Good report.

If cooking with tomatoes as in sauce, etc., I would never use a grape tomato anyway, since they were bred to be a snacking tomato.

I'm sure you read the several posts I've done here over the years when I described that Andrew Chu, the person who first introduced Santa F1, told me that 99% of saved seeds from the hybrid come true, and your picture of the fruits you got look fine to me,so do save some F3 seeds and keep going on that if you like them.

Some are now at the F9 and all is well.

Carolyn,who used to plant out several different kinds of cherry tomatoes for snacking in all different colors and just eat them like candy, if you will.(smile)

Agreed, and thanks for the feedback. When I used the word "cooking", I'm really thinking about cutting them up and putting them in things, like salads, rather than cooking them down to make sauce. Maybe it would be better say "adding them to dishes" as opposed to "cooking". In either event, I think the best use for a Santa is popping it straight in the mouth, and Tami-G is probably the better choice for cutting up and adding to dishes.

Glad to see this comparison. I've been growing Tami-G and Montesino for a few years and this year comparing to Five Star Grape (one plant given by plant customer). I probably won't add Santa to this mix just b/c I'm satisfied with the varieties of red grape I've grown and customers seem to like them. One thing I'd like to see in a comparison is stringline support since these grape varieties all grow 15-20 ft tall for me. I believe Montesino seems to produce slightly better after 6 months of high tunnel harvest. I think Tami-G is slightly larger fruited.

Probably it's similar and random, but which of the two plants, Santa F2 or Tami-G F1 had the first harvestable fruit and by about how many days after that till the second one did?

Thanks for the post and discussion, it cost me 2.49 today and Santa F1 without the seeds is not tasting so sweet ;-(

I'm wondering if a dozen peroxide bleached white bearded seeds planted immediately might bring some red cheer by December 24, my first frost date (really) the deadline for these Santas to deliver. The rest are being fermented and I'll do a dozen of those without drying, in three days to see which is faster on balance.

PC

That's just about the time that my tomatoes took to ripen. I think I started the Tami-G on 3/8 and the Santa on 3/22. I planted them in a container on 4/27. I deep-planted the Tami-G and it's still a bit larger than its container mate. The Santa quickly caught up in size, but the Tami-G produced the first ripe fruit right around the end of June, with the Santa following about a week or two later.

BTW, the Santas that I got from the store were bland! After saving seeds from a few of them, I threw the rest out. So I wouldn't be deterred by the store-bought taste.

Thanks rt, what a relief!

I wasn't emphasizing it, but the brightly marked clamshell "Santa F1" from the produce aisle last week tasted like pure not-a-tomato-crap, including a few small sized ones I ate seeds and all. The dates, report and information you kindly shared are all great. Now I need the seeds germinated, since the direct, fresh, peroxide treated ones straight from the tomatoes are taking their "sweet" time LOL.

I just directly planted some fermented seeds, rinsed not dried, last night and if I don't see anything popping up I'll do some fermented, dried ones which will be ready in 3 days. It's really down to the wire to catch the season but if it doesn't rain today I can advance my poor person's hoop house which may work well seeing the timing you posted.
PC

My mother came out to visit me this past May. I sent her back to upstate NY with a Santa F2 seedling in her suitcase, which she planted in her garden. She said her Santas didn't taste like anything special. I wondered what the difference was - her tastebuds or her tomatoes? She surprised me by mailing me a box of tomatoes so I could try them myself.

Her Santas are on the left, mine are on the right. Mine are on the small side, maybe 3/4" in length for the largest one. Hers look like they're ready to burst, like they got too much water. So I believe her when she says they didn't taste like anything special.

A quick update on the Santa grapes. Between friends and family, I sampled Santas from 5 gardens this year. They all originated from my seeds. Mine was the only container-grown plant; the others were either in raised beds or in the ground. All of the other fruits were much bigger than mine, and had much less flavor. Some were downright boring. So I'm staring to think that growing them in containers or giving them very little water is the key to the amazing flavor that I got with my container-grown Santas.

I had a similar experience with early cherry tomatoes grown in containers (in Pro-mix for veggies) vs at least nine other varieties of cherry tomato grown in the veggie garden (which was amended with aged cow manure).

The four varieties of container-grown cherry tomatoes all tasted exceptional, whilst the garden-grown ones were all disappointing.

Next year I really should grow the same variety in a container and the garden, except that I still want to experiment with more new-to-me varieties....

Linda

Thanks rt for the update and to both of you for the tips to look at the amount of watering and fruit size vs. taste. My Santas germinated and are a couple of weeks old and going strong. They should make a showing before freeze if all goes well and I'm pampering them to increase the odds. I have some extra seedlings so rather than toss them I might stick a couple in pots to see if there is a difference from my self-watering containers.
PC

I have been very happy with my Tami G plant, it is the most productive tomato plant I have, and if frost wasn't coming soon, I'd anticipate continuing to pick a bucket of tomatoes a month from my 1 plant. The taste is excellent, though I don't have the palate of your more seasoned growers, I can't imagine anyone complaining that they don't taste good!

Just an update... see my thread here http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/msg1111123814212.html?4

My Tami G plant kept blooming producing tomatoes, despite max temps of 50-55... Nov 8th in Zone 6b and I have fresh tomatoes. This plant was the champ of my garden and I can't wait to plant again next year. The one plant was enough to keep me overloaded with snacking tomatoes from June till November.

I bought a package of tomato from store, 5 days ago that just looks like SANTA F1. I call them "mini Roma" The taste is incredible for sroe bought.. So I am taking a chance and saving some seeds. They weigh about 1/3 of oz each ( 9 >>> 3 oz)

here is a picture.

I'd save my Tami G seeds, but they are hybrid so you can't right? Also the garden got a little EB so don't want to keep it for next year in the seeds.

Peter 1142 ,

True that planting seeds from an F1 hybrid might produce something unlike what you got this year.
On the other hand EB does not affect the seeds.

I call them "mini Roma"

seysonn:
There is a variety named Cherry Roma which is also sold under
the names Baby Roma and Mini Roma.

I grew "Baby Roma" this season, they looked just like your picture
and were my best tasting tomato variety this year.

norval, thanks for the feedback. So you confirmed my taste judgement. I was going to use them in an Italian dish. I did not care for its raw taste. But when I tasted a couple, I was pleasantly surprised how good they tasted. Never expected from grocery store tomatoes.

Seeds are saved.