As always awesome pics. Someday I want a green house like yours.

Fantastic!

Thats me in the background living in solitude up in the mountains.

Tim

Thanks for your comments! We enjoyed your visit Randall! Thanks for swapping seeds and sharing ideas!!

What a difference a few weeks will make in the GH! Mother Nature is still throwing the expected - "Unexpected" - at us this late in the season. Most folks that have a GH in this area have still not opened them up - because they will still require heat for at least two more weeks. Here is the forecast through May 25th. You can see that it is still too early to plant inside an unheated GH in Wyoming!

Our supply of propane is being tested this year because we have had such a cold spring. We are down to about 17 gallons of propane but I still feel confident that 17 gallons will be enough to get us through until June. If it does, we have been able to heat our entire GH from March 15 - June 1 on 100 gallons of propane. Last year the cost of propane was a $1 a gallon - this year it is $1.15 a gallon. At either price heating a hobby GH is worth it for that kind of money - to a GH hobbyist like me. At least you can see the actual cost to heat a GH which may help you in making a decision wether or not to consider heating a GH.

Now the benefits of heating the GH. We were able to plant our seeds inside our home under grow lights the first week of February and move them inside the GH March 15th. If you compare these photos taken May 16th with early photos on this post you will see how much the plants have growth in the last 30 days! They are finally getting enough sun - they are setting fruit at a high rate - there are blossoms everywhere - the leaves on the plants are huge and the plants are very healthy. This time of year has the perfect conditions in the GH for setting fruit. The humidity and temperature range is ideal. We should have ripe tomatoes beginning in June! About the same time that most GH's in this area will be planting their seedlings!

Oh! I love the flowers in with the tomatoes. Such fun and so relaxing!

Some people have reported ill effects on tomatoes from heating gas. Have you ever experienced it?

D

Hudson, despite the challenging weather you are winning.

I can tell that your greenhouse is well insulated and efficient. $120 for heating , is not much. Probably we will pay close to the same amount for water.

Today our high got almost to 100F. Water evaporates real fast in this heat. I will pad up more pine straw tomorrow, to save water and keep the soil relatively cool.

So we are all faced with different challenges , but your is much much greater, for sure.

Good luck and continued success.

Sey

We got up to 90 here. I also noticed raised bed lost a lot of moisture yesterday. Had to water twice.

That green house is so nice Hudson, Why not add two rooms and move in full time?. JUst needs a bunk room and a kitchenette.

The green house is a "living" room in every sense of the word. Can you grow regular low light winter varieties in the winter? I think I could find plenty to keep me busy.

MusicMinded - Apparently ethylene from the improper venting of heater exhaust may cause damage to the tomato plants. Our heating system was installed per specifications and we experience absolutely NO damage from ethylene as a result of our heating system!! Those that may should absolutely check the intake and exhaust system of their heater! BTW - our impatiens love the shade of the tomato plants in our GH and provide us with endless joy with constant blossoms and beauty during the GH season - thanks for noticing!

Thanks Sey - I hope this thread may inspire others that live in a cold climate to know that it is very possible and economical to heat a GH. It can be very affordable to heat a GH even with the challenging cold weather of a high elevation climate such as Wyoming's when managed correctly! I know local GH enthusiasts are amazed with what we have been able to grow so early in the season so economically.

Thanks Janice! Yes - we can grow salad veggies successfully during the winter economically (November-March) with our soil heat cables in an 30"x96" grow box inside our GH. The cables are on a thermostat set @ 55° F (or whatever temp I want to set) and usually only draw power during the night time hours. I remove the lids during the day when it is above 50 degrees in the GH. Keep in mind that our winter night time outside temperatures are regularly subzero reaching as low as negative 40° F! I will probably do more winter growing in the GH when I retire and have more time.

Hudson --- how about posting some recent pics.

Tony

p.s. Can you adopt me...?

Hi Tony - haha ! Be sure to visit if you are ever in the neighborhood! We have had forum members that visit Yellowstone Park stop in during their trip. We have turned off the heat (finally!). The sun is able to keep us warm most nights - at least to about 40° F. The forecast is two nights of 32° temperature next week though. Here are some photos you requested of our GH during the past week.

Fantastic, amazing, superb --- now, more than ever... although up in years, I'm friendly, sprite, curious and litter trained!

So... think about it.

Tony

On a serious note --- my guess is BWS will come 1st in taste, followed closely by BWCL and than Brandy Boy.

