Awesome!

Zone envy. My one HD tomato that you guys ID'd as a cherry does give me tomatoes, but the skin is so tough you can hardly swallow it. My volunteers are loaded with flowers, but heat wave prevented them from setting fruit. More heat ahead, so I may have to grow tomatoes only in fall. Yours look great!!

Judging from the yellowish foliage, you have a slight nitrogen deficiency that might cause early senescence of your plants. You even have what appears to be a chlorotic morning glory or bindweed climbing up one of your cages. I'm amazed that your plants reached 5' with yellowish foliage but I have no experience with zone 8. I have never seen that happen in my zone 5 area. My dark green plants often reach 5' in early August. Sometimes, but not often, they reach 10' in late September. Easy enough to stack two cages. In your case, after you add nitrogen fertilizer, you may need to stack three.

Thanks Y'all. These plants will not likely make it to August. Saw 109 on the dash temp on the way home, it was probably hotter than that earlier. Mosquitos are getting real bad, Stink bugs are drinking the insecticidal soap like kool-aid. I don't want to trial Zika. The writing is on the wall. I was able to get this one pounder German Stripe though today(green one in the middle).

Tomato envy trumps zone envy every time. :-) Eventually I hope can pay Janice back for all these mouth-watering pics.

Dave

In a couple weeks, I will be enjoying you guys' photos. I am looking forward to it.

Janice, what is the largest tomato you have picked?

That German Striped above, exactly 1.0 pounds.

I learned a lot this year:

Soil needs improving, needs some homemade compost (both raised beds and in-ground patch).

The shade tree I wanted to block sun later in the day was blocking too early;

i should not bring home leggy seedlings, no matter how interesting the name.

i need to learn to grow my own seedlings.

I need to space my plants out better.

i don't think leaf diseases were a limiting factor at all. I had daconil on hand but did not use.

I removed one worm that destroyed 4 tomatoes. No need to go crazy worrying about worms.

My son removed one very large horn worm. Out of the 24 plants, the horn worm was choking down on the German Stripe. Thank goodness I saw him a munching before he got to that single one pounder. Luck was on my side.

The stink bugs did come, but only after 85% was harvested.

i lost probably 8 tomatoes to birds and three to sun scald and two to something else. I stopped counting fruit set at 350. There were more than 400 total across 24 plants.

I was able to put some tomatoes in the freezer. Would I like to have a little more? Yes. That is a new goal for next year.

i was very impressed again with the Cherokee Purples. The plants this year were early, productive and tasted outstanding as usual. I wish I could take credit for starting them, but I cannot.

I would like to give Black Krim and German Stripe a second chance. I think both will do better if the seedlings start healthier and I give them more sun.

I admire Juan Flammes productivity and they are photogenic. They are not strong as slicers. Most will wind up frozen.

The green zebras are Melon like. They are beautiful and I will grow them again.

i have not yet tasted an Eva Purple Ball. Still waiting on that plant, as well as the Brandywine and Mr. Stripey.

Striped German coloring up good. Happy Fathers Day.

Here are some more of the German Striped:

Other updates:. Still some pollination going on. The stink bugs have marked up some, but not others. I started bagging the good ones in tulle yesterday. I would really like to have an un-stink-bugged Brandywine, another mortgage lifter, German stripped and mr. Stripey.

Very nice assortment. What are the round whitish-yellow ones? Jaune Flammes? I have a couple of those growing in my patch this year. What kind of flavor do they have? We also have some Brandywines, yellow, black and pink. The ones I really hope do well are the Paul Robeson, Dr Wyche Yellow, Aunt Ruby German Green, and several Russian varieties. Which one of yours do you like the best?

Alas, will have to wait a while as we weren't able to get our seedlings in the ground until 3 weeks ago. But, they seem to have got settled in and are mostly green and bushy. I think the tallest one is about 2 feet tall now.

The non-shiney pale yellow with pink internals slightly visible are Garden Peach. They have a fuzzy peach like skin. The brighter orange ones, about same size, but shiney, are Juan Flamme. Both have distinctive flavors, but are not overpowering. While not comparable to a Cherokee Purple, they are interesting and add variety. For Fathers Day, I made 4 kinds of salsa. The Garden Peach salsa was a hit. One of the guests preferred sliced Juan Flammes over the others available( Cherokee Purple and Black Krim). I find taste and preference to be highlyindividual. I like variety and taking photos. I am most happy when I have beautiful tomatoes I can photograph, then share with others.

i grew up in KY on a farm with a large garden. Near Madisonville.

I am moving to SC. haha

Sey

Sey, I think you are pulling my leg. You might have a mild case of climate envy. It is not perfect. The big challenge for me is stink bugs. I am experimenting with tulle and knee highs (short nylon stockings ). The partial shade that caused some lankiness in the early part of the season seems to be allowing some germination. If I can outsmart the stink bugs, I may try for a second season.

Your tomatoes look wonderful, Janice....definitely something to look forward to; mine are just starting to set fruit.

Good luck to you Donna.

I just sliced the German Striped. What a showey tomato. Have not tasted it yet. Will report back.

Joined by Mortagage Lifter, Juan, and a Garden Peach.

The German Striped and Mortgage Lifter are outstanding. When I taste something that good, I am inclined not to change a thing. They highlight the weak points of a Big Beef. Interesting these were grown in fairly poor conditions. I hand turned the soil a week before setting the plants out. The ground had sat fallow for five years and I amended quickly and not with a lot of care. There were lots of worms in the dirt. I used fertilizer sparingly. I even placed them poorly, not enough sun. The result in the fruit is unbelievable. German Striped is almost pineapple like. Mortgage Lifter is a perfect companion, a hearty old timey tomato taste.

Those look yummy .

I love bi colors the best. I am growing Old German. But so far it has just buds. hehe

Sey

They are worth the wait. I went outside and covered all unblemished fruit with either hosiery or tulle. I am having other thoughts as well...I have a sunny spot that is unplanted...setting fallow, and healthy plants to take cuttings from. But I don't know how long they will last. I figure cut and root on 15 July, plant out 5 Aug.. Blooms could start pollinating 5 Sept, shortly after. First frost is not likely until 30 Nov.. Based on that window, do I need to target earlies only or try some mids? Since I will be wrapping (assuming covering works), I want to avoid cherries. Big Beefs or bigger are target. I also want to start seeds. Start seeds 4 July to start hardening off 5 Aug, with plant out roughly 12 Aug? I will check with the university ag guidance on dates. They break out coastal from other state regions.

Looks good Janice! Sometimes I can see where a gardener does less messing around with the soil and plants and then get great results. Those 5 years of your soil fallowing, could easily be seen as a time of maturation instead. Mother Nature has a way of balancing herself.

I do not have any German Giants this year. Yours look good. I have HillBilly, and Big Rainbow.

Thanks nc. I hope to grow Hilbilly one day.

Earlier I checked the plants looking for new fruits to cover up in a stocking to keep the stink bugs off, and I notice Mr Stripey is now occupying 5 crw cages. Not totally, just has casually stretched branches out into the four neighbors cages. There are more new tomatoes too. At 106 heat index, the mosquitos don't come out, which was great. I don't know how long the plants will last, I guess I will get some data points for the future. I am surprised at the new fruit set. It is time to get out the clip board again and get some counts.

Looking good. Looks like salsa! I know you are excited. The big one at 3 o'clock is a looker. What variety is that?

That is Anna Russian, they are much bigger this year than they have been the last two seasons.