My memories of the spring crop are hazy. I recall a lot of cold, a lot of heat, and a lot of disease. I did like coyote and champagne cherry and would grow them again sometime.

My fall crop is finally just now starting to ripen. The plants look really healthy. I didn't have any disease or whitefly problems, but did battle fruit worms and high winds. I will update as I get to taste the results, but so far snow white cherry and black russian cherry are really great.

I also grew green zebra and not one fruit had any BER. It was in a small size cheap self-watering container from Target. In fact I am starting to doubt the experts that say you MUST have at least a 10 gallon pot. Well, I know a bigger pot makes a more productive plant, but I have an indeterminate tomato plant in a smaller than five gallon container and it has three huge heart fruit on it and lots of smaller fruit. I cannot afford to buy nor do I have the room for lots of 15 gallon pots. I work with what I have available.

Because of whitefly, our location, and weather, I short cycle and only grow determinates with TYLCV resistance.
Short cycle means I grow them out fast, and keep new plants planted coming up behind the old plants.

Best for us has always been Margo. Margo is fast and works fine if you short cycle.

I tried three new determinates from Hazara and Greenseed so far this year, will be able to let you know about them after April when our season ends.

I have these coming up from seed right now.
PS 01522935
IT-01-27
Pamella

Corrie

Corrie- Have you tried Bella Rosa? I am growing it now. It is allegedly TYLCV resistant.

Amber, you might want to check that. Bella Rosa is not on my list. I believe it's resistant to TSWV but not resistant to TYLCV. (Tomato yellow leaf curl begomovirus) from whitefly.

What I've found out is that there is a lot of variance with
'resistance'. Hazera and Greenseed seem to produce the most resistant packages in their tomatoes.

That said, I have the best luck with fast determinates. Even the best resistance packages won't hold up all the time.

Corrie

Im on the east coast of Fl. a little south of West Palm, and I found bella rosa very disease resistant to every thing till very late in the season last year. The only problem I found with them is there on the bottom of the taste list for me. It could be the way I grew them out, or the weather last yr, I only gave them one chance. The fruit itself was very attractive, it just wasnt worth the energy I spent to grow them.
Plant em if you got em.
Sam

Amberroses, 5 gal pickle buckets from places like burgerking or panera break will give them to you and they are plenty big to grow large indeterminates.

My favorite tomato is an heirloom brandywine. Luckily have not had to much trouble with bugs, etc. Am currently trying to stay ahead of problems with a 1/2 strength dose of Silvia's S&S treatment.

My early tomatoes this fall also include Juliet and Jetsetter plus some volunteer cherries. Good yields, but not carried away by the first two's taste. Juliet's are good for sauce. Later tomatoes now maturing are celebrity, viva italian and a number of oldies like beefsteaks, homesteads, brandy boys.

I'm fairly well done experimenting now, my staples are:

Beefmaster
Big Beef
Jetsetter
Brandy Boy
Sweet Chelsea
Husky Cherry Red
Dr. Carolyn

I did try a new one this season, Brandymaster, jury's still out on it and next season I will try Abraham Lincoln Hyb., Champion II and Sweet Treats, but that's it, then I'm done. Anybody have experience with these three?

Tom

I am eagerly waiting for my tomatoes to ripen. They are sooo close!
I love my:
Azoychka (bigger this year than ever. Tasty and dependable)
Green Zebra (always tasty)
Black from Tula (strange purple color, but great flavor)
Blondkopfchen (very tasty, but very fragile)
one I call Seattle (from a Pike Place tomato-maybe Copia?)
my two (name forgotten)cherries

I am curious about my new:
Mule Team
Rose
Limbaugh Legacy Potato Top
Tropic
Hartmann's Gooseberry
Striped Roman
Cherry Roma
Jaune Flamme

This year I have tried to be faithful with spraying calcium, Bt, and Safer spray. I have my fingers crossed!

Kay

I did Sungold cherries, and Pink Brandywine and Marianna's Peace beefsteaks. Everybody's at the end of their production now, about ready to pull them up and use that spot for winter greens.

