The Ontario field tomatoes taste like vine ripened Big Beef. Juicy, meaty, potentially mealy, sweet and tangy. That much I know. from growing some Big Beef last year outside.

Eh, because I grow under LED, keeping leaf exposure at around 50,000 LUX is my goal. So any 2nd or 3rd level leaves that don't get side lighting from other containers growing other veggies get pruned off, as I tend to think these are parasitic. Also, as I do grow indoors, it's quite possible I will keep this plant for multiple years and might need to cut it down to a few inches unless I want to do some kind of fancy vine wrapping thing.

Anybody who has experience forcing a new bottom sucker to grow on a 3 month old bottom-bare vine feel free to chime in.

You have ripe tomatoes already - in Ontario???? Lucky you!

I think you need to let your next CP tomato mature a little more before eating it. Most people love the taste. Indian Stripe is a more productive strain.

Sounds as if what you want is Big Beef F1.

My complaint about the Brandywines is that they take forever to mature, so I spend all summer waiting for them, and then they seem to rot before ripening. (I liked the Pink best), but I guess you are growing in a greenhouse so perhaps it will be easier for you. I'd grow them all and see which ones taste best!

Linda

Assuming, we use Big Beef as a starting point, what variant of that has the biggest yields and best fruit set?

Actually, the "greenhouse" is the living room lol. No need to worry about heat. 15 amp circuit max is...annoying.

As far as I know, Big Beef F1 is just Big Beef. No variants. There is an open-pollinated, de-hybridized Big Beef floating around (I think I saw it on Gary Ibsen's site?), but I haven't heard very good things about it.

Ha ha! The living room is good! Obviously with sunny windows :-) .

I heard that there's an OP Big Beef but, from what I read, it's no tastier than Brandywine, but I bet it's more productive!

Linda

Sounds like Big Beef is worth trying! I'll be sure to steer clear of the open pollinated variety, thanks :)

No, the windows are fail. I have like 14 Mars Hydro "300W" lights.

Cherokee purple is less than average produce per many reviews. But most agree on good taste. And that is why it is favored by many.

Sey

That's good. That means my yields are about normal. This bodes well for Big Beef.

Steak Sandwich is a good one. The color is a bit more on the pink side. Last year everyone raved how good they were. It was a pretty fast grower, and was the first ripe large tomato of the year last year. Expect sizes from one to two pounds. One plant yielded over 35 pounds of tomatoes.

I assume you understand that given the unusual and artificial indoor growing methods you are using that the flavor and productivity of any variety will be affected and in most cases reduced?

Just as one cannot expect field-grown flavor from greenhouse grown tomatoes, one cannot expect nearly the same levels of production from container grown plants. And your methods of leaf reduction, spectrum alteration, and containerized soil moisture control would have even more effects.

As someone who does all three - GH, container, and field growing - I learned years ago that you have to learn to keep the expectations in line with the methodology regardless of the variety used.

Dave

Naturally. I wish I had waited an extra week or so with the Cherokee Purple so I could know more definitively how similar the two are.

Yuan Gong can you send me a private message please:-)

whoa. Hammerton :)