I am trying black cherry, and tasty treat for cherry sized. 4Th of July is bigger, though is still produced until 100 degree temps stayed that way. When the heat broke it started cranking them out again. I am trialing early treat this year as well.

Centexan, could you please tell me about the flavor of 4th of July? Acidy? Sweet? Full flavor? :)

Trying Black Opal as a change from squishy Black Cherry and have bowed down to family demands to grow Piccolo.

4Th of July has to me a more ballanced flavor. It has a slight tang with some sweet flavor with it. If you flame grill it till the skin blisters, and blackens just a bit the sweet comes out strong. Not the best by a far cry. Though nowhere near the worst. Better than any store bought tomatoes ever will be.

I don't have any pictures but in previous years have grown Sweet Million, Black Cherry, and Isis Candy. Sweet Million didn't do great for us (it was our first year gardening) but we got some volunteers last year that were pretty vigorous.

We liked Black Cherry and Isis Candy. This year I am growing Isis Candy again, along with Sungold and Whippersnapper. I wanted to try out the Hahms Gelbe but couldn't get seeds, so the Whippersnapper is my replacement for that (it is also supposed to be a tiny plant).

Gigielle, Whippersnapper is compact, but it's not a tiny plant like Hahms Gelbe. Whippersnapper does really well in a hanging basket as it becomes very bushy and full. Either that, or at least a two-gallon sized container.

Linda

Thanks, Linda! That's good to know. I have plenty of smaller containers that should work well for it!

Sey, do you have any seeds of that no - name black/red grape tomato to trade? I have a no - name beefsteak purple/black that is kick - a__, as far as taste, productivity and longevity and it ripens early too.

Hi, NC ... I think I have some seeds.

No need to trade just PM me your mailing address.

I am already over booked for this year. Maybe after I see the picture of your "no name " variety then I'll ask you for seeds.

Sey

Great! If I click on your Avatar, I assumed it would direct me how to PM you but I do not see it anywhere. Clue me in.

NC , when you click on my avatar, you will get to my profile page, you will see

'FOLLOW .. MESSAGE .

Click on "Message" and you will be abbe to message me:

Also you have to do couple of things "

1) put the cursor on my user name, then click "Follow"

2) Go to your own profile page, >>>> click edit profile >>>>

Then enable receiving messages.

This way I can also PM you.

Let me know how it goes.

Sey

Sey, you are such a helpful, fun tomato gardenwebber!!!!

Thanks Rebecca,

We are here to help each when we can and have fun.

Sey

Rebecca,

Yes he is. And he offers advice and help in a non condescending way too. A delight to interact with.

I will check out the PM now, Sey.

NC, ... I go your PM . The seeds mailed yesterday.

Sey

Attn: NC

Finally my grape /red tomato has some tomatoes. The shape and size compares to the one I got seeds from. I think it shows some stripes. Here is a picture.

As seen, it has RL. It is indeterminant with growth habit similar to most cherry tomatoes , with lanky stems.

As I have mentioned before, my plant was the weakest and took it a long time to get established and grow. But finally did.

Sey

One more small tomato comment:

I also planted RIESENTRAUBE. I am not happy with that choice at all. The translation from German means : Giant Grape. Well, the fruits are not like tradition grape shape ( oval) in the first place and they are not anything near being 'Giant" either. What is more is that it is too late season and not productive at all in my garden.

So it goes into my ZAPPS list.

Sey

The name refers to the fact that the cluster of cherries is like a giant grape: so a bunch of cherries close together in a giant cluster. Which is correct. You just had expectations that are not related to reality. Also not sure where you read they are very sweet. Everywhere they are described as the opposite (which is true, they are like one of the least sweet cherries you can find).

I have mixed feelings about it. It's not quite early but production is massive once it starts, it outproduces other op cherries 2:1. My biggest gripe is that the taste, although really nice, is rather mild and texture a bit too soft.

This morning's snack from 1 plant each of Black Cherry and Coyote.

I wasn't a fan of Coyote based on the early tomatoes, but the later season fruit have become truly delicious. I think they've actually won me over to the smaller cherries. Complex, sweet flavor with an umami undertone, nice little juicy pop in a thin skin--but not so thin that they burst when you pick them. A lot of people call the taste "mushroomy", but I don't find that to be the case at all. It actually is more of a sweet-corn-like overtone to me. Everyone I've offered them to has loved them without exception. The riper they get, the sweeter, and they can be very sweet. If you prefer more acid balance, then pick before the top half of the tomato turns buttercup yellow.

Cons:

• The plant is very big and bushy, meaning it has a wide footprint with many long, thin vines. It's unwieldy on a trellis but it would be too packed in a cage. It's very obviously not far from the tomato's original form factor as a sprawling shrub.
• The plant is more susceptible to early blight than others. It could be because it's a bit of a tangled mess, but the black cherry that's tangled right next to it is showing no real signs of disease.
• It's late. First fruit ripened for me after black cherry. So don't expect it to be very early just because the fruit are small.

Fungus, I agree with you about the taste of Reisentraube. I found it too zingy for my taste, and only grew it more than once because my neighbour loved it.

Gorbelly, I really appreciated your review of Coyote. I've heard mixed reviews about it and I bet that people haven't tasted it at all stages of ripeness. Too bad that it is so late or I would try it out....

Linda

A review of the cherry tomatoes that I grew this year:

Rose Quartz (not the multiflora) tastes sweet and good and looks very pretty. It was not given the best spot in my garden, so it wouldn't be fair to comment on its productivity.

Maglia Rosa, an elongated striped cherry was excellent at all stages of ripeness (at least when showing ANY pink). It is a compact plant with wispy leaves which was fairly early to ripen and is still pumping them out. I really like it.

Blush a bigger elongated yellow cherry was excellent when fully ripe and bigger than Maglia Rosa. It is also an indeterminate. I liked it a lot.

Rosella (a purple) was productive, sweet and tasty. I think it tastes even better than my previous favourite which was:

Carbon Copy, a dark cherry which is prolific, and is said to taste like a mini-Carbon. I loved it two years ago, but I wasn't so crazy about it this year.

Sara's Galapagos is a red currant with decent flavour, but is fiddly to pick due to it's tiny size.

Violette Kirsche is another purple cherry which is bigger than Rosella, but not as tasty.

Ambrosia Rose is fabulous! Mine started out a dull orange, but as they ripened they turned to an orangey red. Lee (the breeder from J&L Gardens) has worked hard to capture that Sungold flavour, and I think he has done it, or at least come very close with this little gem with a WOW flavour!

Linda

My best tomato was the grape tomato, Juliette. It was so hot for an extended period of time, that the bigger tomatoes cracked and sun scorched. Juliette produced many tomatoes, all perfect with a smooth skin and good flavor. I will grow it again next year.

Nice to hear your good review of Ambrosia Rose, Linda. I hope to grow it soon, but I'll wait until it's stabilized for a few more generations. I have little space, so being disappointed by off-type or unexpected results is a bigger deal than it would be if I had more room to play around. I look forward to it, though.

It's your mentions of Maglia Rosa that made me decide to grow it. I've also considered Blush and was glad to read your review.