Excessive core season or variety?

[Jared77]

Hey,

This year I thought I'd try something different and grow some big tomatoes. My wife lives on tomato sandwiches all summer long and I figured this year I'd grow some that went from crust to crust. Cover the whole slice of bread right? (Plus it's a good excuse to try new varieties)

So I bought some Pink Brandywines & some Cherokee Purples. They did their thing including toppling their supports and we're loaded with BIG heavy maters. When I weighed them I had them averaging between 1-1.5lbs per tomato. And that's for both Cherokee purples and Pink Brandywines.

So we when we FINALLY got to slicing them for sandwiches they had big hard cores. I mean an excessive amount of core that made them all but useless as a slicer. I trimmed out the cores and they were just added to the salsa and canned tomato pots.

I'm not normally one to grow a real big tomato usually it's more paste and medium slicer varieties (12-16oz on average) so I wasn't sure if it was the weather that affected them or if it's an issue with the varieties I tried or what.

They had good color on both the inside and outside and the flesh was soft, ripe and tasty. But the excessive cores really was a let down.

We had a cool wet spring and summer (if you could call it that) and were on about 6 weeks late on our any of our tomatoes ripening. So I don't know if that played into it but DW said forget them and not to waste space on those again because of the cores on them.

Your thoughts? Is it worth trying again?

 

[catjac1975]

I think core goes along with the variety. Especially if you see it is consistent with the varieties you mentioned.My experience is that the big juicy sweet meaty reds tad to have a larger core. I cannot rave about my oxhearts enough this summer. Gigantic, sweet , juicy, meaty. The core is larger than some but not a major problem. The Steaks tend to have a bigger core too. But, so good.

 

[so lucky]

Jared, a couple of summers ago, it seemed like all my tomatoes had large cores. I don't even remember what varieties I grew, but it was more than one. I am pretty sure Big Beef was one of them, sadly. This summer, the tomato crop is small sized, and scarce, but the tomatoes don't have a core problem at all. Maybe next year you could just have one or two plants of the really large variety, and you can test your possible theories.

 

[seedcorn]

Brandy wines do have large cores. Why I grow Better Boys. Love tomato sandwiches. Also can't wait for first grilled hamburger with fresh tomatos.

 

[canesisters]

Last year, I do not recall my White Wonders having large cores. But this year they are all but useless and I'm so frustrated with them that I probably will no grow them again. The tomaotes are huge, but because they are a bit lobed, they are a mess to peel and the cores are so big that I feel like I'm tossing half the fruit in the chicken bucket. Last year the Uncle Mark Bagby and Chocolate Stripes were great for slicing but this year they were so split, cracked, and odd shaped that the ones that I actualy got to bring inside (instead of tossing to the chickens) went right into the sauce pot.
So far, for me, the Thessolinika (sp?) have been the big winners this year for slicing - although they are smaller = 2 slices per sandwich.

 

[so lucky]

Cane, thank you for posting that. Makes sense that weather or growing conditions contribute to the big hard core problem.

 

[baymule]

@Carol Dee posted pictures of her Mortgage Lifter tomatoes in the Heirloom Tomato thread. I saw no core! I am planting those next year. I grew Cherokee Purple this year and they do have a core to them, plus the top of the tomato bulges upward and doesn't make a good slice, but they are so GOOD! I also grew German Johnson and the core was not big, they made awesome slices and taste was one of the best I ever had.

 

[Jared77]

I did see those and will be giving Mortgage Lifter a try for sure.

We really liked the flavor of the Cherokee Purples but a lot went to waste.

Oh well nothing ventured nothing gained.

 

[baymule]

@Jared77 don't give up on the Cherokee Purple. I didn't have enough to put any up this year, but I did last year and those made the best durn home made chili I ever made! Maybe not a great sandwich slicer, but the taste more than makes up for that in other applications!