Topic: Tomato Round Up

[sandersj89]

Along the lines of my potatoe review a week or so ago...

This year has been an interesting year for toms as well as spuds. I have grown a number of varieties, in a glass house, in plastic greenhouses and outside, the results follow.

Just to note, I started most of my toms in my heated greenhouse under artificial light to begin with. This enabled me to get a very early start. As a result I have suffered very little problems with blight, none on plants inside to speak off. Late planted toms outside though have suffered.

I grow 3 basic types, cherry, normal cordon and large or beefsteak:

Cherry

Tumbler: I grow these year after year and always find it to be an excellent cropper with great flavour and thin skins. Excellent in salads. I grew these in large pots, some kept in a cool greenhouse  others outside. The yield is large and cropping season long. Will grow again.

Garden Pearl: New variety this year, free sample of seeds. Similar sized plant to Tumbler and reasonable yield. Colour is more red than tumbler and fruits are uniform size and round. Again some in cool greenhouse and some outside. Taste poor. Will not grow again.

Normal Cordon

Tigerella: Started under lights and grown indoors in glasshouse. Plants are tall and trusses contain up to a dozen fruits. As they ripen the stripes appear that give the variety it’s other name, Mr Stripy.  I let the plants grow to about 9 foot and then pinch out the growing points. Fruit is not large, golf ball size but flavour is good. Skins may be a little tough. Good eaten fresh and also good for oven drying. Seemed to be slow to ripen when compared to others. Foliage showed no signs of blight but did show a little fungus damage, not serious. May grow again, not convinced yet.

Super Marmande: Started as Tigerella and grown under glass, in plastic greenhouse and outside. Large fruits that are not round, ridged looked to them. Very fleshy and little seeds. Very good flavour. The plants are a semi cordon so pinching out of side shoots can be tricky at times and they often bi-furcate and create two lead growing points. Very vigorous growth producing trussed with between 6 and 10 fruit. These can get very heavy and may need support. Greenhouse gown produced a good yield and ripened first followed by plastic house. We are still picking and have been doing so since the middle of July. Yield is massive. Good eaten fresh and also good to cook with and dry. Foliage showed no signs of blight indoors but did show a little fungus damage, not serious. Outdoor grown plants were slower to mature and flower and have cropped later. Yield reduced and has suffered blight. Fruit development marred by green back later in the season, not a massive problem though.

Gardeners Delight: Seem to grow this every year but not always impressed. This year grown outside and development seemed to slow in July. Did not get more than 3 foot tall. Trusses of fruit formed well with upwards of ten fruit but very small. Taste OK. Hit hard by blight. Must try some thing else outside next year, Ferline is favourite at present.

Alicante: Rescued 3 plants form garden centre in May and planted outside at allotment. Left them to it, no support, no pinching out of side shoots. Crop very good, nice heavy trusses of 4 to 8 fruit, ranging in size from cherry to golf ball. Good flavour. At first signs of blight at the allotment picked everything, washed and then stored at home in trays to ripen, still eating now and good flavour and soft skins. Also good cooked/dried. Left foliage in place and hit hard by blight within 4 days of picking so might be vulnerable. Fruit storing/ripening well.

Beefsteak

Big Boy: Again rescued 4 plants from garden centre and grew under plastic. Large vigorous plants that I stopped out at 6 foot. This allowed for 4 trusses but only 2 to 4 fruits per truss. Fruit large, grapefruit sized, plenty of flesh. Good flavour but mainly cooked or dried. Some signs of green back but no foliage problems, had a tendency to split if careful attention to watering is not made. Still looking for a good beef stake, the search continues.

In summary we have had very good yields over a period of months, we started in July and we are still picking marmande, tigerella. I feel though the early start really helped us beat blight problems and secure us a decent crop. I will do the same next year. I will continue to grow Tumbler and Marmande and probably Ferline. One or two more will be selected over the winter months, suggestions welcome.

HTH

Jerry

[Doris_Pinks]

Jerry,my tomato round up in one word.................disaster!

Grew outside, Ferlines, Urbinkay (bush variety), tigerella and something else I can't remember, 14 plants in total, cropping well, looking good, then got the dreaded BLIGHT! Had NO fruit from any of these plants :'(
In the greenhouse, marmande (3 fruits then the blight got it!), Tigerella, 6 fruits then see above! The yellow plums fared better though, and I have had several bowlfuls, especially off one certain plant that seemed to carry on regardless of me chopping off it's blighted leaves! Pulled it out yesterday.

So all in all this year the blight beat me, but will try again next year! ;D  Dottie P.

[derbex]

I grow all mine in the greenhouse.

This year -Balconi Yellow in small pots to get a head start as they never get big but do have a lot of fruit for their size. They are small enough to keep on a window sill.