The Pink Brandywine & Marianna's Peace I've grown before, and they produced the same as they have in the past. I'm crazy about the fabulous flavor they have (they're pretty much interchangeable, very similar types: very big, dark pink, scalloped-top beefsteaks that are very sweet and "wine-y" tasting) and I'm starting to learn what they like & don't like. Here's what seems to work with them if you haven't tried them, it worked this year:

They both make huge, heavy, sprawling vines that will reach eight feet or more so I've learned to get creative with their trellising. (because they EAT trellises! And those really tall super-sturdy ones are so expensive) This year I made a 18" tall circular bed for them around a big queen palm tree in my yard and ran rope and twine down from the branches until the tops of the vines made it into the branches themselves and could hang on them. They hate hot weather, and they love to get every blighty-fungus thing that comes down the pike - but I've found that I can grow them with no chemicals if I trellis and prune them for max. air circulation and only grow them in the fall. I got lucky that we've been so dry this fall - in years past I was able limp them along with weekly sprays of Daconil, but this year they didn't need it. I put a lot of lime in their soil (the hydrated powder kind that also has a lot of magnesium in it) and they seem to really like that. They still have a good bit of cat-facing and minor cracking on the largest ones, but less than usual for them.
I'm really pleased with their high fruit-set (for beefsteaks) and great flavor, so I think they're gonna be my go-to girls for the big tomatoes from now on, even as big & messy & relatively delicate as they are.

And on the opposite end of the spectrum, I was THRILLED with the Sungold cherries. They seem to be the opposite of their big beefy sisters as far as fussy & delicate goes - those little suckers are indestructible! And they set a million fruit and had very good sweet flavor. They're a shoe-in for next year.

The thing I HAVEN'T really tried yet is sauce tomatoes. What are some good reliable determinate plum tomato types?

This fall I am growing:
San Marzano
Better Boy
Black Plum
Juliet
Beefmaster
Stupice
Cherokee purple

All did good, but some did outstanding in the same conditions:
Cherokee purple surprised me with huge toms:

Better boy, grown in almost full day shade area have perfect toms and no cracks:

San marzano is still full of toms and they are very meaty, thin skin and not acidic:

And, of course, Juliet is a nonstop producer in any conditions!

Hi all! I am always up for Tomato Talk!! Nice to see you folks are still at it.

I got a late start this fall on my tomato growing due to an unexpected knee fracture in Aug... but I am ready to try again!!
Here's what I have so far:
Dr. Carolyn (TGS)
Yellow Pear (Orig Denise's seeds)
Black Cherry (Orig Barb's seeds)
Galina's Yel Cherry (TGS)
Green Zebra (TGS)
Snow White ********These are My colorful staples!

I have been so thrilled with Husky Cherry-red for so many years, I decided to try the Husky VF Red med size(TGS) this fall. Also trying Goose Creek again (Gleckler this yr) with GREAT results on seedlings so far. They all look healthy. Applause (TGS) I am trying again, frost got em last season. I give up on Bella Rosa...maybe it's the seeds I have, but I cannot get a decent plant out of the pack in the past 2 seasons.

New try outs from Gleckler are
Mr. Bruno
Golden Dwarf Champion
I also got Tigerella seed not realizing this is the same as the tasteless Mr. Stripey...doubtful I will use them.
I also planted a Bush Goliath from HD because the plant looked beautiful...leaves are yellowing already....should have known better!

Ana, your tomatoes look so GOOD, already.

I have a NEW PERGOLA that hubby built me so I have a great place to start seedlings and also planted other veggie seeds: Zukes, cukes, carrots, radishes, Sugar Daddy Peas.
Wishing you all a successful tomato season!
{{gwi:974869}}From New pergola

to view album click on "New Pergola" under photo

HEY Cindee
And Welcome Back - it's good to hear you're still growing an exorbitant amount of tomatoes!

The pergola and refinished bench are really nice - good job! Is this on the garage-side of your house?

I hope you're feeling better now and healing up fast.

Love ya
Susie

Cindee, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN! I've been thinking a lot about you and the big D lately, it does my heart good to see you posting again...I'm so glad you're back :-)

Here's my pickins today, recognize any of these?

Tom

Hi Irina - Great thread! From the varieties I grew this year I liked most of them, sorry, no favorites here. I can always find a good use for them, a good sauce is very forgiving.:) A lot of people are enjoying the sauces as a gift and they all liked them, when they asked what kind of tomatoes are there, I say "I have no idea",lol.

Hi Cindee - See, I told that you have been missed, great pergola! that will be one of the future projects to be copied. :)

Hi Tom - Great harvest! and let me guess, could the big, luscious fruits be the Beefmaster?

