Opinions on Tomatoes, please?

[Whitewater]

I'm fine with the drift Now, if we were to suddenly start talking about something that hasn't got anything to do with the tomatoes themselves, well, I think the mods would step in!


Whitewater (who is interested in this discussion, muchly!)

 

[digitS']

Since Whitewater has cut us some slack (thank you, Whitewater):

I was reading a Mother Earth article about tomatoes recently and it had a quote from that tomato expert I was telling you about Vfem, Randy Gardner at NCSU.

Dr. Gardner said something like, "The reason many heirlooms have an abundance of flavor is because they have so much foliage compared to the number of tomatoes."

So, an heirloom tomato is "supported" by all these leaves pumping all this flavor into it -- along with sugars and other things. A "modern" tomato variety may be remarkably productive but that means, few leaves, many tomatoes . . . and probably, not much flavor.

I can attest to this a little. I have grown Legend which is a non-hybrid but it is still very modern - maybe despite its name. The "legend" is probably the originator of this variety, James Baggett of Oregon State U. It is a remarkable variety for a number of reasons, one of which is its resistance to blight.

Legend was incredibly productive in my garden. Really small plants with more fruit than one could imagine. I mean, you'd look at it and it was like fruit connected to stems, you couldn't hardly see the leaves. The fruit was beautiful and large but . . . not a whole lot of flavor.

I've got it again this year - Legend. I appreciate its health and early, abundant performance. There's nothing at all wrong with it and I've got other varieties with some - *pizzazz* !!

Steve

 

[vfem]

Since Whitewater has cut us some slack (thank you, Whitewater):

I was reading a Mother Earth article about tomatoes recently and it had a quote from that tomato expert I was telling you about Vfem, Randy Gardner at NCSU.

Dr. Gardner said something like, "The reason many heirlooms have an abundance of flavor is because they have so much foliage compared to the number of tomatoes."

So, an heirloom tomato is "supported" by all these leaves pumping all this flavor into it -- along with sugars and other things. A "modern" tomato variety may be remarkably productive but that means, few leaves, many tomatoes . . . and probably, not much flavor.

I can attest to this a little. I have grown Legend which is a non-hybrid but it is still very modern - maybe despite its name. The "legend" is probably the originator of this variety, James Baggett of Oregon State U. It is a remarkable variety for a number of reasons, one of which is its resistance to blight.

Legend was incredibly productive in my garden. Really small plants with more fruit than one could imagine. I mean, you'd look at it and it was like fruit connected to stems, you couldn't hardly see the leaves. The fruit was beautiful and large but . . . not a whole lot of flavor.

I've got it again this year - Legend. I appreciate its health and early, abundant performance. There's nothing at all wrong with it and I've got other varieties with some - *pizzazz* !!

Steve

See that is great! I was looking for a very productive variety open pollinator.... something hardy, disease resistant but still with some flavor. Our tomato stand only sells Better Boy and a low acid Carolina mountain tomato in yellow. Not much flavor for me, but I love the size of the Better Boy.

With all this Genius in NC on such things I've gained more interest into researching... I really need to go take some master gardener classes soon at the extension office!

Oh, if only I had the time.

Ok, off to Yoga!!!

 

[HunkieDorie23]

I am finding this a very helpful thread. But I have a question.

I am going with heirlooms this year (and wish I would have had this insight before ordering my seeds) and I was reading that you should prune your tomatoes for a larger harvest. I have never done this before but was thinking about it.

This year I am going with . . .

Super Itialian Paste
Amish Paste
Yellow Pear
Hungarian Heart
Mountain Princess
Rutgers
Marglobe
Moneymaker (free sample)

I bought rutgers and marglobe from a nursery several years ago and really liked them. Everything else is new. I normally grow roma's, early girl, better boy and a cherry. I have eaten yellow pears. My brother had them a few years ago and my husband and I both loved them.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Since this is still related to tomatoes, I'll give this link.

Why Prune tomatoes
http://www.growing-tomato.com/Pruning_Tomatoes_A_Guide_to_Pruning_Tomato_Plants.html

Different people prune for different reasons and many don't prune at all. I prune to help keep the tomato plant off the ground to minimize the chance of blight. That is also one reason I mulch. I like to keep the plant open near the ground so it will dry out faster, in my opinion lessening the chance of some diseases. And, last year I trellised my tomoatoes, which means I ran them up a fence, not in a cage. With them growing in two dimensions, not three, there was just not enough room on the fence for all those suckers and side limbs. This year I plan to cage, but I'll still probably try to keep it fairly open right on the bottom so it dries out better.

I do not prune for larger tomatoes, although some do.