Sungold, good, small, sweet, golden cherry tomato. I generally get one from the garden centre and let it go, by now I need a machete to get near it. You can sort of train it if you feel the need, and ones I got from seedlings tasted fine.

Gardners Delight -1st time this year, I grew one as a bush and the other as cordons. Cordons much better, good tasting tomato, high yielding once the pollination got sorted out.

Alicante -'normal' sized, good taste, grow it most years, not as prolific as the cherries.

I tend to grow the same year in and out as the seeds last so long and you need so few. I might try and free up a bit more space and try another variety -I'm tempted by 'Brandywine'

This year was slow for us, we have had tomatos since June or July -but very few compared to other years, only just getting serious volumes the last fortnight or so.

Jeremy

[Kerry]

this year I grew 3 varieties as follows:
1. gardeners' delight - sown under cover, at beginning of February and March, kept in greenhouse, as were all the plants. grown as a cordon, pinched out when reached ceiling. i found this to be heavy cropping for me, taste excellent and sweet, very flavoursome, harvest from end july and still continiung. no problems, will grow again.

2. santa - first year i have grown this, again, i found this to be heavy cropping, plum type tomateos, none of them made it for cooking as i ate them off the plant! i found their taste to be at best when left on the plant until you almost thought they would be overripe - may grow again, for eating and cooking purposes next time! i also found that a few of the smaller fruits tended to split.

3. costoluto fiorentino - a beefesteak type, started off late as seeds were a gift, but has caught the others up. i'm growing it as a cordon due to space, but i think it's mainly a bush variety. huge, ridged fruits, not that many per plant. i found the juice was delicious but there was hardly any of it, it all seemed to be the 'flesh' and this was pretty nondescript. i wonder if this is normal or whether it's my growing tactics?

next year: would like to try some unusual varieties, perhaps a yellow, or different shaped tomato for variety. any suggestions?

another thought occured to me - what do you feed yours on/how often? mine have 'tomorite' once a week, whereas my dad uses phostrogen granules at each watering(each day). any thoughts?
happy growing :)

[cleo]

not one`s best year :-[  Of the new varieties it`s a yes to`Marizol Gold`(take a note Kerry)yes to `Italian gold` and a so so to crnkovic-very good flavour but so late to set fruit.

I have still to find anything to surpass

Green Zebra,Brandywine,Caspian Pink,and Black Russian.  

And Kerry Costuluto Fiorentino is best grown as a cordon-it can grow huge. It`s OK but nothing to write home about.

Stephan

[Kerry]

thanks Stephan,
had heard good things about costoluto....so was a tad disappointed. have taken note of your faves-recommend any suppliers? not heard of all those you mentioned. :)

[Moggle]

I only grew one this year, in my first year of growing.

Santa - grew these on my sheltered balcony in grow bags. The ones in vertical half growbags, planted deeply, have done the best. Stopped plants between 4 and 7 trusses, depending on how tall a stake I managed to get. Have had some fruit almost golf ball sized and these were the best. Some problems with very small fruit, and splitting, but then I have been a bit erratic with watering and feeding. Fruit keeps really well, just at room temperature.   :)
 
I will grow these again next year, and hope to try a plum as well, as I want a cooking tom.

[simhop]

I can sum up my tomato year in one word - disaster.
Have no greenhouse so triend Gardeners delight in grow bags against a South Facing wall, was so pleased as they grew and grew - I stopped them after 4 trusses and fed and watered regualry. Really heavy crop but before they ripened it was all destroyed by blight - absolutley gutted, I only managed to have 5 - they tasted good!

[derbex]

Re: feeding etc.

Watering tends to be twice a day when it's hot, thanks to the timer.

Feeding -don't think they got a lot this year. The bed had some compost dug in last year and was mulched with grass clippings and maybe some compost this. Aside from that they had some worm juice when I remembered, once a month?

Jeremy

[sandersj89]

Feeding for me is a half strength tomrite feed once the first trusses have set, i.e. when you can see small fruit forming, every week or 10 days.

Prior to this I also give the ones grown in bags or pots a general feed with something like growmore or miracle grow.

Those planted outside or in the greenhouse border are planted in the ground that has been improved with a load of well rotted manure.

Watering inside is twice a day in hot weather, enough to keep the compost just moist but not sopping wet.

In the greenhouse border watering is normally once a day unless it is very very hot and there has been no rain letting water seep into their roots from outside. Again keep the soil just moist.

Outside is dependant on rain.

I think Tim has said he uses a moisture meter and I have been meaning to get one for some time as I think they could be a vital tool if growing a lot of container grown plants. Up until now I have relied upon my finger!!

HTH

Jerry