanted an early bearing variety to get a taste ASAP. Wild Bill's Big Red (x1) an impulse buy, but Evelyn wanted a beefsteak, so there it is. 2009-04-19T21:57:06-04:00 false 9478 985 2009-04-19T21:57:06-04:00 4582 bq. @drmiller- we are only growing 3 varieties because we love tomatoes, but it never occured to us to try other varieties. We only knew what we wanted to use them for, so we got one variety for every purpose. We are just growing approximately 20-25 of each. bq. This is our third year of growing tomatoes, and our first year of growing them from seed. They are looking really good!! We actually decided after we planted our seed back in Feb, that we wanted more, hence a later planting. The second planting is still in the seedling stage. Hopefully they will get big enough in time!!! They still have 25 days to grow before frost date!! 2009-04-20T07:28:24-04:00 false 9485 985 2009-04-20T07:28:24-04:00 5779 There is still time to start tomatoes from seed. I just started some saladettes and cherry types. They catch up very quickly. 2009-04-22T06:21:57-04:00 false 9543 985 2009-04-22T06:21:57-04:00 6469 Well, I was so excited to get some miracle grow for tomatoes shipped here that I went overboard and killed all my plants... But, since it is possible to grow tomatoes year round, I tried again. I am trying the *Azoychka* again, as I want a yellow tomato and heard these are good. Also, planted some *grape tomatoes* again that are locally bought, hoping that at least they will work out here. I am planting *bonito ojo* which should fare well in the heat and are supposed to be productive... my last batch had a lot of early flowers on them. Larger tomatoes are not supposed to do well here, but I thought I should try some anyway... I am growing *persimmon* because they are almost big, red tomatoes and rumored to be very tasty and also *purple Cherokee* partly because I've never tried a purple tomato and it is also supposed to be good. 2009-05-06T10:16:01-04:00 false 10010 985 2009-05-06T10:17:11-04:00 3153 I actually hate tomatoes..... but I LOVE tomato based sauces so I went with just sauce tomaotes, no brandywine or cherries. I got *Roma VF* seeds, then my garden neighbor (community plot) gave me some spare *Amish Paste* seedlings :D, and I got some Cambells seeds but they never sprouted :(. I would love to get some San Marzano but couldn't find any this year. If anyone would like to save some seeds for me and trade for next year that would be great :) I have never grown real tomatoes before (I tried patio tomatoes twice, but only got one sad little tomato each time) so I hope this works out ok..... I also need to learn how to work with fresh tomatoes before I am covered in them :lol: 2009-05-06T16:26:43-04:00 false 10017 985 2009-05-06T16:26:43-04:00 5992 I am growing: *Sweet 100* so the grand kids can just go out and pick them and eat them. *Bush Early Girl Better Boy Pink Brandywine Mr. Stripey": 2009-05-06T17:51:43-04:00 false 10023 985 2009-05-06T17:51:43-04:00 5447 T & T Monster - a contender for World Champion giant White Beauty - I've only met one White Tomato I liked...let's see if I can make it two Moreton's Hybrid - a Northeastern fave in the 70's. I'm growing a dehybridized version Mennonite Heirloom (Orange) - large, prolific, tasty heirloom from the Mennonite communities of PA and SW Ontario Pink Accordian - a momento of the Auburn, NY Tomatofest and my first meeting with an Online Friend Missouri Pink Love Apple - Potato Leaf variety, supposed to large and of good flavour. Crop Failure in 2008...I'm trying again Granny Cantrell's Red - a Giant red german type from KY. 6 plants of these in 2007 and I could not can/freeze fast enough. Jerry's German Giant - a Baker Creek Heirloom Seed offering from a Mansfield, MO local resident. A striped variety, that's not stable. It produces both pink striped fruits as well as my favourite, a yellow striped fruit. Large fruits, good producer. Red Cherry. My Husband's favourite red cherry tomato. From 1840, it's definitely an Heirloom variety. Ena Mae - a gold cherry from a Houston, TX trade Blondkopfchen - another gold cherry with a well known rep Brown Berry - picked a few of these up from a freecycle offering. I'm looking forward to trying them. Idli -freecycle again. a yellow grape variety, look to be a prolific producer Green Zebra - cuz I haven't grown them for a few years. I thought it was time I also planted a few Sioux, but they rotted in all the rain and cool temps we've had this year. Too bad. I really liked this tomato when I grew it in 2008. I'll give it another try next year! 2009-07-01T11:08:07-04:00 false 11521 985 2009-07-01T11:08:07-04:00 6528 I love tomatoes and have been planting heirloom varieties the last few years. This year I have: German Johnson (3rd year for this one): like beef steaks but much tastier. German Head Green Zebra Orange Strawberry The Orange Strawberry sounded so yummy but it has been very disappointing in its growth. The others are lush and producing many blooms. The OS seems to just hang on. My other wish would have been to put in heirloom Sugar Lump, a terrific, prolific cherry. I couldn't find any this year. I'm generally not a fan of cherry tomatoes, much preferring the taste of grape tomatoes but Sugar Lump is amazingly sweet and all "tomato;" like popping little rich true tomatoes into your mouth. They are so prolific a producer that I take a large collander out to the garden to gather them and have it filled to overflowing off of two plants. When I am able to find the plants. Last year I had some volunteers but my beds have all be rotated and reworked this year so no such luck. 2009-07-01T12:20:44-04:00 false 11524 985 2009-07-01T12:20:44-04:00 8459 Countrygirl - that's so funny, my Orange Strawberry, while not the first to flower, is growing like gangbusters. Suffered the least amount of shock and sun damage when transplanted, there's tons of flower buds on it, and it's well up over past my knee. Seems like the thing grows almost an inch a day. What kind of situation is yours in? I'm curious to see how our growing conditions differ. I have rocky, well draining soil that retains a good amount of moisture, full direct sunlight for about 11 hours a day, and really high temperatures (we're running about 30C every day, if not hotter). 2009-07-01T12:54:18-04:00 false 11526 985 2009-07-01T12:54:18-04:00 12 @ kelly- I too have tomatoes that are growing like crazy! I have one tomato plant in particular that is growing about 3 inches per day. It is about 3 1/2 to 4' tall and counting, and it is only the beginning of the season here yet. 2009-07-01T14:54:38-04:00 false 11529 985 2009-07-01T14:54:38-04:00 5779 I grew the following tomatoes this year: reisenstraube red grape cherry Sweetbite mini truss (cherry roma type) siberian san marzano The most successful were the mini truss and the red grape. 2009-07-02T00:21:51-04:00 false 11536 985 2009-07-02T00:21:51-04:00 4086 Tropicana - what variety is that one? 2009-07-02T13:19:31-04:00 false 11544 985 2009-07-02T13:19:31-04:00 12 Well.....(blush) I am embarrassed to say that the tomatoes got away from me, and when I had them in the house, I had several that got knocked over by kidoes, so I am not sure. It has not started fruiting yet, or at least I am not aware of it, so I do not know. I will go and check though, but I am only growing 3 varieties, so it will be much easier to tell. :) 2009-07-02T13:43:59-04:00 false 11546 985 2009-07-02T13:43:59-04:00 5779 Haha, don't be embarrassed, it happens to the best of us! Hopefully the three varieties are distinct enough for you to tell easily ;). 2009-07-02T13:59:11-04:00 false 11547 985 2009-07-02T13:59:11-04:00 12