Not sure what's going on with your plant, but I have a mr. stripey that I bought at Lowe's that has several fruits on it. They haven't ripened yet, but there are at least 6 at various stages of growth...

hope someone can help...

Steve, please go to the top of this first page and click on the link to the FAQ section and read the article about Blossom Drop which I think should help.

Aside from that the large bicolor Mr Stripey is not known for high yields as I and quite a few others have experienced. Some love it, some don't. I feel there are much better bicolors than that one. Sigh.

Carolyn

Yes, Mr Stripey is not known for its fruit set. I think when I've grown it, I only got a few of fruit. If this is your only plant, do you have a lot of pollinators? bumble bees? do you shake the plant? Personally, I think bicolors taste like nothing, have poor fruit set in general but they are novel(for one season).

Thanks for all of your help. I have decided after reading another post to not grow this next year.

Steve, Dont feel like the lone ranger, Im growing one now myself and i dont think its gonna make the cuts for next years starting 'line up'.
AL

The reason that so many of the box stores as well as many nurseries and farm stands offer plants of Mr Stripey is b/c it's a bicolor that was located in the SE by Wayne Hilton at the time he owned Totally Tomatoes ( now owned by Jung's) and he was a big customer of Seeds by Design in CA, a wholesale place, and he gave seeds to SBD and they put it on all their distribution lists sent to just about anyone who had catalogs/websites, etc.

When it arrived at SBD it didn't have the name Mr. Stripey and the folks at SBD didn't know that there already was a variety named Mr Stripey, so they named it Mr. Stripey and there are now two Mr Stripeys. Sigh.

The original one was called Tigerella, which was one of three varieties bred by the Glasshouse REsearch Inst in England from a single cross, the other two being Craigella and Tangella.

Tigerella quickly got the name Mr Stripey b'c it's a small red with very distinct gold jagged stripes on the exterior. It is not a typical gold/red Bicolor.

I think the large beefsteak gold/red bicolors are, as a group, difficult to grow and be good from year to year. One year they may be sweet and lucious, the same variety the next year may be mealy and not good at all. So I think they react to weather more than most tomato varieties.

I've grown maybe 15 different large gold/red bicolors and as I said above, I do think there are ones that are, overall, much better than Mr. Stripey.

So that's the Tigerella/Mr Stripey, other Mr Stripey story for those who might be interested.

Carolyn

Carolyn,
Thanks I have seen them referred to as both and now I have..........the REST of the story......(sooo hard to try and sound like Paul Harvey w/ a keyboard, lol)...........T

Yes it's a real shame that these tomatoes are so common at nurseries, because they can be a poor introduction to heirloom tomato growing: low productivity, watery taste and they keep very poorly to boot. I actually had some fermenting on the vine last year.

They are very, very attractive which partly explains their success.

And yes, the fact that there are two totally different tomatoes called 'Mr. Stripey' is irritating.

All in all I consider 'Mr. Stripey' to be one of the most annoying tomato varieties there is.

Thanks for all of your help. I have decided after reading another post to not grow this next year.
**********

LOL, I have a highly recommended Mortgage Lifter with the same problem (blossom drop) this year.

It is even worse when it is one you were really really really looking forward to. :)

LOL, I have a highly recommended Mortgage Lifter with the same problem (blossom drop) this year

*****

The problem for me with Mr. Stripey is not blossom drop b'c that can happen to any variety at any time depending on the weather, rather, it's a low yielder in the best of circumstances for me and quite a few others and there are other gold/red bicolors that I think taste musch better.

And of course there will always be folks who say they love it, but I always wonder how many bicolors they've grown for comparison. ( smile)

I planted my Lowes mr stripey out of desperation, since all but 2 of my many many seedlings succumbed to damping off. :( I wanted something different, and couldn't get to a specialty nursery. I hope they at least taste decent (meaning, better than a grocery store tomato). Counted my fruits this morning and there are about 10...

Kdawg, Thanks for cheering me up!
LOL AL

Dang, I miss placed 1/2 my seed stock, had poor seedlings,
Had to Buy a few plants,...............and now come to
find out Mr S is a waste :(

I did get a New to me plant called Black Prince which is
healthy and productive.
A little mild tasting, but a good tomato.

alley_cat:

Perhaps I'm being a bit grumpy... On the brighter side I actually got pretty good production from mine last year, and found it actually made a pretty good sauce. The flavor isn't unpleasant, it's just very mild, so cooking concentrates things nicely.

I have 4 of the 6 pack still growing from this spring. They are only a couple feet tall but they have quite a few flowers on them. Some of the flowers have been open for a week or two already.

This was just a chance deal with me as I've never grown a heirloom and happened to run across these. My expectations this year are low as I just moved into our new house last October and my garden plot was a weed field. I am hoping to get a couple good fruits this year from them and then move onto a more prolific heirloom.

Kdawg,Dont worry about me - I'm laughing with you! All in good fun
AL

I used to buy Mr Stripey from a farmer near me who raised a few heirlooms in a small greenhouse on his place. They were large bicolors that produced well and had generally good flavor. They did not keep well.

I thought they were the only Mr Stripey.

I bought Mr Stripey from another source last year and, to my surprise, ended up with the (original) English variety with smaller fruit. We had a lot of tomatoes from those plants. The flavor and interior texture were OK. I thought the skins were thick and tough.

If I were to have to select just a few plants for a small garden, I would not include the original Mr Stripey.