Aunt Gertie's Gold has never done well for me. I've tried growing it from seed several times and always have nice healthy seedlings. I put them in the ground and they either become diseased and die within a few weeks, or they sit and grow all summer, but rarely bloom or set fruit. In the best year I had with them, one plant produced about 3 ripe fruit in the fall and that was it. I've decided Aunt Gertie doesn't like me.

Azoychka produces early, heavily, has good flavor and produces over a long season. I like it a lot.

Dr. Wyche's Yellow is the most productive of the ones on your list. It produces later than Azoychka but produces heavily, is heat-tolerant, drought-tolerant and disease-resistant. It produces pretty well even in high heat. It has great flavor and texture.

I haven't grown Earl of Edgecombe.

Nebraska Wedding is one of Tim's favorites. It is a pretty compact plant--maybe 3 to 4' tall and produces big, orange beefsteaks with great flavor. It can be a little inconsistent, performing better in cooler, milder summers (not that it is ever very cool or very mild) but more prone to Early Blight in those years. In hot, dry summers it remains disease free, but produces smaller sized tomatoes. I don't grow it every year, but probably grow it 3 out of every 5.

Thanks for helping me with my list, Dawn. I grew KBX last year and got a couple maybe three big tomatoes. It did taste good. In my garden I can't compare because my best last year was Reif Red Heart and it was where I dug a three foot hole took out the rocks and added good stuff. Poor KBX might have been in a bad place. Little orange Juane Flamme was pretty good- had lots and lots of small tomatoes. Anyone know about Earl of Edgecombe or have reports from other areas?

I'll have to keep everyone posted on Orange-1. Got the seeds from Gleckler's. It is a determinate, midearly tomato, 4-6 oz fruit, and flavor is described as Wow! Sweet, rich taste. I am really anxious to try this one.

I wanted to try Orange Minsk, but it is an indeterminate, and I didn't want to add another one at this point.

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: Orange-1 Tomato at Gleckler's

Susan,
I will be interested in your opinion about Orange-1. It was a good producer here. But for me in my climate I felt it had average taste. I only grew it one year because of that. Was a steady producer. I plan on growing Orange Minsk this year. Several say it has better taste.

Helen KB is a much better producer for me and several other growers I know. 2010 was the first year I ever picked a KBX and only picked 3. KB produced many nice ones again. KBX has better flavor but that doesn't compensate for the low production. 1884 Yellow Pink Heart a Darrell Merrell selection that did well for me last year and had great flavor. Juane Flammee' is another I like. Another that did well for me last year was Woodle Orange. Nebraska Wedding was a poor producer here. Maybe it don't like the heat and wind here. There are some yellow bi colors I like also. Jay

Orange-1 sounds interesting; I hadn't heard of it. I also hope you will report your results, Susan.
Jay I had assumed that KBX was an improvement on Kellogg's Breakfast. You have given me some more names to look up. 1884 Yellow Pink Heart is quite a name. Our forecast is not good. I hope the freezing drizzle does not come true. I have been playing in my seed box this evening making a list. It helps me get through winter. Opinions of people who have grown the tomatoes are much more valuable than the descriptions in catalogs. I don't believe those and so many of them have the same description. You'd think if they grow the tomato they could come up with something original. I guess if they said you will spend all summer taking care of a plant that will have three big tasty tomatoes they would go out of business.

Helen,

That is so true.

The catalogs hype the different varieties endlessly. According to them, there isn't a bad one in the bunch.

I'd love to see some honest ad copy in seed catalogs.

Would it kill them to say the truth and say something like "this tomato does not produce well in hot areas". Or, how about if they would say "Produces heavy loads of bland, mealy fruit with tough skin"?

Well, I guess it probably would hurt their bottom line too much, but I think they'd build a more loyal following if they'd be more truthful.

