What tomatoes will you grow in 2019?

[galinas]

Is it time to start 2019 discussion about tomatoes?
I want to start with my short list and ask couple questions.

My regulars:
Jetsetter (large fruited, early, great taste, pink globe, indeterminate)
4th of July (cocktail size fruited, very early, great test, red globe, indeterminate)
Tumbler(patio, cherry, very early, red, determinate)
Defiant(medium size tomatoes, good taste, but very dry, great for making ajika, red globe with yellow shoulders, determinate)

Trying this year:
Paul Robeson (Black, medium to large, great taste, smooth skin, less cracking, indeterminate)

I also have two free packs I didn’t order sent to me, and I can’t decide if I should try them out. One is Chapman and another one is Beauty. I only have 8 spots to comfortably plant tomatoes. Any addition means I have to give up on my regulars or squeeze them all together, so i have to be absolutely sure I want to try it .

[AndySmith]

My selections are mostly for canning with a few for fresh eating. In my climate I won’t start them until March. I have to concentrate on modern varieties that have disease resistance. I’ll probably shoot for about 8 plants of each variety, I’ve cut back this year:

Matt’s Wild Cherry (Indeterminant, early)
Sun Gold F1 (hybrid cherry, Indeterminant, early)
Tiren F1 (Paste/Roma, main season)
Speckled Roman (Roma, Indeterminant, main season)
Plum Regal F1 (Plum/Paste/Roma, Determinant, main season)
Valley Girl F1 (determinant, early)
New Girl F1 (Indeterminant, early)
Chef’s Choice Orange F1 (Beefsteak, Indeterminant, main season)
Big Beef F1 (Indeterminant, main season)

[Richard]

@galinas

Trying this year:
Paul Robeson

In your location it’s pretty much a crime not to grow it.

[galinas]

So you planting about 70 tomatoes? Are you selling them? If no, how can you utilize all of them? I can as well, making tomato juice, making paste, freeze for winter and so on… And I found that 16 plants I had last year was way to much. This year I am down to 11, and three of them potted…

[AndySmith]

Yes, have done over 100 plants in the past. I preserve with a cousin and we split the bounty, and I give away a lot of the fruits. We usually do salsa, sauce, stewed tomatoes, and this year we did some bruschetta and juice. I had more go to waste this year than I would have liked but we were too busy clearing pine trees from the future orchard site.

[subdood_ky_z6b]

Kind of early to say, but there’s a few that have done well for us in the past that will get a spot in this year’s garden: Chocolate Cherry, Orange KY beefsteak, Russian Queen, Gordost Sibiri, Dr Wyche’s Yellow and Jaune Flamme.

Haven’t done great, but taste good enough to maybe give these another shot; Romeo, de Barao, Girl Girl’s Weird Thing, Watermelon beefsteak, Siberian Pink Honey.

I think we’ll also try more hybrids this time, as these heirlooms don’t seem to have great disease resistance in our warm, humid, rainy environment. Maybe Celebrity, Brandy Boy and Better Boy?

There are some others I’d like to try again, but we’re consolidating our garden space this year, so I can’t go hog wild like I’ve done in the past. So, we’ll probably have to keep it down to maybe 30 plants.

[Ozymandias]

Last year I had only re-seeds from the previous year, lots of yellow and red cherry tomatoes and some medium sized yellow ones (almost certainly lemon boy). This year I am thinking about ordering a few grafted tomatoes to see how they do. (they are expensive on a per-plant basis but I really don’t want to invest the time and effort into grafting my own, especially until I know what to expect from them)

Separate question, does anyone have any good tomato cage recommendations? I am interesting in getting some really large cages that are durable and can last for years.

[Caleb]

Brandywine is always a must. It takes a while to ripen up here in the northeast but the flavour and disease resistance make it worthwhile.

Sungold for its early, sweetness and abundance.

Green zebra because it’s heavy bearing, a unique flavour and versatile.

Black krim for flavour and disease resistance.

Trying orange Amana for the first time. I like the idea a few one Lb tomatoes.

[kokopelli5A]

Just a few this year. Give the soil a rest.

‘Country Taste ‘ based on Harvestman’s report. ‘Stupice’ based on it’s overall productivity. We value it more for it’s ability to produce into the fall than its reputed earliness.
‘Moskovitz’ Seemed promising last year in a less favorable spot. Good sharp flavor.
Probably something or other from the nursery,

[clarkinks]

I grow tomato for lots of reasons e.g.
Sauce, fresh eating, salad, sandwiches and most are heirloom of some type. Not all seeds have arrived yet. Got some great seed company suggestions this year. For me it’s all about the flavor but production is somewhat important also. We typically save seed of our favorites so some strains we are growing for over 15 years. This will be the first year I tried a few of these but many I’ve grown a long time like Roma an old tried and true paste tomato in a class of its own for production and cooking. Roma is not a tomato with a lot of true tomato flavor like the others because it’s expected the other ingredients in the recipe provide much of the taste. Roma is a thick walled tomato with very little water perfect for making sauce which does not require hours of cooking off water like others.

