2024 tomatoes
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maxjohnson
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2024 tomatoes
Paul Robeson
Could this be the first time ever I'll grow Paul Robeson 'successfully' in many years of attempts? Must be my luck, I've never managed to grow it this well. It is true most of my attempts was in Florida where it does not perform well there.
Rebel Starfighter Prime
I was expecting lanky stems typical of oxheart, but this one take's it to another level. Stems are so thin and tall, this is after already trimming the main stem. Probably my favorite way of growing tomatoes, very tall and needing lots of trellis support.
Rebel Starfighter Dipper's Delight
Opposite of the above. These are dwarf. Maybe my new favorite container variety. They are looking very prolific.
Opalka
Not my first time, but I didn't remember how sturdy and bushy it would be. The seedling starts off very thin and tall and I trimmed the main stem.
Praxx Cherry
Very interested in tasting this one. Said to be indeterminate, but the grow habit is very short and bushy. Very attractive plant.
Green Giant
My all time favorite.
"Juliet-like" open pollinated alternative?
One of my family member let me try the fruits from this variety and said it was saved by her sibling. I asked if she's sure it's not saved from a hybrid, she said no. On appearance the grape cherry fruit looks a lot like Juliet, but Juliet is an F1. So I'm curious about this one to see how true the seeds will grow. It's very prolific. Isis Candy
I guess this variety has as a bit of an unfortunate name that isn't its fault. The name is a Greek version of the Egyptian 'deity'. This plant is growing very vigorously. By the look of it the fruits are bigger and produced so far slightly more than even Sungold and Parkseed Nectar next to it. Putting out even more suckers than it's peers, I had to prune it a lot.
Could this be the first time ever I'll grow Paul Robeson 'successfully' in many years of attempts? Must be my luck, I've never managed to grow it this well. It is true most of my attempts was in Florida where it does not perform well there.
Rebel Starfighter Prime
I was expecting lanky stems typical of oxheart, but this one take's it to another level. Stems are so thin and tall, this is after already trimming the main stem. Probably my favorite way of growing tomatoes, very tall and needing lots of trellis support.
Rebel Starfighter Dipper's Delight
Opposite of the above. These are dwarf. Maybe my new favorite container variety. They are looking very prolific.
Opalka
Not my first time, but I didn't remember how sturdy and bushy it would be. The seedling starts off very thin and tall and I trimmed the main stem.
Praxx Cherry
Very interested in tasting this one. Said to be indeterminate, but the grow habit is very short and bushy. Very attractive plant.
Green Giant
My all time favorite.
"Juliet-like" open pollinated alternative?
One of my family member let me try the fruits from this variety and said it was saved by her sibling. I asked if she's sure it's not saved from a hybrid, she said no. On appearance the grape cherry fruit looks a lot like Juliet, but Juliet is an F1. So I'm curious about this one to see how true the seeds will grow. It's very prolific. Isis Candy
I guess this variety has as a bit of an unfortunate name that isn't its fault. The name is a Greek version of the Egyptian 'deity'. This plant is growing very vigorously. By the look of it the fruits are bigger and produced so far slightly more than even Sungold and Parkseed Nectar next to it. Putting out even more suckers than it's peers, I had to prune it a lot.
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MissS
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Re: 2024 tomatoes
You have an interesting and varied assortment. Your plates and salads will be gorgeous.
~ Patti ~
AKA ~ Hooper
AKA ~ Hooper
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peebee
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Re: 2024 tomatoes
Beautiful lush healthy plants! Please give us an update when they're ready to eat.
Zone 10, Southern California
Will eat anything once before I judge.
Anything meaning any foods of course.
Will eat anything once before I judge.
Anything meaning any foods of course.
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AKgardener
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Re: 2024 tomatoes
Love it !! Thanks for sharing
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GoDawgs
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Re: 2024 tomatoes
Very nice plants! Well done, Max!
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PlainJane
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Gardadore
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Re: 2024 tomatoes
Looking super! Look forward to your updates.
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maxjohnson
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Re: 2024 tomatoes
Pink Princess
This is one of the most attractive looking cherry while unripe. The bottom half of the fruit is an opaque light green jade color. The leaves are more sparse than the usual regular leaf cherry varieties. It doesn't seem to like heat very much, the leaves curls a lot especially during afternoon. I'm suspecting it prefer a little cooler temperature. Even the "sepals" of the fruit curls upward.
Rebel Starfighter Prime
The plant is now 9ft tall, I had to increased the height of my trellis. Again this is after cutting off the main stem. For the size of the plant it doesn't seem to be the most productive, it seems not all blossoms successfully turns to fruit. I haven't fertilize this raised bed for a year. It's definitely fun to grow, but I can't see people who are adamant on single stemming getting many fruits from this plant. My experience tells me oxheart like these starts to get more productive later in the season.
