digitS'
Garden Master
I have become someone who believes that gardening success has a lot to do with matching variety to growing environment. There are broadly adaptable varieties that may do well in my garden but for every one of those that grows well for me, another 2 won't.
Then, I have specific gardening desires that I try to satisfy. They provide me with motivation to do all those things a gardener needs to do to take care of the plants. You know how it is! One of my desires this year was to find a suitable yellow slicer for the tomato patch! An heirloom would be ideal.
Dagma's Perfection was a new introduction in the Tomato Growers Supply catalog this past winter. I looked at its description and picture longingly and after weeks of indecision and casting about for alternatives, ordered some seed.
A couple of months later, seedlings had grown into sturdy young plants and I was ready to set them out into the garden! Then, disturbing news reached me! A gardener who I much admire had grown Dagma's Perfection in 'o9 and been disappointed in their production. I set several plants out in my garden anyway :/.
A cool early growing season . . . and I've been looking skeptically at those plants for months now
. Until about 4 weeks ago, I was convinced that I'd made a mistake. They had very, very few fruits on them. But, warmth finally arrived in August. At first, I missed the tiny green berries that began to develop on the plants. There seemed to be only 1 or 2 fruits but surrounding these larger tomatoes, there must have been several dozen more that were developing.
I have been picking Perfection tomatoes for a couple of weeks. Today, I counted the remaining green fruit on one of the plants. There are 26 nice-sized tomatoes!! I really think that if I had to pick them all tonight, they would all ripen - to a lovely, clear yellow. If they are allowed to stay on the plant, the fruit will have some red streaking from the blossom end extending part way up the tomato. Properly mature, they are really quite pretty and they have a lovely, light flavor!
What I think has happened is that the variety does a very poor job of setting fruit when the night-time temperatures are below about 55F. But once that threshold was reached - fruit set occurred!!
I think I made a very mistaken judgment about this variety early-on. It sure looks like a tomato can do well in my garden!
Did you have some varieties that looked like failures but came thru for you in the end??
Steve
Then, I have specific gardening desires that I try to satisfy. They provide me with motivation to do all those things a gardener needs to do to take care of the plants. You know how it is! One of my desires this year was to find a suitable yellow slicer for the tomato patch! An heirloom would be ideal.
Dagma's Perfection was a new introduction in the Tomato Growers Supply catalog this past winter. I looked at its description and picture longingly and after weeks of indecision and casting about for alternatives, ordered some seed.
A couple of months later, seedlings had grown into sturdy young plants and I was ready to set them out into the garden! Then, disturbing news reached me! A gardener who I much admire had grown Dagma's Perfection in 'o9 and been disappointed in their production. I set several plants out in my garden anyway :/.
A cool early growing season . . . and I've been looking skeptically at those plants for months now
. Until about 4 weeks ago, I was convinced that I'd made a mistake. They had very, very few fruits on them. But, warmth finally arrived in August. At first, I missed the tiny green berries that began to develop on the plants. There seemed to be only 1 or 2 fruits but surrounding these larger tomatoes, there must have been several dozen more that were developing.I have been picking Perfection tomatoes for a couple of weeks. Today, I counted the remaining green fruit on one of the plants. There are 26 nice-sized tomatoes!! I really think that if I had to pick them all tonight, they would all ripen - to a lovely, clear yellow. If they are allowed to stay on the plant, the fruit will have some red streaking from the blossom end extending part way up the tomato. Properly mature, they are really quite pretty and they have a lovely, light flavor!
What I think has happened is that the variety does a very poor job of setting fruit when the night-time temperatures are below about 55F. But once that threshold was reached - fruit set occurred!!
I think I made a very mistaken judgment about this variety early-on. It sure looks like a tomato can do well in my garden
!Did you have some varieties that looked like failures but came thru for you in the end??
Steve
Plus I only plant indeterminent as I don't want one big crop and over. How you obtain your plants is another consideration. Since I buy started plants, I've found Better Boys bear as early as any other variety regardless of days stated. Early girls have been a total waste as they aren't any earlier (in my garden) than Better Boys and no where near the size or quantity.
). But, they don't look much like what we may think of as cantaloupe!
