Help me plan my tomatoes. What 15 plants should I raise?

8 years ago

Last couple years I've gone way overboard. With 20+ plants and last year didn't work out the greatest.

Here is what I want to do with the tomatoes we grow: Is it possible with 15 plants
1. Make fresh salsa frequently (~10 times quart tub)
2. Can salsa (24 pints would be good)
3. Can tomato juice (I'd like 20 qts if possible)
4. BLTs

What would you suggest I grow for varieties? I'm going to refrain from suggesting to see what everyone suggests. I'm all for starting my own seed or ordering live plants or purchasing live plants.

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Comments (8)

fireduck
8 years ago
JM...this open-ended question will lead to many many diversified responses. My suggestion is to spend some time researching threads (like the one above now)...and pay attention to what folks repeatedly brag on. Know what determinate and indeterminate mean...and the advantages/disadvantages of each. If you are a novice...it might be best to at least grow some hybrids as insurance. A good heirloom tomato on your BLT... will hook you for life! haha
J M (zone 5a)
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Currently thinking the following:

Brandy Boy x2

Jersey Boy x2

Super Sauce

Big Rainbow

Wes

Anna Margaret's Hearts

Celebrity x2

Big Beef x 5

where is best place to get seed, especially the big beef?
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Prairiemoon, thanks for your kind words! I actually didn't start my plants from seed this year, but I do hope to do so next year.. This year, I bought plants early, potted them up and grew them inside my "fake greenhouse"... later, I did the schlepping them in and out on nice days thing. This was my original plan -- THEN I discovered the planters you could wrap, but it was all sort of an afterthought. Anyway, even though the weather has been similar both years (and to be fair, we've had unusually warm/sunny weather for our region), it's astonishing the difference from last year. Last year, I just threw the plants out there in April - and didn't harvest cherries till almost August. So I agree, I must be doing something right - and I owe it all to this forum! And, to Tomatoville. Well, also to the guy with the cool planters :-) Next year, I would like to grow starts that are ready to go out between Mar 15 and April 1. Then I will put them out at the "correct" size (rather than huge like I did this year) and put them in WOWs and wraps. (I did figure out how to use the WOW inside my caged planters, despite what I wrote earlier on another thread.) Growing inside the WOW and wrap should simulate a greenhouse like my back porch did. I am hoping by doing this that I will have earlier earlies, and decent production from late season varieties, which I used to completely avoid. Re: Alaska Fish and Morbloom... I have used both in the past, but no longer prefer this brand. The original is 5-1-1 and is good for leafy plants, but not so much for flowering ones. The Morbloom is interesting. It is made with fish, but I believe the 0-10-10 is acheived by them adding synthetic salts, so it's not actually certified organic (although it has an organic component). Of course, that is also true of the TTF, as I mentioned above. Nothing really wrong with that, but it's good to keep in mind. (This is actually true of Earth Juice, Foxfarm, and a lot of others). I remember the smell of original formula Alaska being horrible (far worse than Neptune's), but I can't remember how the Morbloom compared. Sey, I think what you are doing to combine the two fertilizers is very reasonable. I will be interested to see if you notice an increase in the number of flowers soon, or if you see more than in past seasons. In case fish doesn't turn out to be your thing, I have also used a Miracle Gro bloom formula in the past that seemed to work well.
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Fordido, yes I prune the lower branches and as the season goes on I am pruning a lot of the lateral branches (non fruit producing) in the center of the plant for better air circulation. I think with a toddler you are much better off with just six per bed. When I babysit my grandsons there is no way I could keep up with the pruning, spraying and the close attention needed for more dense planting and those two boys! Jennie
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There are hundreds of varieties of tomatoes and you can't identify them just by looking at the leaves. Yours appears to be one of the potato leafed varieties, such as celebrity or big boy. There are many others. You may be able to identify it further when it has fruit. Pruning is optional. There are two main types of tomatoes, determinate and indeterminate. The determinate varieties only grow to a certain size and tend to produce all their fruit at once. The indeterminate varieties keep growing as long as the weather is good. They keep producing fruit as long as they are alive. Some people pinch out the stems that grow between the main stem and the side stems.
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I've decided to transform the leaf mould bin into a compost bin sooner rather than later. Instead of emptying out all of the leaves, I've started incorporating grass clippings and kitchen/garden scraps into the bin, making sure it gets a good green/brown ratio. Over time, by turning the existing brown materials in with the new green materials, it should make good compost. The negative about this is that I won't be able to use this stuff for about two years, when I could have actually collected leaf mould in one year. The positive is that compost is more nutrient rich but can also be used the same way, as a top dressing or mulch, for water retention and weed suppression, but giving those plants a boost that leaf mould may not do. I'll work green materials in for about a year (or unless we get it so full that it absolutely can't hold any more) then setup another swimming pool composter up. On appx April 2018, the plan is to collect compost from the first bin. On appx April 2019, I'll collect compost from the 2nd bin. Then, April 2020, from the first bin, and on and on. Meanwhile, I'm slowly building up a small farm, with rabbits, cows, chickens, and eventually, ducks, possibly turkeys, etc. Rabbit poop = instant garden fertilizer + worm food, for vermicomposting, to collect worm castings for the garden, and the worms themselves could feed some fish, for a future aquaponics setup. Cow, chicken, duck, and turkey poop will be composted. As of right now, it's all about slowly moving forward, to try to obtain a balance, where everything works together.
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brigid32
8 years ago
I am also a fan of heirloom tomatoes for sandwiches. Cherokee purple (is that the right name? Something like that) grows will here in zone 9 and is tasty. May be different where you are; I don't know.