Dawn

Helen KBX is the PL version of KB that was found in a ladies garden. Her name escapes me right now. Some think it tastes better and produces better. Many of us have had a lot lower production from it and more disease issues ect with it. I have tried seeds from at least 3 sources. I have a good friend in PA who has grown and reviewed a lot of tomatoes and his results in the same as mine. To me it seems that most that have had good results with it live in cooler areas. This is just my observation.

Dawn I agree with you. I didn't order from one source for several years. Because when I started growing more op/heirlooms I sent an email to several different sources asking for recommendations for hot, windy and semi arid conditions. I only bought that year from those that sent back replies. One source offers over 300 varieties and her reply was they were all good and I needed to contact my local extension service. At that time they offered no suggestions at all. Now the KSU extension services recommends a few of the more basic ones. It boils down to dollars. Jay

Jay you are very patient to try a tomato from three sources and give it more than one chance. I may give Kellogg's Breakfast a chance. I looked it up on DG and there were many positives. Not any mention of growers from Oklahoma. I should take the time to enter my impressions of plants there because everyone's imput adds up to a clearer picture.

Jay, I think KBX first appeared in the seed of gardenmama (Martha Huffort) who at the time lived/gardened in Virginia. I'm not sure if she still posts at GW or still lives in SE VA.

It sure does boil down to dollars, and it is hard to find anyone who, because of that, will recommend a specific variety for a specific region. When I lived in Texas, TAMU updated their variety recommendation lists very often, and I'd say pretty much every year so that was helpful. OSU doesn't seem to update their list of recommended varieties as often.

Let's not forget that Skyfire is a great source for varieties that do well here in the central plains states. I haven't looked to see if she has updated for 2011 yet. The last time I checked, she had not. Gleckler's has updated though (finally).

Helen, Even with recommendations from people in the same region, we can have very different results. Some tomatoes that grow/produce well for Jay just don't grow well/produce well for me at all, and vice versa. It has to be somewhat related to our soil. He has very well-drained sand and I have very heavy, slow-draining clay. But, there must be other differences, like the weather, that affect different varieties more than we realize. It isn't consistent either, because there are some that perform about the same for Jay as they do for me.

Of course, experimenting with lots of different varieties is half the fun, but I'm getting to the point that I'm not finding many that are "new to me" that outperform our favorites that we regularly grow. Most of the time, the "experiemental" ones don't get invited back. I have gone from both extremes too, from growing almost entirely all hybrids to growing mostly heirlooms, and now I'm working more seriously to find the right blend of heirlooms/hybrids that gives me both very high production for tons of canning plus a great supply for fresh-eating.

I think in tomato breeding, the "Holy Grail" would be to develop plants with the higher production capability of hybrid types that still retain the texture and taste of the best heirlooms. Periodically, seed companies proclaim they have produced a tomato that does just that, but when you try those hybrids, their flavor and texure rarely measure up. Brandy Boy is one of the few that I think does combine the best of both worlds, and its flavor still is not nearly the same as Brandywine's.

Dawn

I thought about trying Nebraska Wedding also because it is supposed to be a smaller plant, but for some reason didn't order it.

Jay, keep us posted on how your Orange Minsk turns out. I'll be interested to see if it is as good as they say.

Will let everyone know how Orange-1 does for me, too.

Susan

Good varieties for me have been Kelloggs breakfast, Orange Minsk (one of my best producers in 2009) and Kentucky Beefsteak. Orange Flesh Purple Smudge was one of the best producing, blemish free , disease free, flawless plants I grew in 2009, however I found it mealy and not really to my liking in flavor.

T.C Jones did well for a yellow as did Caseys Pure Yellow.

Thank you, I hadn't heard of some of those. I keep seeing Orange Minsk mentioned favorably. Kentucky Breakfast is a pleasing sounding name.

Now you guys have me wanting to try KB again. I grew it a couple of times in OK but was completely underwhelmed. I may have to give it another shot up here.

You all need to just knock it off. You're making my wishlist change on a daily basis. Stop it! ;-)

Diane

My list is bigger than my garden and I have to dig out buckets of rocks to make new places, but don't quit I love it.