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Growing Tomatoes

I think I have a mislabeled plant - Arkansas Traveller

16 years ago

Can anyone tell me/show me what AR Traveller is supposed to look like? I have one that is setting fruit & they look like romas! Clustered flowers/fruit, squareish - this can't be right? Anyone with AR Traveller have a pic?

What should I expect from these romas - are they determinate usually??

Thanks all!

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Comments (9)

wjb21ndtown
16 years ago
From what I understand, Romas are determinate... As far as what to expect... Smaller fruit, but good tasting, low amount of seeds, and low acidity. They're good for making sauces... I would tell you what I typically yeild from a Roma, but you'd laugh!!! I'm a zone 5 though... My romas don't usually have a chance to finish bearing fruit before the frost... But it's quite possible that I'm doing something wrong...
fliptx
16 years ago
My Traveler is close to six feet tall, indeterminate, and the fruit have been weighing between 8 and 12 oz. They vary in shape a little (some quite round, some more flattened) but none have looked like romas. I was expecting smaller fruit, since all the catalogues I've seen list it as 5-7 or 6-8 oz, so maybe I don't have a Traveler, either.
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Arkansas Traveler tomato ??
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Comments (3)
Hi Sally - I have over 500 tomato varieties last time that I counted and Arkansas is was one of them. It all depends on the conditions they are grown and the amendments that you put either in soil or container, next is the weather that we can not control. For me it is a tomato that is supposed to be good for heat and tastes good but it is not disease free or white fly resistant. The really experienced tomato growers is like a "secret society", unless you know them you can not get access to a certain good varieties like the old Arkansas Traveler or new varieties for that matter that are not sold for home growers. The only one that I know is resistant to whitefly and is available for sale is Margo and is a medium tomato, decent flavor, very productive, the problem is that it has thick skins, it is also a determinate variety. Last season I was given the variety Plum Regal, that is resistant to some blights and is a saladette, it was also very productive but last season I also grew 45 different varieties that were liked better by me and the family. But if I was growing only a few varieties maybe I would rated this variety high, but to tell you the truth I had so many that I made sauce with them. Silvia
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Allrighty...how many mislabeled/mispackaged seeds should I expect
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Comments (5)
So, question is: what % of seeds that you have bought have turned out to be the wrong variety? ***** Anthony, I'll answer generically since I personally do not buy tomato seeds. For several years each year I did a wrong varieties thread here at GW. And there was lots of feedback. I mean seeds purchased commercially, not tradeed seed, b'c there's a much higher rate of wrong varieties with traded seed as I think most folks know. The data submitted was very interesting and it's very clear that seed trueness varies widely from different sources and so can seed viability. I have no idea which suppliers you used for your seed so I really cannot comment further, but I think it's reasonable for me to say that most folks buy their seed from a limited number of places where there's been a good track record, blurbs are accurate and not plumped up, seeds have high viability and service is very good and seed prices are reasonable, not plumped up. That being said, there's no place that offers OP seed that has a perfect record just b/c of the way OP seed is produced. Some sources produce ALL of their own seed, some buy seed off the shelf from wholesalers, some subcontract out for seed production and most use a combo of all of these different sources for their seed. Some places do seed viability tests and some don't, and of course that's an important factor as well. How a place stores seed also is important since a viability test done this year that's great doesn't mean that much if the seeds are stored at ambient room temp in glass jars and sold for the nest five years with no viability tests in subsequent years. A complex situation indeed. Carolyn
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How big do Arkansas Travelers get?
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Comments (3)
Yep, me too. This is about the same size as mine. And I agree about the taste as well. We loved it and will definitely be growing it again next year. We've had a weird year (like everyone else) but our weather has been such that I got fruitset in May, then it shut down by high heat in June. But by early July I was able to harvest the first flush and record cool temps (80-85) for us in July have allowed a second flush. Hopefully they'll ripen in August and I may get a third flush for Sept/Oct! Each of my flushes have been between 12-20 fruit that were about 3 inches across and round in shape. I only have one of these plants growing. :) Susan
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Arkansas Traveler
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Comments (4)
Hi dbarron ... what an interesting time to be there and growing! Here's a 1976 excerpted part of an article written about the Arkansas Traveler tomato cultivar in your University's town's newspaper. It illustrated just how remarkable the variety was at the time you had front center seats. Despite a degree from Cornell, Dr. McFerran was still had some hillbilly in his Arkansan heart. He also was involved in the breeding of Ozark Pink, continuing with the Arkansas Traveler theme, which he apparently liked … Did he play the fiddle or banjo? Music Video of the Arkansas Traveler which the tomato honored I'd take that bet he did :-) Northwest Arkansas Times of Fayetteville, AR Thursday, June 24, 1976 Page 4 "...the Arkansas Traveler tomato developed by the Horticulture Department is now grown on 2,200 acres in Bradley County. It constitutes an $8 million dollar industry. Those people almost lost their tomato industry from disease, and this remarkable plant was developed to replace the failing one. They know the value of research done by trained scientists ... McFerran and Company, This silent war (mostly plant breeding) goes on to prevent the wiping out of our great agricultural crops. (Note, the tomato was referred to interchangeably as Traveler (Traveller) and Arkansas Traveler, since the beginning,and that’s an Arkansas thing, not an addition by outsiders specifying that it was from Arkansaw, but a real part of its unique history. The Arkansas Traveler fiddle tune to residents of the State, like the student newspaper, were called "Traveler" with the understanding they referred to the "Arkansas Traveler" which was not necessary to say in common parlance. Similar to a US resident calling Dr. Clinton a former President, when in the United States, but former “President of the United States” by those abroad.) PC
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blanesgarden
16 years ago
Caroline, The Arks look like your basic medium-sized almost perfectly round mater. I grew these from seed, and out of 4 plants I should have about 60 or so from the 1st flush.

