Poor man's tomato variety report

15 years ago

This is my brief report on the limited number of varieties I tried this year. Maybe there will be something useful in here for some of you, even after reading Dawn's reports. I am not a tomato expert, but here goes anyway.

These I started in early Feb and had in the ground as large plants by early April, although they didn't grow much more until May:

Early Girl - maybe I should call it "Early and Often Girl"; I have 6 plants and they all started ripening the second week of June; they are still setting fruit and I have harvested about 10 per plant thus far; not much taste.

Celebrity - Good production, good size, good plants; they are bigger than usual this year and are still producing heavily; about 6 good ones per plant thus far starting mid-June; taste is average.

Better Boy - Fair production, very good size and not many blemishes; I'm happy with them this year; about 4 per plant thus far starting in mid to late June; I have only eaten one fresh and it was average taste;

Brandy Boy Hybrid - Good production, excellent size of about 1 lb each but with unusual shapes and some blemishes; I'm very pleased with this one; about 4 per plant thus far with a couple more left on each plant; they started ripening in mid to late June; above average taste.

Brandywine Red (from American Seed - Plantation Products cheap packets from Atwoods) - Fair production, various sizes; started ripening in early to mid June, but they are not impressive; somewhat firm and only average taste - not worth growing.

These I started in late Feb and had in the ground as large plants by late April, although they didn't grow much more until May:

Brandywine Pink (from American Seed - Plantation Products cheap packets from Atwoods) - only a couple thus far and only a few more now setting; not enough data.

Brandywine (Ferry Morse seeds) - only a couple thus far and only a few more now setting; not enough data.

Omar's Lebanese - I have 6 plants, but only a couple of tomatoes thus far and they were small; however, I have a couple more left on each plant starting to turn and a few of them are easily 1 lb; not enough data yet, but will have more by the end of the week.

Sprite - tiny elongated tomato that tastes better than Sweet 100 to me, but not quite as productive thus far; after I watered for the first time this weekend, all of the ripening ones split right down the side; I may try it again.

These I bought and planted a couple of each in late April:

Sweet 100 - I'm sick of this one and will not plant it again unless my wife makes me; tastes bad to me and they all split after any rain or watering this year; makes a lot though.

LaRoma - Good and productive as usual; how can one small plant make that many pounds of tomatoes?

Roma - same as LaRoma.

Sioux - Just got my first one this morning and it was small and better than average tasting; only a couple more on the plants; not enough data.

Fletcher - Small plant and fair numbers of fair sized tomatoes; only tasted one thus far; not enough data.

Cherokee Purple - Only harvested one each on my two plants and had to share those with a turtle; a few more are one each plant; not enough data.

Goliath Hybrid - I got a couple very early in June that had set while indoors; only a couple more after that and just a couple still on the plants; not impressed thus far; not enough data.

Mountain Fresh - I got a few early and still have some on the plants; better than Goliath probaably but maybe not as good as Fletcher; not enough data still;

I probably forgot a few other.

All of the ones I planted in late April have just not done much so I will reserve judgment on them, except the Romas which are kicking rear as usual. Not much different from other years, except I will add Brandy Boy Hybrid to my list for every year. Maybe by the end of the month I will be more impressed with some others, but it was just a tough year for them all. We are 14 inches above normal on rainfall since the start of March - you guys know all about that.

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Comments (6)

Okiedawn OK Zone 7
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Scott,

Nice reporting. I always find such reports interesting. I really, really think that your excess moisture is affecting the flavor of the tomatoes. Here at our house, the tomatoes I harvested before the last rain shower were VERY tasty. The ones I harvested from the SAME plants a few days after 1.3" of rain fell were not nearly as flavorful. You need a good, hot, dry month to flavor up those maters!

Here's my one small "tomato report" for the week so far: In a good year when the plants stay healthy, it is hard to find a stake sturdy enough to support very vigorously growing, very healthy Black Cherry and Tess' Land Race Currant Plants. They have toppled over to the ground, even though each plant was supported by 3 or more 3' to 4' tall stakes. Today we restaked them. Each plant has two 8' tall U-posts as stakes in addition to their original stakes. If they fall over again, I give up. The plants are about 9' tall, but growth has slowed down and I am glad. They are big enough.

