Boomer, those sound good. Do you ever save and grow from seed, or do you always buy plants? Have you found better results with either method? I've seen pics of your tomatoes, and they are always just gorgeous.

Jo

I've never saved seed, but I have grown from seed with good results. I mostly buy plants, but that could change in the future.

"I will definitely go out of my way to find and grow these next year. Instead of one plant, I may grow 3 or 4 next year."

Now that's a recommendation for a tomato if I ever heard one. German Giant going on my list.

Thanks.......

Marcy

Mine, too! Seems like we have a new Tomato grower vying for Top TomatoDog here on the forum. I'm going to grab all your posts, Boomer, and review them in light of my next year's plan for tomato varieties.

Could you maybe re-list the ones that you intend to grow again and the reasons why? Would love to see it, and thanks for sharing the info with us!

Susan

Boomer

What area of the state are you growing in?

Charlie

Boomer

What area of the state are you growing in?

Charlie

I live in Norman.

Boomer, I was just thinking you should save seeds this year in case you can't find them next year?

I found instructions somewhere here and it is really easy. Scoop out the tomato guts and put them in a glass of water covered with plastic wrap, with an air hole/slash in the middle of the wrap.

Put the glass on top of your fridge for a few days and stir daily, Some goo will float to the top after several days/a week. Scoop that out and throw it away.

Pass the remaining liquid through a fine seive and then dry your seeds on a coffee filter for up to 2 weeks.

I thought this was so easy in practice that I was thrilled. Also I read somewhere that if you do this every year with your earliest/best producers, theoretically you should get a better tomato more adapted to your climate every year! The idea lit a FIRE in me!

Of course, you are the tomato prince here, so I know I am preaching to the choir and just yapping. It sounds like a great tomato worth saving though.

Jo

Thanks for the instructions, I may try that this year.

I don't think I'm a tomato price but thanks anyway. There are several gardners on here that grow more and have grown longer than I have. I do try to specialize in tomatoes, and dabble in the other veggies. LOL.

Heres my latest dabble...

{{gwi:1118760}}

Boomer

What variety is this watermelon?

Charlie

Aw, what a cute little melon!

Jo

Boomer, that is a fine "dabbler" you have there, LOL! And, you don't have to be a long-time grower of anything to have that certain savoir-faire to grow something well. In fact, a keen interest is a quality that usually is a contributing factor to excelling in anything in life. And, further, it is quality not quantity that counts. So, even tho you don't grow as many as some, what you have is obviously grown extremely well.

I've just spent the last 3 hours reading Craig LeHoullier's website and blogs and I am quite fascinated by this fellow since he grows his tomatoes in containers, and not the humongous ones. I think 10-15 gal. is the largest container he uses and those for the indeterminates. The determinates, semi's, and dwarfs go into 5 gal. or less. And his tomatoes are beautiful. I like his blog because even tho he is in North Carolina, they grow in much the same conditions as we do. High heat and humidity. So, I figure whatever he grows would probably fit well into the scheme of things in my container garden. He doesn't use a lot of chemicals other than an occasional spritzing of MG fert, and doesn't add fertilizer until his tomatoes are pretty well established, and then only infrequently and not on any kind of regular basis. I like this guy. He loves growing tomatoes, but he hasn't dedicated his life to them. He enjoys trips and sight-seeing with his wife, photography, and has many other interests aside from growing tomatoes and other veggies. He has hybridized and introduced many tomatoe varieties that we grow in Oklahoma. BTW, Jay, if you see this, I saw a new cross he sold as seedlings for 2010 that he is growing this year out of Lucky Cross. It's called Large Lucky Red (potatoe leaf, large fruit), and he's waiting to hear what others say about it. Also his recently introduced Caitlin's Lucky Stripe, a pink with gold stripe named after his daughter. All of these are from Brandywine, of course. Will keep an eye out on his end of the season blog to see how they did for him and others.

He has been growing in the same heat and humidity we've been having here in Oklahoma (recent temp in blog was 97 degrees, 110 heat index, with high humidity levels).

Another interesting fact is that he is involved in a testing project for dwarf varieties that I am particularly interested in following to see how well they do. Will try to post follow up down the road, but if you're interested, I will link to his webpage below.

I think you do a fantastic job, Boomer, and I love to read your posts about specific tomatoe varieties and how they are doing for you in this weather.

Thanks so much for sharing!

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: Craig LeHoullier's website