I'm growing these Brandy-types: BWS, Brandy Boy, Prudence Purple, Stump of the World, Lucky Cross, Rose, Chapman and Mrs Maxwell's Big Italian --- to compare taste, production and disease resistance.

Sun-Wed here will be 95+ --- 4 days of such heat this early will probably kill a lot of the flowers, sadly.

Tony

Tony - hope you will share your results with your taste comparison and some photos. I will do the same. I should be able to cut into a Brandywine Sudduth, Brandywine Cowlicks and Brandy Boy all on the same day! Looks like you have a similar comparison going on. We will be able to compare results. I have the advantage of a climate controlled GH - 95+ will kill a lot of blossoms! I am able to keep the GH below 85°

Hudson --- we had a 95, 97 and 96 degrees three day heat wave in early May (killed off all the blossoms on the big plants)! Now my PL tomatoes have none till about the three foot height (and I should have had bunches of green tomatoes by now). They are about 4' tall now, and if this next early heat wave kills the ones near the top --- I won't have any ripe ones till August!

The dwarfs, on the other hand, are loaded with green tomatoes, had the first ripe Tiny Tim on June 2nd.

The determinates are full of blossoms, but none have fruited yet --- "crosses fingers".

Tony

p.s. we'll start a topic eventually: 2017 Tomatoes Reviews --- Taste, Productivity, Disease Resistance and more...

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Brandy types

Limmony --- the only beefsteak that managed to fruit one, before the May heat wave killed the rest of the blossoms

dwarfs and more....

Nice looking photos Tony! Thanks for sharing!

Brandy Boy is the first variety in our GH to ripen again this year!

Congrats Hudson! Looks great!

Nice truss of Sweet 100s!

One Big Brandy made it to flowering!

Started harvesting some of my Brandy Boys, picked them a lil early since the next 3 days are supposed to be bad thunderstorms (lots of rain) and didn't want them to split.

I did have a couple that were ripe, they were suoer delicious.I will definitely be growing them again, so far they have been pretty productive

Brandy Boy and Cherokee Green

Looking good Pcola Grower - there are some nice large ones too - makes me want to cut into ours now but I think we will wait a day or two. We picked our first ripe Brandy Boy this morning. We have an advantage growing in a GH to let our fruit ripen on the vine without risk of any damage!

We love Carmen Cucumbers in a heated GH! They are very prolific and in full production now!

Hudson --- all look fantastic!

Let us know how Brandy Boy F2 compares to the original. I decided against saving BB seeds --- since just bought over 100 seeds from Burpee, with free shipping (3 packs of 35+ seeds) total under $21.

Tony

http://www.burpee.com/vegetables/tomatoes/tomato-brandy-boy--hybrid-61101A.html

Hi Hudson --- let us know how your Brandy Boy (also F2) compare in taste with the rest of the Brandywine types.

Mine (BB, BWS, Prudence Purple, Stump of the World and Lucky Cross) are still green --- large and abundant, but not even a blush yet.

Our best tasting tomato so far (first ripe one on 7-8-2017, and several more as of today) is Bolseno. Originally a greenhouse tomato from Italy, it is doing best from over 30 varieties planted. I highly recommend you try it next year!

Tony

p.s. here is the thread I started on Bolseno:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/4739020/2017-bolseno-italian-hybrid-tomato

Tony - I haven't heard of Bolseno. The plant looks productive for you - I wish I could have had a taste of Bolseno while you were cutting it up! We may have to give it a trial next year and will do some research on the variety.

We have seen absolutely no difference in our Brandy Boy F1 and F2. Many participants on the Tomatoville forum including myself through experience and research are of the opinion that Brandy Boy has been dehybridized and is an OP variety even though Burpee continues to market Brandy Boy as a Hybrid. But why wouldn't they?

My wife and I did a taste test on each other with Brandy Boy, Brandywine Sudduth and Brandywine Cowlick's - several times. We both were very consistent with our result. Brandy Boy was the winner - every time. I know the growing environments and nutrition will effect the taste from one area of the country to another. But here in Wyoming our results were conclusive for us! Brandy Boy is the best tasting tomato we have ever grown - and we love the it. Brandywine Sudduth and Brandywine Cowlick's were in the same taste spectrum and were excellent - Brandy Boy just had stronger flavor than the others!

Here are photos of the three varieties.

Great looking tomatoes Hudson. Mine never got that big, probably because they are in 15gal containers, but here is my latest batch of Brandy Boys, i picked them a lil early aince it was about to dump rain and they tend to split some on me

I just started some more seeds for my fall season, so I'm really looking forward to growing it again.