Dawn
scottokla
Original Author
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I had to water the tomatoes for the first time Saturday, so I picked everything that was anywhere close to ripening before I watered. I have not yet tasted these first "dry" ones, but I will be soon. I hope they are better.

The Brandywines and Omars that are not producing are sprawled everywhere almost like the ones you mentioned. I can't get between some of the beds because of this. Impressive plants, just no fruit yet.

At the end of the year I will probably read your reports again and pick a few new ones to grow next year. I am very glad I got some Brandy Boy Hybrid seeds based on your recommendation. It is now my favorite, plus the kids made about $10 selling the biggest ones of these. (I mistakely called these Brandywine Pink in an earlier thread.)

Scott
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Scott, I still have tomatoes producing heavily, and a few slow-pokes (planted late because of weather) that haven't produced a ripe one yet. And, there's no way I am going to list every single variety because I plant too many, but I'll give a brief synopsis of the ones that have produced well. Better Bush--earliest tomatoes...picked ripe ones in late April from plants set out in containers in mid-February. The flavor was very good considering these ripened in cool weather. The one in the ground in the garden produced one of the earliest ripe fruit in the garden too. Early Girl--early, lots of fruit, average flavor Jet Star--earlier than Early Girl, heavy bearers, better than average flavor Supersonic--very heavy yields of very large tomatoes, great flavor Prime Time--very heavy yields of large tomatoes, great flavor Ramapo--heavy yields of medium to large tomatoes, great flavor Moreton--heavy yields of medium to large tomatoes, very good flavor Momotaro--heavy yields of large pink tomatoes, excellent flavor Livingston Gold Ball--Heavy yields of golf-ball sized golden-yellow fruit with great taste. I like these so much they seldom make it indoors because I eat them while working in the garden. Indian Stripe--moderate yields (not as good this year as last year) of tomatoes similar to Cherokee Purple in flavor (excellent flavor) and appearance Chocolate Stripes--moderately heavy yield of red and green stiped tomatoes with average flavor Brandywine--low yields--so far 2 tomatoes from one plant and 5 from the other, but the flavor is great, and they are blooming now so hoping for more fruit set during the cool spell (which hasn't arrive here yet--it was 84 degrees here at 7:30 a.m. and felt like 89) Nebraska Wedding--Moderate yields of orange beefsteaks with outstanding texture and flavor Royal Hillbilly-moderate yield of fruit with amazing flavor--did not produce huge numbers like last year Tess' Land Race Currant--One of these is all you need. The plant currently is 8' tall and about 4' wide and I've had trouble keeping it upright. It currently is staked with 3 8' tall metal fence posts and 3 shorter wooden stakes. This produces tiny, red, round, tasty 1/2" wide tomatoes in great profusion....I'd say I've easily picked a thousand of these so far and it will produce until frost is heavy. A lot of flavor in a tiny tomato. We use these in salads and also I dehydrate tons of them. Sweet Million--heavy producer of red cherries with very good flavor Rose Quart--heavy producer of pink oval cherry types (not really as oval as most grape tomatoes) with very good flavor SunGold--as always, a heavy producer of golden-orange cherries with great flavor. Less cracking than most years. Black Cherry--superb as always and ties with SunGold in terms of great flavor and great productivity Ildi--a very prolific yellow grape tomato with amazing flavor. I've tried other yellow grapes and none of them can touch it in flavor. Some of the others are late to ripen.... Red Defender and Scarlet Red both have very heavy loads of large tomatoes. I am just about to start picking them. I think I picked a couple of Scarlet Red last week, but sent them to work at the fire station with DS, so can't comment on the flavor yet. These plants (and Moreton) have just about more fruit than foliage, and their foliage is heavy. I've never had plants in 7 to 10 gallon containers produce as many tomatoes per plant as these are producing. I can't wait to see how they do in the ground next year. Arkansas Traveler is producing medium-sized pink tomatoes with great flavor as always. Box Car Willie is just now ripening fruit. San Marzano Redorta is slow to ripen this year. Viva Italia has been a heavier producer and earlier and with fine flavor Black Plum was wonderful but both plants---one in a container and one in the