The Paul Robeson
It's producing early for a medium sized beefsteak variety. By comparison, the cherries aren't fully ripe yet.
Rebel Dipper's Delight
Starting to fruit. The one on the right decides it will be an indeterminate so I had to top it off. Seems to still be a variation in heights, I will save seeds from the shortest plant.
Sriracha chili (Bounty Hunter Seeds)
Again, I don't know if these are supposed to be F1 or open pollinated, I hope the latter, Johnny Seeds is selling one with the same name and labeled it as F1. They are more stocky than the Pumpkin Spice jalapeno on the right, and is earlier and much more productive. The Pumpkin Spice jalapeno is not very impressive by comparison, with a lot of non-uniform fruits. Really looking forward to tasting these Sriracha as their scoville unit is supposed to be on the lower side.
Telegraph Improved (Botanical Interests)
One plant unfortunately succumbed to the cucumber beetle's bacterial wilt, but this is a normal problem of my garden as I try not to spray. Just like the english cucumber you buy in the store, except bigger. ---
This is one of the most attractive looking cherry while unripe. The bottom half of the fruit is an opaque light green jade color. The leaves are more sparse than the usual regular leaf cherry varieties. It doesn't seem to like heat very much, the leaves curls a lot especially during afternoon. I'm suspecting it prefer a little cooler temperature. Even the "sepals" of the fruit curls upward.
Rebel Starfighter Prime
The plant is now 9ft tall, I had to increased the height of my trellis. Again this is after cutting off the main stem. For the size of the plant it doesn't seem to be the most productive, it seems not all blossoms successfully turns to fruit. I haven't fertilize this raised bed for a year. It's definitely fun to grow, but I can't see people who are adamant on single stemming getting many fruits from this plant. My experience tells me oxheart like these starts to get more productive later in the season.
The Paul Robeson
It's producing early for a medium sized beefsteak variety. By comparison, the cherries aren't fully ripe yet.
Rebel Dipper's Delight
Starting to fruit. The one on the right decides it will be an indeterminate so I had to top it off. Seems to still be a variation in heights, I will save seeds from the shortest plant.
Sriracha chili (Bounty Hunter Seeds)
Again, I don't know if these are supposed to be F1 or open pollinated, I hope the latter, Johnny Seeds is selling one with the same name and labeled it as F1. They are more stocky than the Pumpkin Spice jalapeno on the right, and is earlier and much more productive. The Pumpkin Spice jalapeno is not very impressive by comparison, with a lot of non-uniform fruits. Really looking forward to tasting these Sriracha as their scoville unit is supposed to be on the lower side.
Telegraph Improved (Botanical Interests)
One plant unfortunately succumbed to the cucumber beetle's bacterial wilt, but this is a normal problem of my garden as I try not to spray. Just like the english cucumber you buy in the store, except bigger. ---
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maxjohnson
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Re: 2024 tomatoes
So I asked my sister in law again about this one, and I'm still convinced it's just Juliet, although this one would be an F2. I am going to have to grow it more times to be sure. From last year experience, I determined 4th of July would be the due date for starting tomato seeds in order to have enough time before frost come, so should be enough time to try for a (presumably) F3.
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maxjohnson
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Re: 2024 tomatoes
Had to get rid of one of the Paul Robeson due to what appears to be bacterial wilt. The only plant dead from disease so far. I thought at first it was due to excessive rain and too much standing water (which probably opened it to be infected with wilt).
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Last edited by maxjohnson on Mon Jul 08, 2024 3:35 am, edited 2 times in total.
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maxjohnson
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Re: 2024 tomatoes
The Paul Robeson
Aside from my bad habit of overwatering, there was also the excessive rain this season. So I have to give this one a bit of slack for not being very sweet.
But I do think this is one of the more complex tasting beefsteak. It is not a wow initial impression but it grows on you. I don't have enough vocabularies to describe it, but there are many interplay of different flavors, and the acidity is so smooth and balanced, it's never too much but always there. The core of the fruit is where it is most tender and where the sweetness concentrates and you get a burst of flavor chewing into it. For tasting, it better to cut it into chunks from the center. Very meaty tomato, small seeds cavity, which is my preference.
Surprisingly the earliest ripened beefsteak this year, although to be fair I had a lot of frost damaged plants. Probably 75 days from transplant.
Aside from my bad habit of overwatering, there was also the excessive rain this season. So I have to give this one a bit of slack for not being very sweet.
But I do think this is one of the more complex tasting beefsteak. It is not a wow initial impression but it grows on you. I don't have enough vocabularies to describe it, but there are many interplay of different flavors, and the acidity is so smooth and balanced, it's never too much but always there. The core of the fruit is where it is most tender and where the sweetness concentrates and you get a burst of flavor chewing into it. For tasting, it better to cut it into chunks from the center. Very meaty tomato, small seeds cavity, which is my preference.
Surprisingly the earliest ripened beefsteak this year, although to be fair I had a lot of frost damaged plants. Probably 75 days from transplant.
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MissS
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Re: 2024 tomatoes
I loved the flavor of Paul Robeson. The problem with Paul Robeson in my garden is that it is the most prone plant to disease and I have never had another plant other than my first to survive to bear fruit. After several more attempts to grow it, I have given up. It sure was good though. I would love to taste it again.
~ Patti ~
AKA ~ Hooper
AKA ~ Hooper
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maxjohnson
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Re: 2024 tomatoes
*Squirrels' Selection Choice Award*: Pink Princess
My new favorite open pollinated cherry. I actually didn't get to eat it much at first because the critters ate most of the ripening fruits at the bottom before I could. Funny thing is I have ripe Sungold (which is much sweeter), Nectar, and Juliet growing along side with this plant, but they seem to choose this one.
Someone said it has thin skin, but for me it's more like medium thickness. No cracking so far. The flavor while isn't as tropical and sweet like Sungold, it's very balanced and refined. It is more meaty (soft) than juicy, and low acidity.
This is an exceptional snacking tomato. It has a nice consistent bite through and there is no acidic juice that sometimes shoots at your throat and makes you cough.
Praxx Cherry
Very interesting plant. Basically your standard red cherry with a more old time red somewhat-beefsteak flavor. I will grow it again because it is attractive, easily to manage, and good vigor.
Sungold F1
I try to underplay it, but it's hard to not admit this is an amazing tomato. Only complaint is the flavor is a little more acidic than I want. Surprisingly still very sweet and no cracking this year despite constant rain and my overwatering. Isis Candy
This plant produced a lot at first, but is the first to succumb to disease. The fruits are orange with blushes of red, they look like marbles. The fruit picks up a whole lot of water and prone to cracking. Despite that it's still very sweet, but the flavor is more diluted. I'm wondering if it means this plant might perform well in drier climate. It was still worth growing at least once, one of the sweeter non-hybrid cherry I have tasted. Nectar F1
They are very healthy plants, in fact the healthiest in the garden. Dark green leaves, very little diseases, pretty much didn't have to prune for diseases so far. Productive. Other than that the flavor is your average red cherry tomato with some sweetmess. It is marketed as super sweet, but I didn't get that. Sungold was still sweeter for me. Probably not the right climate to achieve that. Since it is not as sweet as I had hope and there is Rapunzel F1 which is also vigorous and productive, I'll skip this one in the future. Rebel Starfighter Prime & Dipper's Delight
Err, well they're nice looking. Aside from being attractive and tasting decent I don't have much to say. Prime is not very productive for how tall the plant grows. Dipper's Delight produces more moderately. I would grow Dipper's Delight over Prime. Flavor is pretty good but not exceptional, but I think I was getting my hope up due to how nice they look. Some smoky with medium acidity (zesty), but a bit more juice than I want in a beefsteak. Good in a salad to brighten up the flavor. Juliet F2
Was really looking forward to this one. It tasted very earthy, for some people that's "dirt". Debating on whether I should bother saving the seeds or not. You can't have everything.
My new favorite open pollinated cherry. I actually didn't get to eat it much at first because the critters ate most of the ripening fruits at the bottom before I could. Funny thing is I have ripe Sungold (which is much sweeter), Nectar, and Juliet growing along side with this plant, but they seem to choose this one.
Someone said it has thin skin, but for me it's more like medium thickness. No cracking so far. The flavor while isn't as tropical and sweet like Sungold, it's very balanced and refined. It is more meaty (soft) than juicy, and low acidity.
This is an exceptional snacking tomato. It has a nice consistent bite through and there is no acidic juice that sometimes shoots at your throat and makes you cough.
Praxx Cherry
Very interesting plant. Basically your standard red cherry with a more old time red somewhat-beefsteak flavor. I will grow it again because it is attractive, easily to manage, and good vigor.
Sungold F1
I try to underplay it, but it's hard to not admit this is an amazing tomato. Only complaint is the flavor is a little more acidic than I want. Surprisingly still very sweet and no cracking this year despite constant rain and my overwatering. Isis Candy
This plant produced a lot at first, but is the first to succumb to disease. The fruits are orange with blushes of red, they look like marbles. The fruit picks up a whole lot of water and prone to cracking. Despite that it's still very sweet, but the flavor is more diluted. I'm wondering if it means this plant might perform well in drier climate. It was still worth growing at least once, one of the sweeter non-hybrid cherry I have tasted. Nectar F1
They are very healthy plants, in fact the healthiest in the garden. Dark green leaves, very little diseases, pretty much didn't have to prune for diseases so far. Productive. Other than that the flavor is your average red cherry tomato with some sweetmess. It is marketed as super sweet, but I didn't get that. Sungold was still sweeter for me. Probably not the right climate to achieve that. Since it is not as sweet as I had hope and there is Rapunzel F1 which is also vigorous and productive, I'll skip this one in the future. Rebel Starfighter Prime & Dipper's Delight
Err, well they're nice looking. Aside from being attractive and tasting decent I don't have much to say. Prime is not very productive for how tall the plant grows. Dipper's Delight produces more moderately. I would grow Dipper's Delight over Prime. Flavor is pretty good but not exceptional, but I think I was getting my hope up due to how nice they look. Some smoky with medium acidity (zesty), but a bit more juice than I want in a beefsteak. Good in a salad to brighten up the flavor. Juliet F2
Was really looking forward to this one. It tasted very earthy, for some people that's "dirt". Debating on whether I should bother saving the seeds or not. You can't have everything.
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Last edited by maxjohnson on Tue Jul 16, 2024 5:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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MissS
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Re: 2024 tomatoes
Thank you for such a detailed review of your tomatoes. I truly enjoyed it.
The rodents 1st choice in my garden has also been Pink Princess. Mine was the gene pool from Fedco which was still unstable. I saved seeds from the half eaten ones and grew them out in following years. They all tasted great but I never did get another pink one from the grow outs. I got orange and white. I suppose that I should open my pack again to see if I can grow a pink one again or heck, just order some stabilized seeds.
The rodents 1st choice in my garden has also been Pink Princess. Mine was the gene pool from Fedco which was still unstable. I saved seeds from the half eaten ones and grew them out in following years. They all tasted great but I never did get another pink one from the grow outs. I got orange and white. I suppose that I should open my pack again to see if I can grow a pink one again or heck, just order some stabilized seeds.
~ Patti ~
AKA ~ Hooper
AKA ~ Hooper
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maxjohnson
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Re: 2024 tomatoes
Well I changed my mind. After tasting the Rebel Prime vs Dipper's Delight again, I prefer Prime as it have a more complex flavor, sweeter, more smokey, and less acidic. While Dipper's Delight is more zesty and brighter.
The beds I used to grow the Green Giant and Gigante Farina have lingering blight I believe. Not the best year to go for record weight.
The beds I used to grow the Green Giant and Gigante Farina have lingering blight I believe. Not the best year to go for record weight.
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AKgardener
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Re: 2024 tomatoes
Very impressive
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maxjohnson
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Re: 2024 tomatoes
Opalka
Look is deceiving. This one is in my top 10 list, simply because the meat is so tender. No juice, very nice balance with sweetness and very light acidity. It really is a perfect eating tomato, too good for canning.
Look is deceiving. This one is in my top 10 list, simply because the meat is so tender. No juice, very nice balance with sweetness and very light acidity. It really is a perfect eating tomato, too good for canning.
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Last edited by maxjohnson on Sun Jul 28, 2024 6:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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maxjohnson
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Re: 2024 tomatoes
Clear Pink
This might be one that will enter my top 10.
Unfortunately it doesn't look very impressive right now. I had one plant left after giving away the others, and put in a part shaded corner with a saucer that was holding too much water, so the plant died from fungal wilt.
From last year experience I know it is a decent determinate producer, but growing it late didn't have enough time for the fruits to ripen on vine. This time some of the fruits were very sweet. This is one of the preferred variety by the racoon that has been destroying half of the corn in my raised beds so far.
Just germinate more seeds, have maybe 75-80 days until frost come. Hoping to provide better evidence.
This might be one that will enter my top 10.
Unfortunately it doesn't look very impressive right now. I had one plant left after giving away the others, and put in a part shaded corner with a saucer that was holding too much water, so the plant died from fungal wilt.
From last year experience I know it is a decent determinate producer, but growing it late didn't have enough time for the fruits to ripen on vine. This time some of the fruits were very sweet. This is one of the preferred variety by the racoon that has been destroying half of the corn in my raised beds so far.
Just germinate more seeds, have maybe 75-80 days until frost come. Hoping to provide better evidence.
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AKgardener
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Re: 2024 tomatoes
How does clear pink taste?? I had it for this year but it didn’t work out
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maxjohnson
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Re: 2024 tomatoes
Juicy as a typical saladette, but much sweeter than expected for the size. This plant wasn't well. I need to grow out more samples to confirm.AKgardener wrote: ↑Mon Jul 29, 2024 11:41 am How does clear pink taste?? I had it for this year but it didn’t work out