Great pics Hudson! You're making me hungry. Funny, you introduced me to Brandy Boy (thanks) and I'm growing them true from seed. I think mine are F12 but i don't keep track. I can send you some seed if you like. Even if you just grow one plant for comparison. Let me know. I am growing about 60 plants, and the majority are BB's :)

Pcola - nice harvest! I am willing to bet that the 15 gallon container may have some effect on plant and fruit size! Sure they will taste good though!

Goodground - I would love to try your Brandy Boy F12 seeds!! Can you email me from my profile? Your experience now with F12 also confirms that Brandy Boys are OP but I would like to plant them next to F1 and compare - next season. I am glad Brandy Boy has been successful for your operation!

Here a few photos of some of this year's harvest Pcola - I think more than half are over 14 oz!

Wow Hudson you greenhouse setup and plants are absolutely incredible! Does the gh ever overheat in the summer, what are the temps like there now?

Thanks Hrib! Living in a cold climate has the great advantage of greenhousing! Plants do very well in a GH here because the temperatures don't get that hot. We don't even have to cover our GH with a shade cloth! But we do ventilate our GH very well. There are a couple of weeks during the summer when the high temps will reach 90-95°F. That becomes a problem if the plants are mature and block air flow to the attic of the GH. Some years blossoms don't set fruit during that brief period if some of the blossoms are in that area of the GH where it is more hot. The thermostat always reads a maximum of 85°F but the actual temp is more hot in the upper part of the GH for brief periods of time. I could move the thermostat if the problem was significant but if I keep the plants trimmed and topped the air circulates fine and that happens (if it does) for only a few days at a time. Here are our current forecast temperatures.

Hudson, today (7-18-2017) tasted the first ripe Brandy Boy. Excellent all around -- taste, complex flavor, aroma, texture and thin skin.

I'll wait another couple of weeks --- when full flavor develops (since the 1st one is only an indication of the potential) to compare with the rest.

So far it comes 2nd best from the 9 varieties that have ripened already -- Bolseno is the clear taste winner right now.

Tony

Awaiting to ripen:

1. Gail PL bush (cross of Yellow Submarine and Green Giant)
1. Perth's Pride dwarf (cross of New Big Dwarf and Paul Robeson)

1. Stump of the World
1. Brandywine Sudduth
1. Lucky Cross
1. Purple Dog Creek
1. Prudence's Purple

1. Mrs. Maxwell's Big Italian

1. Champman

1. Bulgarian #7

1. Rowdy red

1. Rose

Tony - you have plenty varieties to chose from! That's great that you can try so many different varieties - appreciate you keeping us posted. Glad Brandy Boy had good taste for you!

Dwarf Grinch - from the "Dwarf Project" has certainly been a producer in our GH this year! Great taste for a "Green when Ripe" tomato too!

Loxton Lad and maybe Lass ( lost a label) are the only dwarf tomatoes setting fruit in my situation right now (95 + for weeks) , but all my dwarf plants are looking good.

Hudson,

Tried today (7-20-2017) the first ripe ones from Perth's Pride (from the Dwarf Project) --- WOW!

Amazing taste, flavor complexity, juiciness, creamy flesh, thin skin
and superb interior color and aroma when sliced! No wonder --- since its
parents are Paul Robeson and New Big dwarf.

So far it is the 2nd best tasting tomato (from 10 varieties that have
already ripened (not counting cherries) --- awaiting 11 more to ripen
to finally compare all).

1. Bolseno

2. Perth's Pride

3. Brandy Boy

4. Lime Green Salad

5. Think Pink

Tony

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Perth's Pride

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lime Green Salad

I love these updates.

Not a single ripe fruit to show for all my labor, although the Loxton kids are way ahead.

Big Brandy set a few fruit.

Love the updates too! Perth's Pride, Lime Green Salad, Loxton, Grinch - the Dwarfs are making an impact in the Tomato Growers choice of varieties and success! Big Brandy should make your labors worth while nanelle. Even if the Loxton kids don't! Impressed with the Perth's Pride - taste test - Tony!

Hudson --- we are gaining a whole new perspective on quality dwarfs! We'll grow many more next year!

Lime Green Salad --- compact, about 2 1/2 feet tall, healthy and a good
producer of super tasty (hints of melon and citrus) yellow/green
tomatoes; juicy, tangy and beautiful lime green creamy flesh! First ripe one was in 58 days! (Perth's Pride took 80 days).

