Can anyone please help me.
The leaves on my Tomatoes look weird.
young and old leaves look about the same .
Had a soil test last winter
they said that I have about twice as much phosphate as I need, so I don’t think I have phosphorus deficiency.
Phosphorus and/or micronutrient deficiency. Why? Because uptake of phosphorous and micronutrients can be blocked by low temperatures and by having too much nitrogen in the soil. Also, phosphorous is sensitive to soil PH. Here is a link to a document from a long time ago that discusses some of the concerns with PH too high or too low. Crops do not use a large quantity of phosphorus, but what they do use is most important and the supply must be good
There is a very similar thread on Tomatoville discussing almost the identical problem. It is worth reading though you may have to set up an account first.
This seems like it was grown under a blurple led
Would you please provide some comparisons of Sun Gold and Esterina. In areaof flavor , which one is sweeter ;in size which one has bigger fruit size; in productive, which one produces more fruits in each season; in the disease resistance, which one is easy to grow? Thanks.
Sure thing. Esterina for us had bigger fruit, and a little sweeter and definitely less cracking. But it had thicker skins and lacked the tomato flavor profile, so it felt almost a little too sweet without any great flavor (I love super sweet tomatoes normally…). This year we’re going just with Sungold for our yellows. Sungold produced more fruit over a much longer period and did better in the heat here in Sacramento, and the flavor profile was more complex and we definitely preferred it. Esterina didn’t handle the heat of the summer as well and productivity really waned, where the sungold never stopped and seemed full-proof to anything that was thrown at it. Very reliable.
We also ended up trying Juliet and Jelly Bean which ended up being two of our favorite red varieties.
2 Likes
Shauna . Appreciate your inputs. I am at the point need to decide what tomato seeds to buy. What you shared is big help. Thanks a lot
For what it’s worth, Esterina has out produced sungold for me in the Kansas City area for the last couple of years. It’s a ball of sugar and probably my favorite cherry tomato, but the sungold is more balanced and really good too. I agree there’s less cracking and has overall been a really great tomato for us. Both are solid choices.
3 Likes
Nathan, Thank you for sharing your experience of growing both tomatoes. I just ordered Esterina. I grow Sungold every year, and I am very happy with its flavor. But its easy to crack bothers me. I am going to try Esterina.
1 Like
Having bad luck in buying tomato seeds from several places. Newest one, paid for it, never got the seeds , no correspondence, no nothing, paid by ppal. Other’s total failure. Found a place selling very nice looking tomatoes, bought 2, excellent flavor, use seeds for this growing. Might be different looking fruits or taste. Just going to buy from local growers from now on. Pretty large!!! The lady didn’t know the name anymore, she selling several varieties. Love challenges.
With last year leftovers I am good to go for this year. Got enough for what I want.
2 Likes
Only growing cherries this year… super sweet 100 and sun gold. Both very good and quite different.
All we really need.
2 Likes
Anybody have a suggestion for something more heat resistant than sungold and super sweet 100? I’ve got about a month in the summer where neither will set more fruit due to daytime temperatures.
Sungold is a beta carotene orange tomato that is super sweet with a tropical fruit flavor. Super Sweet 100 is very sweet, but has very little flavor. Some good choices if you care to look for them are:
- Black Cherry - superb flavor in a very dark cherry size tomato
- Galina’s Yellow - one of the best flavored yellow tomatoes you can grow
- Dr. Carolyn Pink - stupendously good flavored large pink cherry
TheGrog, if you are getting so hot that cherry tomatoes won’t set fruit, there is very little alternative. Everglades Wild tomato will get as close as any I’ve seen, but is otherwise unremarkable. I grow Tropic and Creole which are large fruited tomatoes with decent heat tolerance. They won’t set fruit above 98 degrees. There is one cherry tomato that is not available to my knowledge that could meet your needs of heat tolerant fruit setting. It is Lycopimp which has been traded among a few growers for the last 10 years.
1 Like
I have heard black cherry is supposed to have good flavor and tried them once…
Not again… did not taste good to us at all… they did grow like crazy… produced a lot of vine and nice sized cherry tomatoes… most of which we did not eat.
I would much rather have super sweet 100 or sun gold.
I grew two cherries last year SS 100 and a red grape tomato… the red grapes were bland flavor and sweetness wise compared to SS 100.
Wont be trying the red grape again either.
If you have not tried SS 100 dont let Fusions words discourage you… a lot of people have different opinion of them.
For me here in TN the production did slow down late july early august… just too hot… but mine did come back and produce more late aug, sept, oct
Millennial Gardner has a good vid on cherry tomatoes… check out the taste test results.
SS 100, sun gold, sun sugar and black cherry.
4 Likes
When is the ideal time to start tomato seeds indoors for Alabama Zone 8A?
Generally, the time to start your seeds is about 6- 8 weeks before the last expected spring frost date in your area , planting the seedlings outdoors about 2 weeks after that date.
…
Goog search results from Johnnys Seeds site.
1 Like
Auburn, this week is ideal for starting tomatoes in your location. You can plant them outdoors about April 15th.
People have different tastes and preferences. When it comes to tomatoes, this shows up a lot. Some want sweet tomatoes, others want rich old time tomato flavor. Some - like me - want balanced tomatoes with sweetness and flavor. Then there are lemon suckers. These are people who eat raw lemon. They prefer very tart tomatoes like Green Zebra or Jaune Flamme’.
1 Like
Thanks
I threw a bunch of seeds down. All longer than 80 days. No cherry tomatoes this year.
Andrew Rahart’s Jumbo Red
Arkansas Traveler
Black Krim
Classic Beefsteak
Giant Belgium
Buffalo Steak
Caspian Pink
2 Likes