@ReaLM
You have me wondering now if weather was what the problem was with the low numbers of Cherokee purple my land produced. Big boy, Better boy, Rutgers etc. Do not seem to have any problems with heavy production in the same soil and in the same weather. I’ve also had problems with yellow pears and various cherry tomatoes cracking as mentioned above during rainy times.
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Has anyone tried Madame Marmande Hybrid? I’m hearing good things.
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Figured I would mention there are some great deals on tomato seeds on eBay right now from seed companies and individuals. Many seeds I purchased on there are from legitimate seed companies and others are leftovers from those used for education this year e.g. https://www.m.ebay.com/sch/i.html?sid=1.tropic.lady&isRefine=true&_pgn=1
Make sure seller rating is good like in the case of the seller I mentioned <99% , look at location, look at longevity before making a purchase. Some similar seed I purchased elsewhere cost me 2-3 times the price and a lot more seed comes in some packs than others! A normal packet has 30-50 seeds but some packs have 10 seeds and others 200 seeds so highly recommend you watch seed count this year because seed sellers have angles! As mentioned on other threads shipping should be free or close to it so watch these seed companies trying to make $5-$9 on shipping tomato garden seed. It does not cost close to that to ship seed but I can see a nominal shipping fee of a few dollars for large orders. As many others have said watch it on eBay and sites like it because there are lots more bad seed sellers than good ones. There are tons of bargains on eBay and some very difficult to find seeds from seed sellers who have sold on there 10+ years. .
Soldaki, large red cherry, Amish cherry, Kentucky yellow, black cherry , yellow brandy wine, pinapple,
Cherokee purple, bobcat hybred, giant belguim, mortgage lifter, mortgage lifter, celebrity, mountain fresh,
early girl, better boy, black krim, big beef, two each in 15 gal pots here in eastern NY and two each over in central NY in a garden, two hundred miles apart but both in zone 5 and the weather is the same, but here water is guaranteed.
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I notice a mention of Stupice. Some years ago members of the (now defunct) chapter of Canadian Organic Growers here in the Niagara Peninsula tested it, seed from Territorial Seeds. Growers on sandy soil thought it was a good plant but a mediocre tomato. Growers on clay soil raved about the flavour.
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This year I got more involved with choosing tomatoes for us to grow, partial due to the 2018 tomato growing topic being so useful.
This year, and the two following years, I am going to focus mainly on the 'Black/Purple varieties to see which of those grows best in our varying climate.
I was gifted seeds in 2010, some were tomato seeds, some where the “Weaver’s Black Brandywine” variety. That is when I gained interest in the black/purple varieties, I love the fruit of that variety, we pick a lot of them green and let them ripen indoors, to keep pests from taking them/destroying them, they still taste great. As many people know that the variety is slow producing/slow ripening, and it starts production late, yet still we like it enough to keep growing it despite that.
Here is what we will be growing this year.
Slicing tomatoes:
- Black from Tula
- Cherokee Purple
- Paul Robeson
Cherry Tomatoes:
- Helsing Junction Blues
- Black Cherry
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Great lineup!
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@alanmercieca, do you have room for more black tomatoes? I have a few more varieties if you want some different ones to go with the ones you have.
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Thank you for the offer, I do have room for a cherry tomato plant or 2, Ever since I had seen the photo of your “Helsing Junction Blues”, I have been thinking about the variety. Do you have any spare seeds of the variety?
It is too early to figure out my list of tomatoes to grow this year. I will do my usual of about 250 plants in the ground of about 80 varieties. I grow for tomatoes to eat, to can, and to save seed.
If you are interested in some good advice for growing seedlings, have a look around my website.
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Well, since Ohio Heirloom seeds had a January sale, I couldn’t resist picking up a few more packets of seeds:
Tomato:
Azoychka - a yellow medium beefsteak
Hillbilly Flame - a larger striped type beefsteak, mostly yellow with orange stripes
Omar’s Lebanese - a very large red beefsteak, some reach 2lb
Red Strawberry - large pink oxheart of German origins
Sister Miriam - large red oxheart, has origins in Europe
Peppers:
Bhut Jolokia (Ghost pepper) - yes the dreaded ghost pepper. I tried 7-pots last year, will again this season, but wanted to try these scorchers.