For canning, you will probably want a determinate variety, so you get a lot of tomatoes all at once. I don't know about juice, but San Marzano or any of its relatives make good sauce. Maybe they would make good juice, too? A few years ago, I grew one called sausage that was a San Marzano type and got millions of them that made great sauce and canned whole. I think it might be an heirloom.

I would think the same ones that are good on sandwiches would be good in salsa, although Cherokee might not be firm enough. There's a green one --zebra, maybe-- that is also good on sandwiches--very sweet-- and more firm than Cherokee.

Good sources of seeds are Seed Savers (especially for heirlooms), Tomatofest, and Just Tomatoes. I don't know if they will have big beef, but those all have lots of varieties.
brigid32
8 years ago
Sorry- the source I remembered as Just Tomatoes is actually Totally Tomatoes. (But, I swear I've gotten a catalogue from someplace called Just tomatoes before..can't find it now.)
tarolli2011
8 years ago
The highly fluted Costoluto Genovese is the best paste tomato I have ever seen -- and it has wonderful taste for eating fresh. It is not a mealy pear, but it is so dense that it beats the pears for sauce. Also a great producer, no disease problems. But be careful, seedsfromitaly is now selling a different CG (var Valente) that is not so convoluted. I have not tried it. Get the ugly one from another source. Since you seem to want mostly salsa, I would concentrate on CG.

In my opinion, the best juice I have had is from Big Boy. It is pretty acid (sharp and tasty, but not sour) - real tomato taste. Also, I make salsa from BB that gets absolute raves. He is unfortunately out of style now among fad-seekers, but he should be in every garden. Remember: "new and improved" usually isn't.

Don't buy plants unless you buy from an individual who is careful about disease. The ones from the garden centers are often LOADED with disease. Grow your own!
John A
8 years ago
My suggestions:

For salsa: Opalka

For canning & juice: Rutgers

For slicing: Brandy Boy and Cherokee Purple.

John A
lovestogarden
8 years ago
My favorite slicers are Cherokee Purple, 1884 (with salt!), and for something sweeter, Pineapple and I'd happily use the first 2 and most anything else in the garden when making salsa.
User
8 years ago
I'm new to Gardenweb, but I live in zone 4. We have cool, wet springs most years followed by 80-100 degree summers. Challenging for an heirloom tomato sometimes. I have found my best producers/finest flavors to be:

Costoluto Genovese. I agree with everything tarolli said about it, and it is usually the first one to ripen in my garden.. Excellent full flavor here. Not too sweet or too acid.

Earl's Faux. Great tomato for BLT's. Huge with great production. Sweet, but full tomato flavor.

Goose Creek (pink). I have trialed probably 75 tomatoes (a mere pittance compared to most people on this board). Goose Creek is our very favorite tomato of all time. This one has never failed to deliver sweet, smooth, wine flavored tomatoes that are great for BLT's, canning, salsa or salad. The skin is so thin, they peel without blanching, yet they rarely crack. They love the cool springs and keep right on going thorough the heat. If I only grew just one tomato... It would be Goose Creek.

For all you want to do, I would agree with fireduck and plant a hybrid or two. Although, I don't have one to recommend. All the best to you and have fun!!

Help me plan my tomatoes. What 15 plants should I raise?

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fireduck

J M (zone 5a)
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Help me plan my tomatoes. What 15 plants should I raise?

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fireduck

J M (zone 5a)Original Author

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J M (zone 5a)
Original Author