Topic: Summary of outdoor tomatoes for the year so far...

[OllieC]

I'd be interested in how people have got on - if anyone else feels like summarising what is a fairly subjective topic...

Just 8 varieties for me this year, arranged in order of ripening:

Tumbling tom (red) - earliest, dull taste, average yield (good for the plant size)
Sungold - second earliest, delicious, good yield.
Outdoor Girl - early for it's size, classic old fashioned taste, funny shapes, good yield
Tigerella - a bit later, good taste, interesting looking, hard caylix
Sungella - fairly early, beautiful looking, average taste, average yield
Fantasia - 1 month after the earliest, good taste, big fruit, good yield
Harbinger - slightly later than Fantasia, normal taste, poor yield, greenback
Eristics trial - good taste for a plum (no tanginess though), Latest of them all, Massive yield

[betula]

Only 8 Ollie? ::)

I have only grown one type,Tumbling Tom,still waiting for most of them to ripen.I had 23 seeds in the packet and they all germinated.They are now distributed all around our close. :-*

[thifasmom]

Hi I'm in Maidstone, Kent and only grow outside (I'm from the West Indies and growing in the green house still feels really alien to me :-\ although I plan to grow okra and melons next year and after outdoor failures will have to definately use the greenhouse next year).
My varieties this year are:

• tigerella
• gardener's delight

• ailsa craig
• bannana cream

• golden sunriset
• christmas delight

• super marmande
• lemon tree

• vintage wine

I have tried a outdoor covered technique this year to keep the majority of the rain off the plants as last year's constant wet gave a great crop of blight and green toms >:(.
So far it has worked really well, but the rainfall in comparison has been alot less. The toms are all heavy with fruit and flowers but no ripe ones as yet :(.

[silverbirch]

I've three varieties outside.

Super Marmande - a lovely crop coming.
Brandywine - having trouble getting the fruits to set.
Eristic - starting to get fruits now.  The last to flower.  They look like a small plum variety.  I think I'll try them in the greenhouse nest year.

I had my first ripe tom Thursday (from the greemhouse).  They seem a bit shy to ripen this year.

[Amazin]

That looks good thifasmom, what did you use to make it?

All my toms are outdoors, same with chillies and aubs.

My tom list is:

Micro Tom, first to ripen (a total of four so far, whoopee)
Tiny Tim, smothered in fruit, all green,
Gartenperle, as above,
Sungold, okay yield, pale green,
Tigerella, good yield, striped - so two shades of green there,
Marmande, Amish Paste, Cherokee Purple, Great White, all swelling nicely, all green.

Impatient? Me? Nah!

 ;D

[Tin Shed]

At last some of  mine are beginning to ripen.

Legend - the first to ripen,good large toms
Tamina - wonderful crop in the greenhouse, ripening well
Latah - poor crop of small toms this year
Cuor de boue , Black Krim,Gardener's Delight and Outdoor Girl just starting to ripen
Waiting for Speckled Roman, Roma, New Yorker, Ferline to get going

Good crops on all except the Latah.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I had my first outdoor tom of the year (Alaskan Fancy) yesterday. They're really late.

[Jeannine]

Whippersnapper,  decent taste ,very prolific and very early
Totem, strong plant, bland taste.
BiG Beef,,super flavour, BER on first fruits only but smashing tom all round
Aussie, just starting to ripen, huge fruits
Homesweet, just turning colour now, heavy yeild
Eristics three, we have been eating these about a week now, taste not for me, but heavy yeild
La Roma.. never lets me down, great atsing plum, very big yeild, starting to eat these moew now
Kellogs Breakfast..they will be a while yet
Mary Robinsons Bi colour. just stating to show colour
Mule Team ditto
Nyagous ditto
Sugary, eating lots of these now, suoer taste,
Tiny Tim all gone
Yellow Pear still waiting for colour
Zapotec Ribbed will be a long time yet.

Have some others too but not a lot happening with them yet.

XX Jeannine

[Barnowl]

Sungold, Latah, Gartenperle and Balconi Red have begun to produce ripe fruit.  But mostly still waiting.

Gartenperle again disappointing in taste. Hoping Tiny Tim (beginning to colour up) will prove better

[thifasmom]

That looks good thifasmom, what did you use to make it?

Well my beds are 'L' so I made the cover this shape out of a wooden frame with chicken wire stapled to it to create extra support for the plastic which was also stapled on.
I then used 7ft long thick bamboo canes (approx 1 plus inch thick) as my support for the toms, they were sunk 12'' in the soil leaving me with 6ft growth height available.
The cover was placed on top of the canes (which were thick and sturdy enough to support it). the cover was then secured to the raised bed by tying twine to the corners. See the new pics taken today which should clarify things better.

[Suzanne]

The cherry types have given some ripe fruit

Gartenperle
Tumbling Tom (red)
Sweet million
Sweet Olive

and all tasted pretty good.

Still waiting for the followng to ripen
Cherokee Purple
Emerald evergreen
Black plum
Marmande
Japanese black trifele
Yellow pear
Eristics seed trial

[Amazin]

thifasmom, that is brilliant! Well done!

[thifasmom]

Thanks Amazin, like I said this year hasnot been as wet but I plan to continue to do this in the future. I'll will really know how well it works, cause my neighbour has outside toms as well (but with no cover), so we are both watching to see if it will make any difference if blight rears its ugly head.

[Deb P]

Outdoors this year I'm trying bush varieties in a raised bed with no supports, just letting them do their thing. This time last year my cordons were wiped out with blight, this year lots of fruits, only the Golden nugget have ripened so far! I'm growing;

Japanese Black Trifele
Eristic trial
Super Roma
Legend
Gold Nugget
Rio Grande
Celebrity
Tumbling Tom Red (in pots)

[Ishard]

My bush type on raised beds have just got blight.  >:( :(

Thank Dog I have more at home.

[kitty]

aaargh!blight!!!
i grew and lost every tom last year thanks to blight-i sunk some money into a small poly tunnel in the hopes it'll stave off the dreaded disease....so far so good!
great sight thifasmom!
kitty
xx

[grawrc]

I just have Latah and Roma outdoors. Lots of set tomatoes but still hard and green.

[Barnowl]

Urbikany now on the turn: one ripe one harvested yesterday.

Has anyone grown Costoluto Fiorentino successfully? This is my third year of trying and, like the previous two, it's not going well.

[redimp]

Mine have just started to ripen but I think they have early signs of blight.  Considering the options of taking off all the trusses and ripening them a la Tescos - i.e. on a plane flying round the world and calling "ripened on the vine", or waiting and seeing!

[kitty]

hi clanger! :)blight? :(
costoluto?
well...it aint a tater thats for sure!
however-yes-they are one of my best producers-just starting to ripen...grew them on the off chance from 2 year old seed.
kitty
xx