Fish pepper - medium hot, flavorful, variegated color pepper, popular in the Baltimore area.
Plus some various greens, like spinach, lettuce and some basil.
Can’t wait for spring. Probably will have to start the ghost peppers within a month or so.
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Ok thanks. How long do they typically take to germinate?
I was surprised that when I grew your 7-pots last year, they germinated very quickly, within a week or so, along with the tomatoes. I got a very good crop of the whites, but the Bubblegum not so much. So, I will have to start that variety sooner.
they could take weeks.
Super hot peppers are unique in requiring good to very good growing conditions. I put a gallon of dried chicken manure beside each plant. They do not respond very well to commercial fertilizer.
Dosage is key.
Re: Tomato cages
I use regular woven wire cut and circled around with the ends wired together. Then I use a T-post driven in the ground and the tomato cage wired to the T-post.
Tomato cages tend to blow over here in KS/MO without support of a T-post. The cost of the cage and T-post is pretty small compared to the cost of Texas tomato cages. A T-post is about 5 bucks (cheaper used on Craigslist). A roll of woven wire is less than a dollar a foot, so the cost for the wire itself is about 6 bucks per cage. Again cheaper if bought used on Craigslist.
The galvanized wire has very good weathering ability.
A disadvantage is that if “hinged” woven wire is used, the part of the cage opposite of where the T-post is sags a little under heavy tomato loads (because it’s unsupported). Although I use hinged woven wire for my tomato cages and put up with a little bit of sagging on the side opposite the T-post. However imo, this sagging can be overcome by using fixed knot woven wire, especially if it’s high tensile woven wire.
I have some of this fixed knot woven wire for the bottom half of my deer fence. It is really tough and I think would be very rigid if tied in 2’ dia. cages.
Another disadvantage is that most woven wire is 4’ tall, which is a bit short for vigorous tomato plants. But woven wire can be purchased in increments taller than that (i.e. 4’, 5’, 6’ or even 8’)
Here is a roll of 8’ wire (330) roll for a little more than $1 per foot (shorter wire is of course cheaper). A 330’ roll would make about 47 cages (at 7’ per cage - to allow for a little overlap). With a tall T-post total cost is about $15 per cage. Still much cheaper than the Texas cages. Plus more durable and won’t blow over under heavy tomato loads with high winds, like the Texas cages would.
Farm supply stores (like Tractor Supply) generally carry some taller sizes of woven wire in stock, but generally not as tall as 8’. The place where I buy my fence supplies (Kencove Fence Supplies) carries 4’ and 6’ fence in stock, but the 8’ can be ordered.
You generally don’t have to pay shipping if you pick it up at the store, so it’s best not to order fence online and have it shipped to your address. The shipping is cost prohibitive. Instead, if you need to order taller sizes, order it at the store and avoid shipping (generally).
Lastly, if you don’t need a 330’ roll, a lot of woven wire fencing is sold in 100’ rolls.
High tensile fence can be a little hard to cut if you don’t have a strong grip. I cut it with lineman’s pliers. If your grip isn’t real strong, you will need a small set of bolt cutters to cut the wire, or a fence crimp tool with built in cutters to cut the wire (like this one).
The back part of the jaws cuts the fence and the front part of the jaws is used to crush a fence crimp. All this stuff can be gotten at your local farm supply (Orschelns, Tractor Supply, etc.)
Btw, you could use fence crimps to join the two ends of the wire to make a cage, but we just use the wire itself to join the two ends. Just bend each end of wire around to make the cage. If you are OCD about have a professionally looking cage, you could use fence crimps at the connecting ends (fence crimps are cheap). This would also avoid any wire ends to potentially poke you while picking. I don’t use the fence crimps for cages because I don’t care if they look professional. The tomatoes don’t either.
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Have already started Big Beef F1, Stupice, and Creole.
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