Silvia

Nice harvest Tom! My tomatoes are finally ripening one at a time, but not nearly as bountifully as yours.

The little babies: Black Krim, Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye, Snow White Cherry, Black Russian Cherry, Tlacalula Pink, Green Zebra and Sweet Carneros Pink.

Boy am I jealous ! Just moved to S Florida and started some indeterminates from seed a few months ago. They are now almost 6 ft tall, over taking everything, but only 10 small green tomatoes so far. Will try some other seed types in,.. late Jan ?

Amber, those tomatoes are sooo pretty! tell me what you think about the Berkeley tye, mine that I grew this season was a little bit on the sour side but still good. My daughter cut a Little Lucky this morning and was yellow on the outside and red stripes inside, she made her salad with that one and said that was the prettiest tomato she ever saw.

Dwarf tomatoes this morning

Silvia

I love those dwarf tomatoes Silvia! I haven't had great success with tomatoes thus far, mostly because I don't have room for giant vines. Which varieties of dwarfs are you growing? Would you recommend any of them for tomato newbies?

Hi Sun

I grew the dwarf tomatoes this season, to give them away to people that don't have a garden space or are too busy to care for them outside. I kept one set of all the ones that I grew to see how they do. They have different sizes plants and fruits, different colors too. They are determinate and produce in shorter time than regular varieties, the very small plants like Hahm, Minibell and Floragold can be grown in a sunny window, they are very hardy. I am also growing Budai Torpe, Demidov, Kootenai, Orange tree and 1648. I am including the Tatiana's website for you to see, it is also good if you want to check another varieties, it has a lot of info. Also look for container tomatoes, they might be a good choice for you, due to the small size. The tomato world is so big, that is hard for me to recommend one, there are a lot of good tomatoes out there. I am still sampling the dwarf, not all of them are ripe yet. I will let you know...

Today's small sampler of dwarf tomatoes

Silvia

Sun, I forgot the website, here it is.

Silvia

Here is a link that might be useful: Tatiana's tomatoes

Silvia- I am not a tomato expert, but I do think the Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye tasted sour. Not so sour that it is bad to eat though. I think people who like a sour taste would like it. I guess it could be the way I grew it in the pot, but other tomatoes I grew under the same conditions were not sour at all.

Amber - Yea, it tasted sour for me two times already, growing in different seasons. And no, this is supposed to be a eating tomato not cooking. In some Indian cuisine they use the sour tomatoes, I got a lot of varieties of those and sent them to somebody in zone 10 that was looking for them. Some tomatoes have a lemony but pleasant taste, when I have a sour tomato, I either slow roasted in the oven with lots of spices or if using fresh put a lot of salt and pepper, I like the pink Himalayan salt.

Sun - Now that I remember the variety Kootenai, from the dwarf was a little bit sour, still a good flavor.

Silvia

Silvia - the big ones are a mixture of Beefmaster, Brandymaster, Brandy Boy, Big Beef and Jetsetter. I'm surprised that the Brandymaster is out producing the Brandy Boy. I ordered a dozen different dwarf indeterminates from Tatiana's about six months ago thinking I might experiment with trying to grow them indoors during the summer. You'll probably end up with them down the road ;-)

Amber - those maters are GOREGOUS! Looks like you're having fun!

IS 2010 - what varieties are you trying? When I hear "big full plants with no tomatoes" I instantly think too much nitrogen...did you over fertilize?

Sun Worshiper - if you don't have much room I recommend Husky Cherry Red, seeds readily available everywhere and this is a dwarf INDETERMINATE that grows to only about four feet, is loaded with maters throughout the growing season and easy to grow in a container if necessary...I grow them every season.

Tom

You guys are KILLING ME with your tomato photos! Mine are all seedlings still and I am praying they don't yank with the cold temps the next few nights.
Amber, that photo should be on the cover of Cuisine or Food & Wine!
Silvia, I love the dwarf tomato plant photo. I am adding dwarf with cherry/grapes this year.
((((TOM)))))))))) what can I say bud? I am an elusive butterfly..ROFLMAO!!!! I have thought long and hard about contacting you when I could not find Goose Creek(FOUND), White Icicle(FOUND) and the WhopperII Cukes (NOT FOUND) all of which were superb seeds-to-plants-to-eat em up you sent me last year. I hope you are well and happy, my dear! (Thanks re-Dennis he is 3 years GREAT in March!!!)
Keep your toes warm, and your sweetie warmer tonight!! brrrrr

Cindee, that's great news about Dennis, makes me very happy....

