A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum The Tomato Forum How did your tomatoes do this year?

lol, they were until big brother yanked em. Thanks though. Its amazing that in 2008 we are still limiting pic size because 5% of the internet-going population still uses a dial-up connection. Anyway, its good to see you found us at the other forum.

Dave, that was aunt gerties gold and cherokee purple I believe.

John where can you be found? Jay

I always stick to tried & true varieties like 'Roma VF'& 'Beefsteak'. I'll plant new varieties I've never planted before this year. Any suggestions for tomato varieties that'll do well in the West Coast? Who's growing seedlings?

Hi,
I can't help you much on varieties that will do well on the west coast. The way I do it is plant a few that have proven themselves every year for insurance then try several new ones. I will start between 200-300 tomato plants and around 125 pepper plants. I will plant up to 80 tomatoes and 30 peppers and give the excess away. I will have up to 60 varieties of tomatoes and 20 of peppers. I've found some op's that do as well as any hybrid here. I still plant both. Just gives me more insurance. I don't put all my eggs in one basket. I have a friend who grows for the truck garden market around here. Two years ago he planted 500 plants all of one hybrid that usually does well here. That year due to the weather they flopped and he was left out. Now for me I still had some as I mix mine. Anxious to get started. Going to be 70 today. Jay

My backyard isn't big-it isn't small;it's somewhere in between.

Cherokee Purple is a nice tomato, but a little late in my area zone 5. The fruit is quite uniform. Here is the 2006 effort. I was away in August 2007 so didn't get any pictures, but 2007 was even better than 2006.
http://xrl.us/q4dv
The one plant has about 23 large tomatoes all about the same size. The tomatoes are of good flavour and texture.

Hmmmm! My Cherokee Purples are more beefsteak size and most decidedly not uniform. They look more like in this picture.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherokee_Purple

And here:

http://www.slowfoodusa.org/ark/cherokee_tomato.html

This ranks at the top for me in flavor rivaling Brandywine.

[quote=obywan59]

Most interesting. I am growing Cherokee again this year. Mine look a bit more like those in the second link. Funny I don't remember the purple so much. They were not as purple as Black Krim, and actually this did suprise me a little when picking them. Also, I notice the leaf is not as serrated as the normal tomato. In fact it has a bit of the appearance of Sudduth (Brandy Wine).

I will buy a fresh package of seeds and see what happens this year. Thanks for the observation.

Unfortunately there is some wrong seeds being sold as Cherokee Purple out there. I apparently grew the wrong one 2 years ago. The color was close but the size was around 4-8 ounces. Then their is a potato leaf version being sold. seeds of Change sold it too many vendors I'm told along with a few others they sell that isn't right. Red Brandywine for one. I have the true seeds from Craig this year so will compare results. My smaller version didn't have real good flavor either. Hopefully with the true ones that will improve also. From the pictures Durgan it appears you may have the PL version. There is a few vendors I know who sell the true version. Jay