ground--died of bacterial wilt. Mountain Princess produced heavy loads of pink, tasty fruit early on but was the first to die....of bacterial wilt. It was in a container too, and in fresh soil. (sigh) Some plants that won't be back: Dr. Carolyn (ivory cherry), Snow White (ivory to yellow large cherry) and Yellow Pear (kids love them). All three struggled with disease and died about the time they're producing heavily. That's all I can think of off the top of my head. I didn't grow a lot of my real favorites this year because I was worried about drought and wanted some heavy-producing hybrids. Next year (Jay, do you think I'll stick to this plan?) I am determined to grow only the best-of-the-best of the plants I've tried, and maybe allow myself to try 5 or 10 new varieties. I think I'll do a 50-50 split between heirlooms (better flavor, but usually lower productivity in our climate) and hybrids (flavor can be iffy, but heavy production). Dawn
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2009 Tomato Season Report The season started off with late frosts and leafhoppers delaying the tomato plant out. May was rainy and cold and by the time the plants were in the ground it was the second week of June. The Sweet 100 plant is the only exception as it was planted around May 15th. June was very wet with a record 8" of rain and no days above 80*. July was still wet and cool with only a handful of days over 85*. August was a little drier but still fairly cool. September was much drier and warmer which got a lot of the tomatoes to flower but it was to late for fruiting. October started off dry and cool but then turned wetter with temps dipping down to 31*. Most of the tomatoes got hit with disease and frost damage after the cold spell. The last part of the month was warmer with temps in the 50's and 60's but several inches of rain brought a bad tomato season to an end well almost anyway. The sweet 100 plant still has a couple more tomatoes ripening on the vine. I had no late blight in my garden a little bit of early blight and at the end of the season septoria leaf spot started showing up. Brandy boy: - potato leaf, medium about 5-ft, average disease tolerance. No ripe fruit but it did eventually flower and produce a couple of tiny green fruit. They both Had severe cracking issues. Crack size: all the way in to the middle of the tomato. The cracking was partly do to uneven moisture but this variety was still very crack prone. Brandywine Sudduth's strain: - potato leaf, medium/tall 5-6-ft, had a several disease problems especially later in the season. No flowers or fruit. Overall very disappointing. Cuostralee: - Regular leaf medium/tall 5-6-ft, Not great disease tolerance but it was able to grow out of the disease. No ripe fruit but it did flower. Japanese Black Trifele: - potato leaf, short 3-4-ft, top of the plant broke in a windstorm. good disease tolerance but not great. first ripe fruit october 30th after ripening indoors for two weeks, 1 ripe fruit. Taste: Gel is sweet with a slight tang to it. The meat is very mild and a little bit bland but it has a faint smoky flavor to it. No problems with cracking. I saved seeds. Marianna's peace: - Potato leaf medium/tall 5-6-ft, good disease tolerance until the end of the season when both plants yellowed. No ripe fruit. both plants flowered . Neves Azorean Red: - regular leaf, medium height 4-5-ft. It did get shaded by the brandywine plant next to it. Average disease tolerance but it would probably do better with more sun. No ripe fruit. the plant didn't even flower probably partly do to the weather and partly do to the shade. Sweet 100: - regular leaf, tall 7-8-ft , average disease tolerance first ripe fruit mid August, ~ 45 ripe fruit. Taste: Sweet with good "tomato" flavor. size small about an inch in diameter. Looks. perfect round bright red tomatoes in clusters of 5-10. Only cracks when ripe fruit are left on the vine during rain. Crack size : Just the skin cracks open not the whole tomato.
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Okiedawn OK Zone 7
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Scott,

YOU had to water! That's amazing. I would have thought you'd be the last person in Oklahoma this year who'd have to water anything. LOL

I love, love, love Brandy Boy. The first year that it hit the market, I was very, very skeptical, but I bought the seed and raised the plants and was very pleased with both the plant's performance and the mater's flavor. I've grown it ever since. EVERYONE who wants to sell a tomato will try to tell you that it "tastes like Brandywine" or "beat Brandywine in a taste test" or whatever. Brandy Boy, though, is one tomato about which I think this claim could be made.

