2010 tomato report

16 years ago

well we are getting close to the end of our field season.

in large tomatoes the big surprise was Beef steak. it was the first large tomato to ripen it beat my Cherokee Purple by a week. those two have been my best producers.

black cherry - well the good and the bad of it is we started 200 plants but some one took all but one plant. we give away 1000's of plant each spring and we try to set apart what we want in our fields and green houses but some how they got away from us.

riesinthrobe - i like this one.

we have grown Kellogg's Breakfast in the green house for several years but this year is the first year i grew it in the field. way good tomato.

Anna Russian - this is our fifth year and it is a keeper.

German Giant - well the book said it was a 77 day tomato and the beefsteak was a 90 day tomato. the GG was about 3 weeks slower then the BS. stil is worth growing.

San Marzano - most prolific tomato but i like the taste of the Opalka better. also last year i trellised the Opalka and it was more productive that way. so the Opalka gets to go back on the trellis.

Negro Azteca - i am not sure if i wrote that right. well we did not get to compare it to the black cherry but we liked it.

Bonny's best - last year we grew in the green house and we liked it so we tried it in the field this year and it did not do as well.

Aker's West Virginia - this our fifth year with this one and it is a keeper too.

Pineapple Tomatillo - sirst year and we are making salsa so the jury is still out.

ground cherries - very sweet when they are ripe but they are so small that i think we will skip them next year.

we have people that want Roma's and Rutgurs but i think we will not offer them next year. they just don't stand up to the San Marzano and the opalka for production and taste.

some times in the past we ended up with the left overs from our give away. this year we are doubling our green house area and we will have a place to put aside your own plants.

life is a learning process. i just wish i could learn faster.

o well there is always next year.

Dean

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Comments (3)

kathywide
16 years ago
Congratulations! Sounds like you had a productive year. And even for those varieties that didn't produce as you liked you still learned a lot about what you want to plant next year.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tomato Dirt: growing tomatoes and using them
woodcutter2008
16 years ago
A very good year for tomatoes here in central Indiana. Started wet, but then dried up, with little/no foliage diseases. I did spray apx. weekly 4 or 5 times with Daconil at the start of the season. My plants in the garden are still full of nice tomatoes.

Winners:
Golden Girl F1. Always terrific! Sweet and mild.
Better Bush Improved F1. Did very well. Septoria usually does this one in for me, but not this time.
Mountain Fresh Plus. First time I've grown one of the Mountain series. Compact plant; great yield; *beautiful* tomatoes; very good if not quite great taste.
Plum Dandy. Excellent plum/paste variety. Heavy yield. These were excellent for drying for winter salads.
Wisconsin 55 OP. Good tomato; fairly late; very good flavor. Reminds me of Rutgers.
Keepsake F1. Supposedly a storage tomato. Definitely good shelf life; good flavor from a nice, compact plant.
Husky Cherry Red. Awesome production from a modest-sized ISI plant. Great flavor. A consistent winner for me. I think this is a premiere cherry variety for large containers or garden.
Tumbler F1. I grow these in 12" SW baskets. They produce very early, are quite productive, and have a good, sweet taste. The only drawback I see is a pretty tough skin. But still an excellent variety until the others get going.

Also-rans:
Manalucie OP. Small plant, just didn't produce very many tomatoes.
Stupice OP. Good yield; nice potato-leaved plant. Small tomatoes with very short shelf life.
Red Grape F1. BIG, rangy plant. Nice sweet grape tomatoes, but split badly for me unless picked quite early.
Whippersnapper. Smaller than tumbler; not as sweet.
Burpee's Sweet Seedless F1. Smallish tomatoes with good flavor. It was "seedless" with virtually no fully-formed seeds. I'd grew this because a local supplier had Burpee plants this year, so thought I'd give it a try.
Burpee's Fresh Salsa. This is the driest paste tomato I've ever grown. Good producer.

Losers:
Kotlas OP. Similar to Stupice. Very small tomatoes. Not much larger for me than cherry toms. -- maybe 2 oz average.
Red Brandywine OP. Big, ugly tomatoes. Tart, but not sweet. Lots of core. Not for me.
Olena Ukranian OP. Big plant, and really big, badly cracking tomatoes. Better flavor than Red Brandywine. I grew this because of its resistance to EB. But had no early blight on anything (this year). I probably won't grow this again.

I know a lot of folks love these heirlooms, but they just don't measure up (IMO) to a good Better Boy, Big Boy, or Supersonic.

-WC2K8
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caryltoo Z7/SE PA
16 years ago
This was my first year with Anna Russian and for sure it's a keeper. Great taste and very productive.