 

[GardeNerd]

In no particular order:

Early Girl
The Bonnie 'Tomato'
Black Krim
Cherokee Purple
Valencia
San Marzano

Any thoughts?
Whitewater

From your list, I have only grown Early Girl and San Marzano. Although I like both okay, I have since found others I like better.

Instead of San Marzano, I prefer Super Marzano. It is vigorous, disease resistant, and has extra large very meaty roma like tomatos. It held up well in the heat too. The San Marzano was just like any other Roma I tried.

For Early tomatos, I stopped growing Early Girl and now my favorite is Stupice. Once I started growing Stupice, I have never gone back to any other Early variety. It ideal in cold weather and still sets fruit easily. I have planted this one in October and harvest tomatoes all winter on it up through May. When I plant one in the spring, if there was a neighborhood contest for first ripe tomato, I would always win with Stupice.

*For tomato varieties, I am extremely spoiled. I attend the Fullerton Arboretum's Monster Tomato sale each March. I have been told it has the largest tomato plant selection for sale in the country. They sell more than 230 varieties of tomatoes and 75 peppers. It is always sooooo hard deciding what to pick. Here is a link to their site. http://fullertonarboretum.org/ps_MonsterTomato.php
There they have an extensive list with all the descriptions of each variety of tomato.

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

I am finding this a very helpful thread. But I have a question.

I am going with heirlooms this year (and wish I would have had this insight before ordering my seeds) and I was reading that you should prune your tomatoes for a larger harvest. I have never done this before but was thinking about it.

This year I am going with . . .

Super Itialian Paste
Amish Paste
Yellow Pear
Hungarian Heart
Mountain Princess
Rutgers
Marglobe
Moneymaker (free sample)

I bought rutgers and marglobe from a nursery several years ago and really liked them. Everything else is new. I normally grow roma's, early girl, better boy and a cherry. I have eaten yellow pears. My brother had them a few years ago and my husband and I both loved them.

I particularly love Yellow Pear and Marglobe, two of my favorite varieties that always produce well and early and often.

Generally speaking, I found pruning advantageous in a few situations, although I don't make it a habit since there is so much involved in other aspects of the garden:

1. Should you want to grow *super big* tomatoes from a larger varietal than pruning may assist with this, along with other practices, since energy is put more into the fruits that exist and not new growth. This also requires you to cut off ALL new growth once fruiting occurs to ensure large fruits.

2. Dense foliage or compact plants in wet conditions. Since we tend to cage our tomatoes this may prevent proper ventilation in plants that tend to more dense in their growth. This can cause disease and ultimately death to the plant which results in poor or no harvest.

3. To tame sprawling plants. Yellow Pear can grow to a huge mass. One year several plants were close to 12 feet and it just had to be cut. If your plants are touching the ground this can lead to disease or if they are taking over the space of other plants. This also can lead to water absorption issues, IME, as with any large plant of this nature.

In general it's a good idea to remove suckers from the lower rungs of plants as they grow and keep them tamed in the cages that you present. However, and this may depend on the variety, pruning can reduce your overall crop.

Specifically

Super Itialian Paste- have no experience
Amish Paste- can sometimes be very dense and requires better ventilation
Yellow Pear- sprawls, can take over very easily. produces more than you can ever imagine so pruning has little effect on harvest
Hungarian Heart- no experience with pruning habits
Mountain Princess- little to no advantage to pruning
Rutgers- little to no advantage to pruning
Marglobe- I wouldn't prune, smaller, early fruits that need plant growth
Moneymaker- Tons of fruits and can be very large. No pruning should be required but shouldn't hurt to tame.

Carlos

 

[Ladyhawke1]

What I know about tomatoes you can put in a thimble. :/ However, I do have a copy of Miracle-Gro's Complete Guide to Vegetables Fruits & Herbs.

There are two types of tomatoes: Indeterminate and Determinate. They encourage pruning on Indeterminate and not on determinate.

This is really a good book for someone like me with no gardening experience. I got it at HD for $17.00.

 

[HunkieDorie23]

Thanks Oakland, that is very helpful. I have had a terrible time with Septoria leaf spot for the last two years. It has been really wet. Actually it has been all over the entire ridge. That is one reason I was thinking about it. I am adding some more space between my plants this year and I am thinking about mulching. I have always like the leafy, thick tomato plants. I think that the more leaves they have the better they can grow tomatoes. I am not into "show tomatoes" that weigh 7 pounds. Just ones that make great sauces. I also cage them to keep them off the ground.

I have found some remedies for the nasty stuff which I am going to try this year. I am spraying proactively with a home remedy maybe with a commercial product if it looks like it's going to start.