Tomatoes for 2023

[Blue-Jay]

@Growin-Stuff


I asked this of a fellow I know that has over 1,500 tomato varieties in his collection what his thought was the best tasting paste tomato. He says Santa Maria is the best tasting paste tomato. I am growing this tomato myself and I got seeds from this fellow.

 

[Zeedman]

@Growin-Stuff


I asked this of a fellow I know that has over 1,500 tomato varieties in his collection what his thought was the best tasting paste tomato. He says Santa Maria is the best tasting paste tomato. I am growing this tomato myself and I got seeds from this fellow.

That's reassuring, because I too am growing Santa Maria this year, from a trade. I've been looking for that variety for several years, since that was one that Remy Orlowski (Sample Seeds) spoke highly of. I grew some several years ago from a previous trade, and they were so highly crossed (over 50%) that I made no effort to save seeds. I hope to save seed this time. If there are crosses, I will endeavor to restore it in subsequent years.

Remy was a good soul, she shared seeds with a lot of people back when trading was vibrant on the old Gardenweb.

 

[Branching Out]

I have never heard of the Santa Maria tomato, but look forward to hearing your impressions once you try it. A friend gave me a Black Beauty, and it too is supposed to have exceptional flavour.

Yesterday we started nibbling on fresh garden Doukhobor tomatoes. Pretty nice for an early tomato, however it has rather thick skins. Still pretty cool to be able to eat ripe tomatoes in May!

 

[seedcorn]

@Growin-Stuff


I asked this of a fellow I know that has over 1,500 tomato varieties in his collection what his thought was the best tasting paste tomato. He says Santa Maria is the best tasting paste tomato. I am growing this tomato myself and I got seeds from this fellow.

Keep us in loop with opinions on this variety

 

[seedcorn]

@Zeedman I started several of the orange oxhearts u gave me. Killed half with an organic spray, then moles killed the rest. Yesterday I found a bunch of volunteer plants coming up as I had segregated that variety last year. My lucky day.

 

[Growin-Stuff]

@Growin-Stuff


I asked this of a fellow I know that has over 1,500 tomato varieties in his collection what his thought was the best tasting paste tomato. He says Santa Maria is the best tasting paste tomato. I am growing this tomato myself and I got seeds from this fellow.

Can say I've herd of them and very little information online on them but the pictures I saw of the are very inconsistent. Some look like an Ox Heart type tomato others look like a large Roma type tomato similar to an Amish Paste or Big Mama.

 

[Branching Out]

I did a rough estimate and it looks like I have almost 90 tomatoes planted between my garden and two adjacent properties. There are still a few 'winter storage' type tomatoes to go in, so likely around 100 plants this year. The next few weeks will involve diligent pruning to keep all of those suckers in check. One false step, and it could be tomato chaos.

Over the past couple of months I have really enjoyed reading about how all of you grow tomatoes, and I will be trying out some of the tips and techniques that have been mentioned. Most of the tomatoes will be kept to just one vine, with the occasional plant allowed to have a second stem; if it becomes too much I will prune them back to just one leader. I am using up whatever jute that I have on hand, and am converting to baling twine for stringing them up. Given that we are in an extended stretch of hot, dry weather I am not pruning the lower leaves yet, so they can shade the roots and make food for the plant. Mulching is next on the agenda. The watering ports that I installed in the ground for all of the tomatoes on sloping terrain are working great. And instead of growing the plants straight up some are growing on quite an angle, to see if that will make for a better plant (we placed the tomato pole well away from the base of the plant, so not quite a 45 degree angle but a pretty good slope). So thank you for all of the wonderful inspiration. As long as the weather cooperates this will be an epic summer of tomatoes!

 

[Eleanor]

Something to consider regarding pruning - temperature affects fruit ripening with the process slowing considerably when over 85°F / 29°C (Tomatoes not Ripening?) so vines do benefit from the microclimate shade leaves create. I have noticed the degree of sparseness/lushness in greenery (natural or pruned) does appear to affect a variety's ability to tolerate heat.

Also fwiw at Michigan Heirlooms' last TomatoFest, Santa Maria won as Best Tomato over >50 competing varieties.

 

[heirloomgal]

I did a rough estimate and it looks like I have almost 90 tomatoes planted between my garden and two adjacent properties. There are still a few 'winter storage' type tomatoes to go in, so likely around 100 plants this year. The next few weeks will involve diligent pruning to keep all of those suckers in check. One false step, and it could be tomato chaos.

Over the past couple of months I have really enjoyed reading about how all of you grow tomatoes, and I will be trying out some of the tips and techniques that have been mentioned. Most of the tomatoes will be kept to just one vine, with the occasional plant allowed to have a second stem; if it becomes too much I will prune them back to just one leader. I am using up whatever jute that I have on hand, and am converting to baling twine for stringing them up. Given that we are in an extended stretch of hot, dry weather I am not pruning the lower leaves yet, so they can shade the roots and make food for the plant. Mulching is next on the agenda. The watering ports that I installed in the ground for all of the tomatoes on sloping terrain are working great. And instead of growing the plants straight up some are growing on quite an angle, to see if that will make for a better plant (we placed the tomato pole well away from the base of the plant, so not quite a 45 degree angle but a pretty good slope). So thank you for all of the wonderful inspiration. As long as the weather cooperates this will be an epic summer of tomatoes!

100 plants!

How many different varieties in the grow out? Being in a coastal climate, do you ever get blight issues or fungal issues with the tomato plants?

 

[Branching Out]

100 plants!

How many different varieties in the grow out? Being in a coastal climate, do you ever get blight issues or fungal issues with the tomato plants?

Approximately 67 different varieties with very early, main season, and very late ones in the mix. Extending the season in this way is what is making it manageable, since they all won't ripen at once. Blight had been an issue for decades, until 2021 when our summers became blisteringly hot and extremely dry. Last year there was no rain for four months, so no blight; this year has been even drier-- but summer is just beginning so things could change. If we end up with a stretch of wet weather I will have to take extra precautions with lots of mulching.