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boulder_boy

Progress report

19 years ago

I'm back. Been busy holidaying, studying, fixing cars etc. Thought I would let you know how my Tom patch has been going. Short and sweet would be "not very good" I got sucked into growing all these different varieties and wasn't prepared. No soil or supports. Stayed in pots too long. Had to hand water until I got retic sorted two days before going on Hols. Sloppy job and pipes kept popping off so Toms didn't get watered properly while I was away. Too busy to feed, spray and tie as well as I should. Then when I returned from holidays started sorting them out, couldn't work out why they weren't responding and discovered that the retic solenoid filter was blocked with green slime and wasn,t working. In between had two 20mm downpours which split most of the first Toms. To top it all off we have had an absolutely shocking summer. Has been going strong since early December with lots of 40c plus. Not all bad though as most plants are still going and have been picking quite a few, probably 20 - 30 kg so far. Will now list individual reports. Reluctant to finalise judgement at this stage as all the above has had an effect on quality so far.

Mighty Red (Bunnings): Steady performer, OK taste, reasonable size, good cropper.

Burkes Backyard: I am devastated. These have been close to the worst performer this season. The fruit have been getting badly sunburnt, had a bad crop of grubs and were probably the worst for splitting with many rotting before ripening, either in the splits or the grub holes. Have had some good fruit and I still rate the taste as very good. I really can't understand how everyone else thinks they are tasteless. Even though they have struggled they have still cropped heavily. By the way Sir Don's website has not responded to my email so their true identity will remain a mystery. The good news is they are starting to rally and the weather looks like it may have broken.

Black Russian (seedling): Not impressed. After sorting out the mulch problem I still found them to be sooky. The flesh seemed slimy and the taste bland. I let it die before I went on holidays and will not be growing again.

College Challenger (ozmantis): Good performer, fairly heavy cropper, good looking 200-250gm fruit, taste OK (not quite as strong as I like) skin tough. I will be trying again.

Roma: So so.

Cherrokee Choc (Volvo): The strongest grower before I went on holidays. Sampled one small fruit. Not that rapt in taste. Very ribbed fruit. Came back from holidays to find it overcome by disease. Might try again.

Mariannas Peace (Volvo): As mentioned in previous thread I had Potato and regular leaf seedlings. Planted 2 of each. See photo below for the outcome. Pot leaf has large pink beefsteaks, reg leaf has small pointed red/orange. Both OK growers, croppers and only just getting fruit to taste.

Black Brandywine (Volvo): Good grower, medium cropper, good taste. I don't like the rough belly buttons on the bottom. Some of the holes are extending into the...

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