TGS has this variety as new for 2009. Sounds good. Does anyone have any experience growing Virginia Sweets? If so, what type of climate was it grown in. Thanks!

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Yes, I have grown it and I was the one who sent seeds to TGS.

I was sent seeds by Neil Lockhart, an SSE friend, who got them in 2000 from a listing from SSE itself and Neil first listed them in 2002.

So you've got folks who have grown it in NY, IL, IA, and others who list it in the 2008 SSE YEarbook are from OH, WI and TX.

That should give you some idea as to climate but I'm sure there are others who grew it in other climates who aren't listed SSE members and listed it, or just didn't bother.

I can't remember what year it was that I first grew it but I know I praised it online as having one of the better tastes for Gold/red bicolors that I'd grown.

At that time Vince Sapp, now deceased husband of Linda Sapp who owns TGS, used to troll the message sites looking for possible new vaarieties as well as checking the SSE YEarbooks.

I then received a phone call from Linda, whom I've know since about 1991, and sent many different varieties to her over the years, who asked if I had seeds for Virginia Sweets and some others I've now forgotten.

I did, and sent seeds for it and the other ones she asked about.

The gold/red bicolors have a reputation of being great one year and the same variety not so good the next year, as in mushy, mealy and bland, but I thought VA Sweets was a cut above many other bicolors and still do.

Carolyn, who will, per usual, be sending some intereseting varieties to TGS and Sandhill fir trial, as I do every year, as well as Victory Seeds more recently, where Mike liked all six I sent him last Spring and is offering them as new ones for 2009.

I grew it in spring 07 and it was pretty good, not great. Better than Burracker's Favorite, but not as good as Lucky Cross (which is always terrific for me).

'07 was an awfully rainy year for me, though.

Many thanks Carolyn for a very informative response.

I have never heard of or tried Virginia Sweets Bicolor, but have had excellent results year after year with Hillbilly and Pineapple. Flavor and everything has always been consistent for me.

Here is a pic of one of the Pineapple's from this past summer.

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Suze-Lucky Cross has not done well for me. Tried it 3 consecutive years. I have a friend that grew it locally and she is sold; the best she's had. Go figure. Last year Hawaiian Pineapple did absolutely great for me. Will definitely grow again.
Thanks for your input.

I grew Virginia Sweets for the first time this year, and I had a big, healthy plant and plenty of huge (2-3 lb) fruits. It was the latest maturing in my garden, but I won a 1st prize in our local festival. It also had a very good taste. The '08 season was not good for our region, but this was one of my favorites. Mine looked close to the photo from the above post. I live in northern CA (Lodi) and I think I will grow again.

I ordered this from TGS, and they are out. Didn't say so on their website, tho.

I grow Lucky Cross every year, and it does well after a start under tunnels, but VA Sweets really looks pretty. I love Lucky Cross but it does tend to split and crack a little at the top. Does VA Sweets do that? Is it RL or PL?

I grow Lucky Cross every year, and it does well after a start under tunnels, but VA Sweets really looks pretty. I love Lucky Cross but it does tend to split and crack a little at the top. Does VA Sweets do that? Is it RL or PL?

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Virginia Sweets is RL as are I think all the other gold/red bicolors except Lucky Cross and Little Lucky.

I've grown about 15 gold/red bicolors and all of them have split at the stem end in one season or another.

I think it's b'c their flesh is so soft and they are quite susceptible to weather.

Carolyn

Your pineapple looks lovely! Ahhhh.

I wondered about VSB because it also looked lovely... but
I've got enough stuff to star without digging myself ANOTHER
hole (no pun intended). Keep us updated on it!

"Posted by donnamarienj Zone 6b NENJ (My Page) on Sun, Jan 11, 09 at 9:35
I ordered this from TGS, and they are out. Didn't say so on their website, tho."

I too ordered VA Sweets from TGS on January 6. I got my order on the 20th minus the VA Sweets which indicated it was backordered with no indication of a possible ship date. TGS has been reliable for me in the past so I remain hopeful.

Is Virginia Sweets really all that different from a couple dozen other "strains" of, for all practical purposes, the pretty much same yellow/gold - pink/red bicolor tomato traditionally grown in Appalachia from Pennsylvania to North Georgia?

If so, how? If not, why so many different names for the same tomato?

Is Virginia Sweets really all that different from a couple dozen other "strains" of, for all practical purposes, the pretty much same yellow/gold - pink/red bicolor tomato traditionally grown in Appalachia from Pennsylvania to North Georgia?
If so, how? If not, why so many different names for the same tomato?

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Bill, it's so very true that most of the gold/re bicolored varieties we know are from that area, but having grown quite a few of them I don't think they are all the same when it comes to taste, to splitting at the stem end and rotting easily b'c of such soft flesh.

And while you say a couple of dozen similar varieties I do think it's closer to maybe 100, without counting.

Why do they have different names? You'd have to ask the folks who named them. Sigh.

My brother now lives in NC and down the road apiece his neighbor grows one he calls just Candystripe and I remember Keith saying that many in the area used just that name.

If I asked my brother to get seeds for me and I grew it out would I rename it? No.

Why did I like Virginia Sweets so much? B/c I thought the taste was much more fruity and complex than many other ones of the same type that I've grown and there wasn't as much radial and concentric splitting as with others I've grown, although I still think that Regina's Yellow and Big Rainbow and Marizol Gold have those traits as well.

Taste is subjective and personal. Variations in taste and splitting can vary from season to season.

I think the only way you might think that VS is better than many of the same type is to grow it and see what you think.

Carolyn

I would try Virginia Sweets in 2009, but I already plan on growing four of its bicolor Appalachian cousins! Two have names designating the gardeners who have grown them for years and the other two carry simple monikers derived from their heritage as mountaineers.