The main reason I grew these was That I was told Arks keep on producing in the high-90 degree heat here in MS, well see and hope this helps Ya and Good Gardenen to Ya!
caroline1
Original Author
16 years ago
Rats! That's what I thought. I live in Arkansas so I thought it would be neat to try one. Oh well. If they are determinate (Romas), then how do they keep going till frost? How tall would you say they get (I only have a little cage on them since they looked different than my heirlooms...). UGH!
debbieisbell
16 years ago
I grew Ark Traveller last year and again this year,this year because they were GREAT producers last year.The fruit was not huge but small round as described,but boy once they put on fruit they kept going and going even in our dry AZ temps 90's.I really was impressed.
triple_b
16 years ago
I would be SO bummed out. AK Traveller is one that I would like to try one day because our Okanagan summers are as hot as anywhere else. If I got my hands on one and found it was a Roma.....(I'd cry. sniff)NOT that there is anything wrong with Romas but when you are expecting one thing...
wjb21ndtown
16 years ago
Caroline1...

I think my plants only fruit until frost because they're not done producing by that time... I'm a zone 5er and don't usually get them in the ground until early June or so...

I've tried with Romas, and I like them due to their low acidity, but I never seem to get them above 3' or so and I never seem to get them to give me everything they have... All year I'll only get around 15 or so maters per plant... I just keep trying new stuff and seeing if I can get more...
smj0730
16 years ago
My Roma stands at 4 feet and I had gotten one of those $1.17 metal cages from Lowes, and it's far too wide. I suppose different growers mean different kind of plants in the end. Right now it's just the beginning of June, been planted for about a month and a half and I'll be able to can from my Roma by probably the beginning of July since it's doing so good for me.
sunsi
16 years ago
Thanks, blanesgarden for the photo of Arkansas Traveler I'm growing them for the first time this year and wasn't sure myself what they look like. By the way, I'm so jealous of you southern gardeners with your head start on tomatoes they look great! lol

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