In a good year, I am lucky to get 6 ripe tomatoes off of a Sudduth Brandywine (and maybe only 3 or 4 in a bad year), but I will get at least 3 times that many fruit, and often quite a lot more, from each Brandy Boy plant.

In the years since Brandy Boy debuted, Burpee brought out quite a few other tomatoes that actually seem to have been bred for flavor instead of grocery store shelf longevity. From this group of maybe a dozen tomatoes, the ones I've tried and decided were "keepers" are "Bucks County", "Little Brandywine" and "Porterhouse". This is my first year to try "Burpee's Big Mama", which is an indeterminate paste type that has long, large tomatoes whose shape kind of reminds me of Jersey Devil. I haven't eaten enough of them yet to decide if the flavor makes them a keeper, though. They are huge monster of plants and are prolific producers.

Dawn
soonergrandmom
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Speaking of rainfall .... a couple of weeks ago the Tulsa news said that western Oklahoma (Guymon, I think) had just over 6 inches of rainfall for the year compared to Jay which had 66 inches. Jay is just south of Grove in NE OK.

My tomato plants look terrible but we are eating a few. My pepper plants seem to have loved the weather and look like they are really going to do well.

For the first time, I have 3 eggplant that seem to be OK and are just starting to bloom. They suffered a little flea beetle damage, but not enough to harm them. Of course, I keep them covered for weeks to avoid the insects until they were strong enough to take it.
Okiedawn OK Zone 7
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Carol,

Isn't it incredible the way the rainfall here has been all over the place this year depending on where you live? I heard that there are some places in the panhandle counties that have had less than an inch of rain in 2008, and the area is in just about the same condition it was during the Dust Bowl days. I noticed on the radar last night/early this a.m. that it was raining in the westernmost panhandle county, though.

I'm glad you're getting some tomatoes--with the kind of rain you've had, it is amazing the plants have survived. I ALWAYS have a little flea beetle damage early, probably in the first couple of weeks after I transplant the plants into the garden, but the plants always bounce back. And, in my experience, even when tomato plants have a lot of foliar problems and don't look good at all, they still tend to produce some tomatoes, which is what really counts!

Scott, I meant to tell you that Bush Early Girl was an amazing plant when I grew it a few years ago. The plants themselves, of course, were significantly smaller than the regular Early Girl, but mine had twice as many fruit as the Early Girl plants growing right beside them. As soon as I picked all that first round of tomatoes from the Bush Early Girls, they immediately bloomed like mad and set a whole new round of tomatoes. The flavor is the same as Early Girl, but there definitely were more fruits per plant. I also think they ripened earlier.

Dawn
scottokla
Original Author
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
The folks buying at the local farmers market are usually turned off by blemishes on the tomatos, so they tend to snap up the Celebrities, Early Girls, and some Better Boys. (We sold about 10 lbs last night along with a bunch of berries and some squash and cucumbers.) A couple of people recognize the Brandywine type appearance and want to buy those, but I told them they were just for show. One guy said he would give $2 for one of them that weighed a little under a pound, but I said no this time. The kids love selling them, but it is too much work and time. It's a good experience though.

I see more tomatoes on my later plantings so I will give another update later for those who might be interested in how various common varieties have done this year. Omar's gave me one yesterday that weighed quite a bit over one pound - I'm guessing about 20 oz. Fletcher is doing better than I thought and Brandy Boy looks like it will continue to pump out big ones.

Blessed_Mom, if you read this, tell me how your have done so far.

Dawn, I bought the Bush Early Girl seed, but something happened to that entire tray and I didn't replant.

Poor man's tomato variety report

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Okiedawn OK Zone 7

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Poor man's tomato variety report

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