[subdood_ky_z6b]

Thumbs up for trying Ohio Heirloom seeds, they’ve been a very good and cheap source for me. I might be buying some from them this year, even though I already have about 3 dozen varieties from them from previous years.

Where are the seeds from in the bottom of the pic?

[clarkinks]

@subdood_ky_z6b
Thanks for the seed company tips btw! It 's an heirloom seed seller named Michael Davis 1905 harbel st wenatchee wa 98801. He has very good ratings from eBay. His address is at the bottom also but hard to see so I zoomed in one of the packets below. His prices are reasonable. We need to setup a better seed exchange amongst the group of tomato growers on here sometime. I will need help identifying some of my tomatoes this year and am hoping the group can help. One of my favorites I grow is German lunchbox and I had a hard time finding it again this year but did locate it. I purchased a cherry tomato grabbag this year which contain some of the following “Gourmet mix of colorful cherry Tomatoes. Comes in a wide range of colors: gold, orange, creamy white, yellow, green, pink, purple, red, and some bicolors. Over 40 different varieties. 65 days from transplant, heavy yields. Very sweet. Great for snacks, colorful salads, ka-bobs, drying. 1-2 inch size. Varieties: Wapsipinicon Peach, Yellow Plum, Tumbling Tom Yellow, Tommy Toe, Tiny Tim, Sweet Million, Sweet Pea Currant, Sugar Lump, Riesentraube, Red Pear, Orange Cherry, Isis Candy, Black Opal, Rosella, Ambrosia Red, Yellow Pear, Sweet Apertif, Christmas Grapes, Ildy, Coyote, Indigo Drop, Honey Bee, Hundreds and Thousands, Ambrosia Gold, Lemon Drop, Chadwick Cherry, Currant Gold Rush, Large Red Cherry, Red Grape, Little Blond Girl, Jelly Bean, Brown Berry, Green Zebra, Black Cherry, Matt’s Wild Cherry”. Some of those varieties mentioned I’m not a huge fan of but there are only a couple I’ve tried eg, Matt’s wild cherry is not my favorite. I do like a surprise and it’s a great way to try a few new types even if I wind up direct sowing them they will be fine. There was a time heirloom seed nearly disappeared and some did. I’m thankful some good seed savers stepped up and save the rare seeds. Tomatoes seem to be back in good shape again but the ultra hard to find seeds with low germination such as the cucuzzi gourd which I love to eat are harder to find every year! Burgess sold it for a time as a new guinea butter vine which is much like summer sqash in flavor and grows on a cantaloupe type vine. I located seed on ebay this year but germination is a problem over half the time. The seed is very difficult to save properly. The vines are unstoppable once you get some viable seed.

[galinas]

Yes, Google Texas tomato cages. Expensive, but very good, l use them since 2008

[Ozymandias]

@galinas

Yes, Google Texas tomato cages. Expensive, but very good, l use them since 2008

Fantastic, believe it or not I was looking at another product that was considerably more expensive…

https://www.gardeners.com/buy/mammoth-tomato-tower-cages-set-of-2/8595740.html

The Texas Tomato Cages look like a good deal in comparison.

[speedster1]

Last year I grew 8-10 heirloom varieties. That was too many for the space I had. This year I’m thinking 4 varieties will be more appropriate. I haven’t thought much about which ones to grow but I’ll think of something. I will probably try a hybrid of some type this year. Just to compare disease resistance vs the heirlooms

[galinas]

Texas Tomato Cages look more durable to me. The one you linked doesn’t seem too strong. I have old version - 1.5’ in diameter, they now have 2’ and also you can buy extension to make it higher then 6’. I am very happy with them. After 10 years the ends that go to the ground started to rust, but they sure have several years ahead before they become unusable.

[AngelOreo]

@Ozymandias These are handsdown the best I’ve ever used. They even have the extension packs that are a must have if you don’t top your maters! My tomatoes were nearly 9 feet tall by the end of the season

As a side note…those same cages are also great for great all around use; Peppers, Eggplant etc. I grew a pepper last year, Stuff Enough, that was nearly 6 ft tall. I wish I had a cage for that one but it honestly stood strong on its own.

[AngelOreo]

What am I missing? Trying to post a picture of my list and failing. It seems to upload but thenpciture never shows? I did not see a self help area. I am using my phone not a pc if that matters.

[ltilton]

I saw a listing for a “Bonnie” tomato that claims to taste “like tomatoes used to taste”

Anyone know this one?

[galinas]

Make sure you click upload button,
then Browse , then upload again: