Topic: Which tomato varieties will you growing in 2010 and why.

[plainleaf2]

Which tomato varieties will you growing in 2010?
Why will you be growing them?
What will you be doing to prevent them from being destroyed by blight?
Will you  be growing them inside or outside.

[Chrispy]

I will be growing

Sungold, because it is said to be good and I got a packet of seeds for 10p from wilkos.
Ferline, as it is meant to be blight tolerant.
Beefmaster, wanted to try a large tom, picked this as it is what kings seeds stock.
Tomato Roma, wanted a cooker and as above.

I have some cuttings of a GD on my windowsill as an experiment, so if they survive I will grow them on.

I also have packets of Tumbling Tom & MM, undecided on these.

I will be growing both in my cool greenhouse as well as outside.

[chriscross1966]

Gardeners Delight: I like them
San Marzano: best italian plum/cooker I've tried.
Black Krim, very very  early biggie, grew this year and was great
Korol Gigantov: supposedly super-hardy and early
Giant Spanish: supposed to get enormous
Giant Spanish Yellow: I wanted to try a big yellow
Kirschklumpen:cos it's the strangest tomato going.


All will grow indoors though I might try some cookers outdoors under a sort of tall cloche with no sides, keeps the rain off the foliage.... dependant on space I guess... would also like to grow a monster... best ever ) a few years ago now) was 2lb 2oz from a Jumbo Tom.... I'm sure the Korol and Giant Spanish will beat that
...

Might try some Sub-Arctic Plenty outdoors if I get the extra half plot I'm hoping to...

[saddad]

Well, when I've done the audit on how many varieties I have... I'll be starting some of them all for our "Heritage" Tomato sale in May.. should be about 50 varieties and will probably grow at least 30 myself.

Sungold (F1) and Black Cherry are definites
Potato Leaf White, Black Maur, Banana Legs, Greek, Blaby, Tangella, Stripped Stuffer, Garden Peach are almost certainties..

All under glass/poly...

 :-[

[shirlton]

We always grow Shirley for our banker, but will also be growing some plum tomatoes that we brought back from Tunisia that have done really well this year. Ledgend is the new one for this year. All will be grown inside to protect from blight. Everytime we have grown outside we get it so it seems a waste of time and effort to try it again

[amphibian]

It depends on what happens over winter. I am in the middle of a breeding project, if I manage to raise some of the f1 plants to fruition, before spring then I will mostly be growing f2 plants from that project, if I am forced to grow f1s in the ground, next year, then I will have more space to play with. My plans are something lkie this.


Growing:-
[list=1]

• Japanese Black Trifele. I love this tomato.
• Orange Banana, my favourite paste tomato.
• Japanese Black Trifele x Orange Banana, ongoing project.
• Black cherry, this cherry is superb, great flavour mamouth yields, vigorous plants.
• Gregory Altai, early, tasty, big.
• Gold Medal, never tried this one.
• Orange Fleshed Purple Smudge, never tried this one, curiosity as much as anything.
• Others for my daughters breeding project, as yet to be established.

I have not really suffered from blight for the last two seasons, but it has been very dry here. However to reduce the possibility I am going to build a carport like structure to grow them under. Open sides but protection from rain. I didn't spray with anything other than milk this year and intend to keep to that. If i do spray anything it will be breeding project plants only.

[Deb P]

Well, when I've done the audit on how many varieties I have... I'll be starting some of them all for our "Heritage" Tomato sale in May.. should be about 50 varieties and will probably grow at least 30 myself.  :-[

We will have to compare notes so we don't grow the same varieties for the tomato sale! ;D

I have now reduced the number of varieties I grow to about 24 in my home greenhouse, and 8 in the little lottie one. I do a sort of audit in early October and highlight the outstanding ones to grow again next year, and then try varieties I haven't grown before to make the same number of plants. In theory, I should end up with a stable list of favourites, but I keep finding other good toms to grow!

Added to favourites this year are;

Olirose: oval rose coloured fruit, useful size, nice taste

Kenilworth: prolific and tasty

Red Russian:vigorous, largish fruits, long cropping and slightly sharper taste

Speckled Roman: I've been saving seeds of this for years, selecting the largest fruit and they are now reliably huge and more striped than speckled! Great basis for soups and sauces

Fuzzy:slightly furry red fruits, very pretty!

Legend;new beefsteak, early and prolific

Red Zebra:bigger fruit than Tigerella, and a good taste too.

I will not be trying any tomatoes outdoors next year, fed up with losing them to blight before they ripen, it is not worth the heartache...... :-\

[Digeroo]

I'm planning a greenhouse.

[cleo]

I will not be growing Moneymaker ;D

[tonybloke]

which varieties will you be growing, plainleaf2? and why? and what are you doing about blight?

[northener]

My mate got me a couple of Money maker plants, i did'nt like throwing kindness in his face so i grew them, the chickens loved them. Ok next year Sungold and Fantasio. Fantasio are still growing strong now. All indoors.

[plainleaf2]

for size i am growing
Delicious
Porterhouse
Big Zac
Beefsteak
I will starting the above four on dec 15.  for plant out feb 15.

for taste
sungold

for sauce
san marzono redota

10 others to named later

As for bight I have never had a problem since I use dococil (sp) . And a  rain hood.

tonybloke now your turn.

[tonybloke]

I will be growing Korol Gigantov for flavour, size and vigour,
Gardeners Delight for flavour and salads, (and freezing whole)
Whippersnapper for salads and freezing
'ludowick' for their unusual colour/shape'
Marmande for cooking.
I grow both indoor and out, and don't usually have problems with blight (I live in the driest part of the U.K.)

[Digeroo]

And a  rain hood

Can we have a description of this?

for plant out feb 15.

Do you mean out as in outside?   They would get their socks frozen off here.

[plainleaf2]

dig well they will be in a hoop house and wall of water.

as rain hood is hoop house that can be raised as plant grows to prevent plant leaves from getting wet, but directs the water either to plants at soil level or to water storage barrel. I will post picture later so you can see what looks like.
but the design is very simple

[Digeroo]

Had a quick google and a hoop house looks like a kind of polytunnel.

I managed to built something of the sort, but when it rains the wind blows and it soon blew over.  My allotment is on a very windy site indeed.  Plan to try again next year with a wall of sweetcorn to keep the wind in check.

[plainleaf2]

Digeroo sound like need better design.
 now back the tomato topic.

[macmac]

Definately Sungold,some big ones from saved seed no idea what variety they were originally,on the look out for a new cherry type,Legend because they were splendid this year and probably all sorts of different ones as despite swearing I won't I always sow too many.We were very lucky this year and lost only  a few to blight (we grow mainly outdoors) I sprayed twice with dithane (had nothing to weigh the bordeaux mixture with down the lottie) and the OH is convinced that planting them between rows of french and runner beans offered them some sort of protection  he could have a point because some other plants in the open succumbed  :(

[Flighty]

Plainleaf2 so what's dococil? A Google search throws up nothing appropriate!

[plainleaf2]

flight that was trade name of it but alas i misspelled it. I can't remember what active anti fungicide was in it.