First year for heirloom Tomatoes

[HunkieDorie23]

This is my first year to grow heirloom tomatoes. I am getting a little concerned with some of my plants.

First some are wonderful...
1. Marglobes - looks awesome
2. Rutgers - looks good
3. Money Makers - looks good
4. Super Italian - looks amazing (they may become my new favorites, let see how they set fruit)

Then I have the others...
5. Amish paste - looks skinny, not leafing out as well.
6. Hungarian Hearts - ditto
7. Yellow pear - ditto

Is this my climate or garden or is this how these start out.

The harvest date for the Amish Paste and the Hungarian Hearts have longer harvest dates. Anyway have any ideas?

 

[obsessed]

I am kind of over heirlooms. I have a few that only have a few tomatoes per plant. And since I am novice at best I was thinking I should practice on some cheap walmart maters for a while.

I did pick two peach tomatoes. Cant wait to eat them!

 

[HunkieDorie23]

I think that I can understand that. I am getting very worried because I can a lot of my tomatoes for the winter. I was heavily counting on the Amish paste and Hungarian hearts for the canning. If they don't turn out well I don't know what I will do this year, those 2 make up 15 of my 45 plants.

Of those 2 both are flowering. I picked off the flowers at first because I thought they were too small but now I have been letting them go. I am going to fertilize today. It has been raining so much I haven't done that yet.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm not familiar with those two specific tomatoes, but last year I tried Mr. Stripey and Black Krim for the first time. Halfway through the season I was very disappointed in them, but later in the season they came on like gangbusters. I decided to plant them again after all. I suggest accessing them over the whole season, not a part of the season. I'm not saying they will turn out great for you, but I sure hope they do.

I plant several different heirloom or open pollinated varieties, but I also plant some of the hybrids, maybe 30 to 35% of my total plants. Usually the hybrids give you more volume but less flavor. If I mix the heirloom or open pollinated with the hybrids for sauces and such, I get a depth of flavor I would not get just with hybrids and I've got the heirloom or open pollinated for fresh eating..

 

[Ariel301]

I've been growing heirloom tomatoes from seed for a while now and I have noticed they are very slow to take off. They will sprout and look awful and grow slowly for months, then suddenly explode with new growth. They also seem to be less productive than the hybrid type varieties you buy from Walmart or a greenhouse, but not enough to make them worthless. The flavor is much better. They do take a lot longer from planting to harvest, so you have to be really patient. That's why I've got a row of heirloom and a row of regular old Early Girl, because I get impatient waiting so long watching those tomatoes grow and ripen on the heirloom plants.

Give those slow ones time, lots of water and fertilizer, and some hot weather and they will really take off.

 

[vfem]

I'm not familiar with those two specific tomatoes, but last year I tried Mr. Stripey and Black Krim for the first time. Halfway through the season I was very disappointed in them, but later in the season they came on like gangbusters. I decided to plant them again after all. I suggest accessing them over the whole season, not a part of the season. I'm not saying they will turn out great for you, but I sure hope they do.

This is my test run year with heirloom as well. I planted 7 different kinds and I am going to evalute which I like, which do well, which do not so well, and what was a total wash!

With that said, I have some that are power houses already, with some kinda in sputter like yours.... BUT... with heirlooms that all don't just produce and produce... some like it hotter then others. Some produce a little all season, because they produce 2 lb matoes. Some produce smaller ones and don't get rolling until its WAY hot, like July. I have some that require 65-75 days... and others that show they require 85-95 and one up to 100 days! I must be patient when in a test phase.

That's why its a good idea to have MANY available through a whole season.

 

[digitS']

You all know that I like to talk about tomatoes, even when I have nothing to say. (If I don't know that I've just lost you, it won't hurt my feelings . . .)

Mostly from reading what other gardeners have to say (some seriously experienced tomato growers) it kind of looks to me as tho' some heirlooms aren't really "varieties" at all. They are more like "gene pools" with considerable individual plant variation within something called, "Aunt Edna's," or whatever.

I mean, when someone who pretty much knows what they are doing tells you that they grew 5 "Aunt Edna's" and each plant grew and produced differently, you gotta wonder.

There's also something called hybrid vigor or heterosis. Those genetic lines that the seed companies are crossing to get "Hybrid X" - well, they aren't Aunt Edna's and Uncle Elmer's. Nope, very likely - those lines are bred thru a number of generations just for the purpose of making that final hybrid cross. Thoroughbreds, with pedigrees and inbred to stabilize the outcome for just a few characteristics, I'd bet.

When those lines are crossed, we get that offspring "bounce" or vigor or heterosis - whatever you want to call it. Also, you get those traits that the breeders took so long to stabilize.

And, speaking of Thoroughbreds: Did you know that the record for the mile & 5/8 was set by Swaps at Hollywood Park in 1956?! . . . over 50 years ago! Man o' War was only 2 seconds slower (!), in 1920!! Isn't that amazing ?

Steve

 

[herbsherbsflowers]

I really like Cherokee Purples and have them every year. I also try other different heirloom kinds, but always have some hybrids too so that I have some tomatoes that I can count on. The heirlooms mostly taste better but the hybrids make lots more tomatoes. I've got black cherry and red currant. I'm not sure if black cherry is an heirloom. They are producing like crazy. I've also got sungolds that are loaded down and already have lots of fruit that is ripe.

 

[Kim_NC]

I'm another heirloom and hybrid grower. I can a lot of tomatoes too, plus salsas, soup bases, etc. I like a mix of plants for the same reasons already given - volume from hybrids and flavor from heirlooms.

And I always like to have heirlooms for seed saving. I think it's fun to save seeds each year for prosperity reasons. Someday I'm going to be able to say things like, "I've carried that particular line of seeds for 20 yrs now, saving seeds and regrowing each year." Plus you never know, if the SHTF, we'd all be happy to have our saved heirloom seeds.

Give your heirlooms time. Some may disappoint you, but many will do better than it might appear now. Good luck!

 

[HunkieDorie23]

And, speaking of Thoroughbreds: Did you know that the record for the mile & 5/8 was set by Swaps at Hollywood Park in 1956?! . . . over 50 years ago! Man o' War was only 2 seconds slower (!), in 1920!! Isn't that amazing ?

Steve

WOW that is amazing.

Anyway, thanks for all the info. I guess I just have to wait and see. I just what is really bugging me is that I thought those two would be fine because there are heirlooms to climates similar to mine. But maybe they are just slower. They do have the longest mature dates.

I also have mountain princess, I forget to list it. It is also doing pretty good.