Tony

p.s. Temps have been 96+ for the last few days, and will continue for 2 more days! The dwarfs are not affected at all by this heatwave.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After eating over a dozen so far, here are today's picks of 15.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Picture of plant in only a 5 gal container -- June 12th

Side by side taste comparison --- Bolseno and Perth's Pride.

Bolseno is an early Red and produces non-stop! Perth's Pride was late, but now is setting lots of green fruits. Both are very juicy with thin skin!

Such a tough call !!!

Bolseno starts off with a near crunch (the first part after the skin (about 1/8" is crisp!) , then, firm flesh is next to follow). The aroma immediate engages your olfactory sense, then, sweet juice enters your mouth followed by a tangy finish. Superb!

Perth's Pride starts off with a creamy texture, aroma immediately follows, tangy juice is a delight followed by a slight sweet finish!

We give Bolseno just a slight edge, because Perth's Pride flesh is much softer...but, both are an Absolute Taste Treat !!!!!!

Tony

p.s. Can't wait for the Brandy Boy and the rest to start giving lots of tomatoes, so a taste test can be done when all are in full flavor come Mid Summer!

Hudson,

Brandy Boy vs Bolseno -- so far....

Our review as of 7-30-2017

Brandy Boy is on the left and Bolseno on the right is the true red one.

Both have a superb taste of 9+ rating by us --- both have thin skin and are juicy. Both are huge plants over 8+ feet now (7-30-2017) and will probably get past 10 feet tall by end of season.

The differences are as follows:

Brandy Boy has soft flesh throughout, complex flavors, with a pronounced tangy taste. Disease resistance is at 5 (lots of yellow leaves removal by now so the stalks are bare up to 3 feet, and over 50% blossom drop), productivity is thus at 6.

Bolseno is crisp, has firm flesh, much more juice, excellent flavors, starts off with a touch of sweetness and ends with a tangy finish.
Disease resistance is at 10, productivity at 10.

If we had to grow only one huge tomato plant --- it would be Bolseno!

If you have a greenhouse, where disease resistance is not important, grow Brandy Boy, but also add the delicious Bolseno!

Tony

Nice discriptions, Tony, but let's compare comparable varieties. I'm growing Brandy Boy, BrandyMaster, Ponderosa Pink, Chefs Choice Pink, Prudens Purple, Pink Pounder, Damsel and other pinks and I wouldn't mind a comparison including those PINK varieties.

I don't doubt that Bolseno is a good variety either, one I haven't tried either, but it would have to be outstanding since there are hundreds of good red beefsteaks out there. I'm kind of excited about Torero for consistent large size fruit and excellent tunnel production. I have included 40 plants in my lineup for this year, exceeding numbers for Big Beef, Caimen, Rebelski, First Prize and Trust for the first time. Torero plants are consistently so fruit heavy that I could hardly handle the weight to lower stringlines this morning. Let's hear an apples to apples comparison Who has compared one of above named reds to Bolseno or even others like Mr. Ugly, Giant Italian Brefsteak, American Original Beefsteak, etc. I'm growing those too and seldom see them mentioned on this forum.

Barrie --- if I recall correctly you have a greenhouse the size of a football field.

We have small footage with enough sunlight (too many shade trees in our backyard) where we can grow about 20 tomato plants. So our experience is limited only for the 1 plant of each variety. This year we nixed eggplants and pole beans to fit in 30 varieties --- so, we can choose the most tasty AND disease resistant with great production for next year.

As a home grower I can only comment on the ones that will work for us. High humidly (nearly every night it's 99% in the summer), high temps, lots of rain bring in lots of diseases (early blight, gray mold and the worst -- Leaf Spot later on...we are expecting any day for the thrips to arrive, bringing in Septoria, with copper spray ready in hand...LOL) forces us to make hard choices.

So far we tasted the following similar to Brandy Boy (still awaiting Brandywine Sudduth, Mrs. Maxwell's Big Italian and Prudence Purple to ripen) in order of best tasting:

Rose --- soft, nice flavor, juicy, on the sweet side.

Stump of the World --- soft, good overall taste on the sweet side.

Chapman --- soft, juicy, not an impressionable taste.

Brandy Boy beats them all in taste (love the tangy flavor) !!!

Tony

p.s. Think Pink actually tastes better (although on the sweet side) than Rose, Stump, Chapman --- and has incredible disease resistance (VFFNT) and is very productive for us.

http://www.tomatogrowers.com/THINK-PINK-VFFNT-HYBRID/productinfo/5192/

I can appreciate the diversity that you are trying. Sometime you'll have to share your eggplant experience. I have some growing outside on black plastic mulch. Mine are just starting to bloom.

