I'm wondering why you didn't label the plants with their variety names when you put them out? That's the only way you'll know for sure what's what.

I wouldn't rely on color or plant habit or fruit shape or anything else in terms of trying to ID a variety, especially with the number of varieties you have.

What many of us do is not just to label the plants as to which variety they are but then to also make a plot plan on paper so that if a critter pulls out a label, as just happened with one of my varieties, you still know exactly which plant is which variety,

Carolyn

carolyn - I do have a map of where everything is. And I'll probably label the different blocks after I get everything in. But I'm planting them very close, and in double rows (I'm determined to learn things the hard way), so I'm thinking the different varieties will be growing into each other. So even if I know where a plant starts, it won't be that easy to figure out where it ends. That's why I'm trying to keep them separated by things like color, size, etc. so I can figure out what's what. But since I just learned about picking them just after they start breaking, I'm now wondering if separating by color wasn't such a good idea.

Maybe a better way to ask would be, can you easily tell if a tomato is red, black, yellow, etc., just after it starts breaking? Is there enough color at that time, and is the color close enough to the final ripened color, to tell what it is?

No, I don't think that one can easily and reliably tell the final color of fruits when they first blush.

I used to grow my tomatoes in rows about 250 long, plants in the row 3-4 ft apart and rows 5 ft apart and the plants, mostly indeterminates but some determinates, would be one tangles mess eventually. But I always carried my data book with me when it came time to harvest almost to ripe fruits and even starting when the plants first showed their foliage I'd make notes as to leaf form, first blossom, first fruit set, plant habit, and then fruit form, and then finally fruit color.

I knew what they should be for all those traits, I think everyone should before they even set a plant out so they know if they have the right variety, so I never had a problem in harvesting the correct fruits from the correct plants. yes, there were times when I was growing a new variety where I knew nothing about it all , usually new family heirlooms sent to me.

Again, when a fruit first starts blushing, for instance, I couldn't easily and reliably tell the difference between a final red and final pink b'c there are all sorts of different shades just for those two color classes.

And even with ripe reds and ripe pinks I sometimes had to check the epidermis color to tell a dark pink from a red.

Carolyn

Take a Sharpie to the garden with you. When you pick a fruit determine which plant it came off of and write the name or an abbreviation or a code number on the top of the fruit near the stem - the part that will be cut off anyway.

Dave

carolyn - I'm giving myself a crash course in growing lots of tomatoes this year. I'm hoping to make enough mistakes, so next year I'll know what I'm doing. But right now I don't know much more about each variety than what's in the seed catalogues. I mentioned in my original post that I'm not expecting to be able to tell reds from pinks. That much I figured out for myself:) But what about blacks? Will a black tomato be distinguishable from a red? I'm mainly alternating between black and red/pink. If not, I'm going to have to come up with a plan b. I suppose I could put the questionable ones in separate boxes, and figure out what they are when they ripen. I'd only have to decide between 2 or 3 possible varieties for each one.

dave - The problem I think I'll have, is trying to figure out which plant some of the tomatoes are coming from. I'm planting really close, in double rows. So I may have 3 different varieties all in one tangled mess. I originally thought I'd be able to tell what color they were when I picked them, so I'm alternating varieties by color. So I won't, for example, have 2 different red beefsteaks next to each other. But now I know you can pick them when the color start breaking, without affecting the flavor. So I'm trying to find out if I'll be able to tell reds from blacks from yellows, etc. at the breaking stage. I'm going to have a lot of tomatoes to sort through, so I'm trying to make it as easy as possible

So I'm trying to find out if I'll be able to tell reds from blacks from yellows, etc. at the breaking stage.

Not at break. Possibly a very few exceptions or an exceptionally experienced eye and limited possible choices. Thus my suggestion to mark them when picked.

I'm giving myself a crash course in growing lots of tomatoes this year. I'm hoping to make enough mistakes, so next year I'll know what I'm doing.

Good luck with that. 40+ years of growing tomatoes and still working toward that goal. ;)

Dave

dave and carolyn - Thanks for your help. I'll probably be able to tell most of them apart by size, shape, or leaf type. And it may not be that hard to trace the vines, to figure out which plants they're from. But there may be a few I'll have to wait for ripening to know for sure. But now I'll know not to depend on color anymore. I'm planning to try selling some at a farmer's market, so I don't want to write all over them. But I was planning to keep them in separate boxes, so it'll accomplish the same thing.

Now that we have our regular inground raised beds I'm starting a garden diagram/diary this year. I'm trying to include some of last years plant placements for a 2009 entry but you'd be surprised how fast you forget what happened last year and what was where. This should impress you enough to keep even a simple diagram/diary especially for rotation of crops which keeps disease to a minimum.

You are making far more work by having planted too close .You also risk the chance of getting diseases easier.

People don't plan to fail,they fail to plan