Topic: I must be ill..........tomato variety meltdown!

[Deb P]

I've just spent most of the day in happy contemplation finalising my seed lists for the coming year, and have just realised I have shortened my list of tomatoes to only 19  :o :o :o varieties for my greenhouse!

This doesn't include the one I grow to sell for our Allotment Association of course, but last year I grew about 48 different varieties just for me...... :-\

I have been looking after patients with Swine 'Flu recently, do you think it has caught up with me at last, I am definitely not myself obviously.... ::)

[Lottiman]

Hi Deb P .We grew gardeners delight, Shirley,and tropical ruby last season our first .This year i am looking for variety of a really good size but not a beefsteak type could you suggest anything.

[pigeonseed]

I haven't noticed that one on the list of flu effects, Deb P!

It always mystifies me how people can grow so many of something. where do they all go? Do you only have one plant of each type?

Lottiman - I won't even attempt to answer your question, with the tomato queen in the house.

[lottie lou]

What I want to know is how big is your greenhouse?

[Deb P]

I have a 12x8 greenhouse at home, where I grow about 36 tomato plants and have a bit of staging for peppers and chillies,  and at the lottie have a little 8x6 one which I use for mostly chillies and peppers, plus another 10+ tomatoes in pots sitting on gravel bags. Oh, and I sometines grow a load outside if there are some spare, I seem to pick up a few at other peoples plant sales along the way.... ::) ;D

I usually only grow one or two plants of each variety, excess plants sold at the Open Days or swapped.... ;D Never any wasted! ;D

[Deb P]

Hi Deb P .We grew gardeners delight, Shirley,and tropical ruby last season our first .This year i am looking for variety of a really good size but not a beefsteak type could you suggest anything.

When you say you want a good size but not a beefsteak type, do you mean just a large salad size? You could look at Kenilworth, Bloody Butcher and Legend if you want something a bit bigger, all have great taste and have cropped well for me. I'm sure others will suggest other varieties to try! ;D

[Lottiman]

Deb thanks very much and that 12x8 greenhouse sounds like a dream

[saddad]

Beginers... we have over 60 and regularly grow out over 20 varieties...  :-X

[kt.]

Do you actually eat all the tomatoes from so many varieties :o :o :o.   
I grow 2 varieties of cherry toms and 2 of salad toms.  Around 12 plants total but only 4 varieties.  48 Varieties....  wouldn't be able to keep them all in check. 

[Deb P]

Yes we do eat the lot! I'm veggy so eat some sort of salad at least once or twice a day, I pick a full mixed bowlful of toms which usually lasts only a couple of days, any starting to get a bit soft get cooked into sauce for pasta etc, or frozen as pulp if we get a bit behind.

I usually keep the plants going until at least November (unheated greenhouse), sometimes longer so I get a pretty steady supply. I hate it when I have to buy some for the first time in the year! I treat my plants quite meanly, I don't feed them more then once a week, use seaweed as a foliage spray a couple of times a week, and Sunday is always my pinching out and tying in day so I don't think they are too much work. I love growing a wide range of varieties and try and keep a balance between my regular favourites and ones I haven't tried before. Last year I tried quite a few American heritage varieties, but would only grow half a dozen again. I'm going to try a few more bush varities in big pots on gravel in the lottie greenhouse this year, I invested in a few of those black bag dripper watering systems last year which worked well as I can't get to the lottie every day, work gets in the way....

[manicscousers]

I'm intrigues, Deb..black bag dripper watering things?

[saddad]

An auto watering system... where you fill up a plastic scak thing and it drips out into the plant pot/bag through little tubes and taps...  :-\

[manicscousers]

sounds different, we will have to rig something up as our water has now been stopped, we have to do it all by watering cans and that's a lot of water in a polytunnel  ;D
I won't be growing green zebra or white beauty again, sorry, Deb..wasn't impressed by the white ones and couldn't tell when the green ones were ripe  ;D

[cambourne7]

don't know what variety it was bit picked up some tomato plants at defland nursery this summer and still have tomatoes left they took ages to ripen so pulled them off months ago and popped on window still to ripen and have 6 left still red and ripe ;)

[saddad]

There are several HSL varieties out there which take a long time to ripen off the plant. Garden Peach is the one I used to grow. They were bred before we had air transport so that tomatoes could be eaten from store in Winter..  :)

[cambourne7]

ace :)

[Deb P]

I think the watering system is called a 'Big Dripper', I got mine from Harrods Horticultural (only because I had a gift voucher to spend, they are well dear I find!) You get about 8 little taps per bag, very similar to a hospital drip system really! I found they would go about 36 hours between refills at as slow rate, it really helped during that hot spell we had last summer (remember that?!) to keep the plants topped up between waterings.

I never liked British Green Tiger, really thick skin! The White Beauty I grew was quite yellow and did not live up to its billing either.... ::) I'm going to grow some Tangella, Orange Banana, Garden Peach, Fuzzy (like red peach) for the sale this May, any other requests? ;D

[Dandytown]

I grew 2 each of 5 varieties and my favorite was gardeners delight, one of the two plants was delish.  Didn't like the Ox Blood and the cherry were average but the golden nugget and sunrise were good.

[cambourne7]

you can buy these droppers for old bottles of pop which are cheaper ;) never used them myself.

[pigeonseed]

How does that work? What sort of droppers?