Everyone stay warm this week, I fear we're going to take a hit :-(

Tom

Picked some large Beefmasters's this morning (sitting on the table), been giving away a LOT of maters. I think after mid-week that won't be the case :-(

Tom

Silvia and Tom - thanks so much for the specific tomato variety suggestions! That is such a great photo of dwarf tomatoes Silvia! They look so good. I will definitely have to try some dwarf varieties for next year's garden. And Tom - huge baskets of tomatoes - wow!

I couldn't get the link to Tatiana's tomatoes to load. Anybody else have trouble with it? I'll try again later, maybe their website is having a temporary issue.

Hey guys, how cold can tomatoes handle it? I took all the small seedlings along with Hoya, Orchid and my baby amaryllis crossed seedlings into the house and garage. Den and I wrapped the pergola in frost cloth and I turned on 4 100 W bulbs on this car-lot string Den made for keeping my plants and veggie seedlings above freeze. I am afraid for all the baby cats on the Pipe Vine he bought me that we put in-ground when the pergola was finished. I have a few(a dozen?) small tom plants potted out in large planters that I didn't even cover...God, this is too early to be this cold!!! Can they take a few nights of cold? I am about ready to quit before even starting this winter!

Hard for me to say Cindee since last year was the first year we've had frost here since we moved into this house in 1995. Others will have to chime in on this one.

Tom

I heard 40. My plants I moved onto the unenclosed porch without cover and they all lived, most of the fruit are ok, but the fruit of the ruffled tomato from Mexico turned squishy. That is here in Pinellas County where we have a little bubble of heat from the Gulf, the Bay, and the asphalt.

Tom, those are some huge and handsome tomatoes! Wow! How are they doing after the cold? Mine have been kind of stagnant and shrinking the last month or so. It seems they had their peak and then really slowed down and the fruit became smaller. I don't mind, though. We are still getting enough to make me happy, but there are few left. Just as well with this cold weather.

Cindee, so glad to 'see' you again! I'm thrilled to hear Dennis is doing so well. Happy Holidays, everyone!

Anna

Hi Anna, I'm still getting maters. They have definitely slowed down the growth rate but my double-edge sword micro-climate allows me to grow stuff when everyone else is suffering from cold damage. I don't cover or move anything, it sink or swim here but being so close to the water I stay warmer.... The maters have some slightly burned and blackened leaves but the fruit looks okay and is still turning color, remember, my plants were a month behind yours, my sets were mid-September.

Tom

Snapped some pictures this morning, the garden looks rather ragged but is still producing maters for now....

Tom

Tom, your plants still look great. Mine have lost a lot of foliage. Not disease, just yellowing and dropping. Maybe the cold? Too old? Not enough sun? Still some left to ripen, but nothing like before, and nothing like yours look now.

My best this season:

Beefmaster
Black Cherry
Sungold
Manitoba
Bonny Best- did better in spring, but did pretty well.

Not great:

Legend
Empire
Bloody Butcher

Has anyone tried Black from Tula, Rutgers, costoluto genovese and arkansas traveler? How did they do and what about the taste?

I've been thinking about trying a few in ground in spring. Which are the nematode resistant ones that might have a chance? Anyone have any luck? Is fall a better time to try that?

Anna

For me the Winter is when I can grow tomato plants well in the ground. The soil is cool so the nematodes are dormant. The plants in the Spring garden do really well up until the soil warms. At that point the 'todes wake up and the plants decline rapidly.

I have nine tomato plants in pots now and two in the ground. The ones in the ground are mystery plants that came up on their own and are huge and healthy. One is a Sweet 100 I think since I have raised them for years. The other is a larger fruit. Anyway, the plants in the pots look quite puny compared to their in-ground counterparts.

Come Spring it will be container plants only for me.

Good luck to all through the next couple of freezing nights!

Not me, I got two ripe tomatoes and then mother nature took the rest. I will try again in the spring...

Mother nature took out all my mater plants too, but I like fried green tomatoes and I got to them first. The tomato plants in the heated greenhouse are doing fine. The wind today has been brutal here sweeping across that 1000 acre pasture. The high today was 44.8F BRRRRRRRRR teens tonight!

Lou

I attempted to cover a few things in that wind. I was very comical.