Needs a long, warm, unoccluded summer to ripen.
I think we will get as many variety names as there are people on this forum:
I have grown many varieties over the years and now I grow only 2 : Chef’s Choice (orange) and Super Fantastic (red). I don’t think either one would be classed as a large tomato for slicing, but the flavour can’t be beat so I use them for everything, slicing, sauces and soups.
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I start my tomato plants in the soil the third or fourth week of April. However, ideal growing conditions are often times from mid to late May until end of Sep.
Do you protect your tomatoes from the cold some way during first few weeks? Do you warm up the soil with black plastic?
Yes, quite big. Half a pound to one pound are quite common.
My main problem the past two years was overcast and too wet April/May. When temperatures drop to low fourtys, I cover the small plants with inverted buckets (this usually happens for a few days in April). Last couple of years I got an excellent head start by planting mid April, but then when the overcast and rainy weeks came, I felt that my plants stopped growing for a few weeks, but may be the roots were still growing.
I don’t use plastic soil cover because I don’t start from seeds. I start from small plants that I purchase from a small local nursery.
Well I’m impressed! I have relatives in Wilmington and Bethany Beach DE who focus on the 6 oz. size.
Robeson is a dense tomato. If you can successfully ripen 3/4 to 3/2 lb dense tomatoes then I’d encourage you to try again. Insure there is adequate potash.
Paul Robeson is very susceptible to foliage disease and the flavor is bland in any climate that has cool wet or warm humid summers. Grown in socal, it is a very good tomato. Grown in Illinois, and most will choose another tomato. Green Zebra is another that is an acquired taste. It is tart to the point of licking a lemon, but about 1 in 10 of my customers love it because they enjoy tart tomatoes. I encourage them to grow Jaune Flammee as a very good tart flavored tomato.
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Now I am so hungry for a tomato sandwich. A RIPE tomato not the pink crunchy whatever they are now tasting tomatoes.
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I second Jaune Flamme, a tasty round yellow tom, tart and a bit sweet and a very good producer. My plants usually grow to be huge- about 4ft wide and over 5ft tall. Fruit size for me has been about golf ball size. Its good production and disease resistance has earned it a spot in our garden again this year.
Russian Queen has also been a beast of a plant for us, always over 6ft tall, with Roma-type fruit. The coloration is nice, red with some orange striping. Pretty good flavor, and good DR.
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For slicing, Brandywine (Suddeth strain) for a red tomato and Kelloggs Breakfast (aka KBX) for an orange tomato. Both are decent producers- though for me KBX is way better- and both have amazing flavor in my garden. I’m experimenting with using a disease resistant rootstock for my Brandywine this year, as I get a late wilt that results in the loss of late-season production. Based on my reading this should make a huge difference for me.
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The farmer I work for often gets tomatoes over 3 lbs. although I think that is mainly due to early flowers fusing on some varieties.
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Has anyone tried Big Rainbow?
Yes, it is one of my favorites, meaty and delicious, lots of colors, beautiful! My Dad grows them to 2lbs every year. Mine being organic, are not even half the size, but my Dad grows the best tomatoes I’ve ever seen or eaten. His favorites are Big Rainbow, Cherokee Purple, Mr. Stripey, Big Beef, and Beefy Boy. Sunsugar is our favorite cherry, much like sun gold but firmer and does not crack like sun gold as it hangs on the vine. We also like Chocolate cherry. As for slicing tomatoes we like the above for flavor, color, meatiness, and we prefer one slice/ large for sandwiches, burgers, and eating.
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That’s great to hear! I just ordered several of those varieties yeaterday.
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You may also want to try Brandy Boy. Last year, they tasted 95% as good as Brandywine and are supposed to be much more disease resistant. The seeds can be pricey online ($6.99 exlusive to Burpee) but our Home Depot sells them for $2.50. I would check any store that carries Burpees seeds and they might have them. I’ve tried growing Brandywine every year and usually only get a few good ones. Most of mine are lost to blossom end rot. Last year, however, I sprayed the plants with rot-stop (foliar calcium) and fertilzed with the miracle-gro specifically for tomatoes. I ended up with dozens of tomatoes and they tasted perfect.
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I would choose Cherokee Purple over Brandywine personally – neither is super disease resistant in my experience growing in north central Virginia, but Brandywine has sparser leaves usually, so quicker to get overwhelmed by disease. I hope to try grafting both of these varieties though and seeing what difference that makes.
An unusual one that I liked was Cherokee Green. It has more tang than Cherokee Purple, not as complex but sort of refreshing. Disease wise about the same as Cherokee Purple.
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I have grown many different tomatoes through the years, my two favorites are Black Krim and Hilbilly. Black Krim is sometimes called an ugly tomato, very dark with green shoulders and some cracking, but oh, that flavor. A plate with alternating slices of the two is a real eye catcher. I live for the days I can harvest them.
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Am reading that calcium is one key to prevent blossom end rot. Is there such a thing as a disease resistant heirloom tomato?