Lower your image of my high tunnel operations. I only have a 30x96' structure devoted to tomatoes and a row of cucumbers. A 20x96' is all peppers. My latest 30x78' structure has black raspberries and basil. If you add them all together you might get a basketball court.

So far things are going well but anything can happen as the season is young. Everyone around us has got heavy rainfall but we have been marginal. My tunnels are hot. Just lowering tomato plants from a ladder over the past 2 days I was soaked 4 times that every piece of clothing I wore was dripping wet. I often wonder how the plants can handle the heat as they reach higher into the tunnels.

I've grown Stump of the World and Rose before but not this year. They were good flavored but just a little low in production. I actually cut back to 93 varieties in my high tunnel and although many are heirloom varieties those are now in the minority in plant numbers. I might try Think Pink in limited numbers but you have me more interested in Bolseno. I can only sell a limited number of pink tomatoes. Black and bicolor are the hottest selling types for me.

Congratulations Tony! Looks like you have a winner with Bolseno!! When you find one like Bolseno that is a great producer with great taste it becomes your "go to" tomato variety every year until (if ever) you find a better variety. You and Barrie are growing many more varieties than I am currently. I love to read everyone's reviews and experiences with the different varieties!

Forgot to add we are awaiting Purple Dog Creek to ripen --- can't wait to taste them, since Shell, Kansas Farm Girl - Shell 6A , who over 40 years grows 100's of tomato plants says it is their best tasting tomato ever!

From ours the best tasting so far are:

Red -- Bolseno

Pink -- Brandy Boy

Black -- Perth's Pride

Green -- Lime Green Salad

Yellow -- Gail (cross of Green Giant and Yellow Submarine)

Gail is so impressive in taste, production and disease resistance that I started its own topic (see below).

Tony

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/4779209/gail-determinate-tomato-our-2017-review-so-far

Barrie -- on eggplants:

Last year we finally got tired of waiting for the traditional pear-shaped large eggplants to ripen, just to produce a few per plant. So, we tried Pink Tung Long (pink/purplish sausage like). They were very early, produced well over 30 per plant and very, very tasty! The average ones were 12" long and 1" in diameter, at the height of the season we got 18" long ones with 1.5" diameter, and near the end 8" long ones. They kept blossoming even in late September and we picked a few 6" long ones before pulling them out.

Tony

I am back !

Of course I have no greenhouse or high tunnel. My garden gets over 12 hours sun with highs averaging about 92F. I have been harvesting for good 3 months now and my harvest is going down. Brandy Boy is not setting and what I get are mostly small tomatoes. I have one BB from cutting that is doing well and has tomatoes.

My top producers ( not including cherry sizes )are : Indian Stripe PL, Cuostralee , Big Rainbow and couple of my own dark tomatoes.

No problem , we get plenty to eat and share. I have canned about 10 gallons, mostly sauce.

I think I have found a variety that is doing great in my garden. That is German Queen. Anybody here has/is growing it ?

Cuostralee is a vigorous variety and right now it has the most fruits in my garden.

Sey

8-02-2017 update on Perth's Pride

While it's flavor is still amazing, we won't be growing it again (in a greenhouse, it might be a winner).

In the last 10 days (and we've had nice weather) all fruits are splitting severely, even unripe ones!

Tony

Tasted Purple Dog Creek today --- very disappointed.

Great aroma, mushy flesh, some juice, flavor on the sweet side...but,
taste barely rates an 8. To make sure it wasn't just the 1st ripe
tomato, tasted the second --- same results.

Tony

Hudson, Barrie and Seysonn,

Bulgarian #7 --- best tasting tomato we've had in over 40 years !!!

This little 3-4 oz nothing-special-to-look-at tomato beats the pants
off the most vaunted beefsteaks in FLAVOR complexity, texture,
juiciness, and TASTE --- 10's all around !!!

It is even fighting off Septoria well (yes, the thrips finally
descended bringing in the dreaded Leaf Spot) --- it is doing much better
than Rose and the highly disease resistant Celebrity which look like
skeletons now!

Tony

p.s. got the seeds for this most scrumptious tomato here:

http://www.tomatogrowers.com/BULGARIAN-7/productinfo/6123/

I have not tried Indian Stripe or German Queen. I will put them on my seed list for Santa and try them in the spring.

I have two tomato plants in my hedge. There is one tomato, and it has a stink bug on it. All other production ended more than a month ago. Not many plants surviving. There has been lots of rain for sure.