A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2007 heirlooms

this is my second year gardening and i'm going to try some heirlooms this year. i've heard that they can be hard to grow. i chose mostly tomatoes i have green zebra,white tomesol, red brandywine,cherokee purple,green moldovan,and yellow brandywine. does anyone grow any of these? and do you have any special tricks you can share? i like trying different things and these look really cool. i got my seeds from baker creek heirloom seed co. hope someone can help don't know alot about gardening yet. but i sure do love doing it. thanks for all your help.

JohnCT and Julianna/Sorellina
both grow these and are quite knowledgeable..


I'll definately give them a holler and
give'em a wee~bit to come thru..

Hi,

I did brandywine, red last year. I wasn't overly impressed but then I like the roma tomatoes better and am still looking for the perfect compact plant sweet tomato that is a good producer. That's my idea of the perfect tomato. I just haven't found it yet.

I know tomatoes like a lot of compost in there soil and that you have to keep dirt off of their leaves. And that's about the extent of what I know. Good luck with yours. I look forward to hearing about them through out the growing season.

Heirloom tomatoes grow the same as hybrid tomatoes, nothing special needed to grow them.

Heirlooms are no more difficult to grow. Their production and disease resistance can be worse than most hybrids, but they have FAR more advantages. Like TASTE!!!!!! You will be happy with most of those varieties on your list. Green zebra is more of a novelty. I've not grown it but many I've read has said it does not taste very good. Never heard of White Tomesol. Most white varieties are very bland though. Best of the whites I've read is White Queen. Cherokee purple will knock your socks off.

I totally agree with what John says.

Your first taste of a Cherokee Purple will restructure your desire and taste for maters.

Enjoy

One thing to remember is first taste in a personal preference. Otherwise there would only be a few varieties. And regardless whether hybrid or OP will vary due to climate and soil conditions. John is right Cherokee Purple is a nice one. For me last year in my garden the tast varied greatly and wasn't as great as some I had tasted grown elsewhere. And not my best tasting tomato last year. That is why I hesitate to suggest one tomato. I recommend you try several and find what suits your taste in your conditions. It is one I would definately suggest you try. If you ever want to try other varieties let me know. I had an offering earlier this year and usually have some extra seeds I would be glad to share. Jay

I've been growing Brandywines for 20 years or so. My current favorite strain is Brandywine OTV although I've only tried a couple of them. There are other strains also. Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter is not far behind the Brandywines in flavor in my opinion, and my favorite "yellow" is Big Rainbow. Old German also ranks right up there near the top.

I tried Cherokee Purple last year for the first time and it gives Brandywine a run for the money for best tasting tomato of all. I'm still not sure which I like best.

Jay's right about personal taste though. People who are used to the common acidy tomatoes that have been around for decades sometimes don't appreciate the range of different flavors the heirlooms offer. Same thing with beer drinkers who've been drinking Budweiser or Miller all their lives. It's all a matter of opinion.

do i need to worry about cross pollination? and if so how far apart should i plant the different types? i've never grown any of these so i want to do it right. i've really tried to do it right this year i put a lot of time into my garden this year. thank you for any help you can give me.

davida, cross-pollination should not be a concern unless you were looking to save true seed.

Hey fellow Okie! Tomatoes, especially heirlooms, are the one topic that always get me excited. I've never found a tomato I liked better than Brandywine, but with last year's drought, my best producer was Arkansas Traveler. It was my best tasting tom last year, too. I've heard great things about Cherokee Purple, some of the Texans had great success with it last year. I'll be growing it this season. Plum type tomatoes suffer blossom end rot a lot of years in our region, and the large beefsteaks like Brandywines may not produce a lot of fruit in hotter years, but they're worth the effort.
Do I recall that you're near Tulsa? I'm on highway 9 east of Norman, near Tecumseh.

I would love to try growing heirlooms. If anyone has any spare seeds I would appreciate it! Thanks.

I have to say, I am the same way..
I love growing tomatoes, talking tomatoes and eating tomatoes..

And I'll tell you, I get excited planting the seed of that tomato.. and I've got to have my head examined..
Who in their right mind, waits alllllllllllll winter long for spring to spring... to be able to plant seeds.... so that you wished it was already time to eat those gorgeous ripe tomatoes..

Ciao all,

I've been away from this forum for a few weeks. I'm in California, escaping the tundra in Toronto, visiting my mother. We just started her seeds a few days ago.

I think Davida's got a really good list for her second year of gardening. There's a nice range of colours and flavours in there. John needs to really grow Green Zebra before he slams it. :p For me, it's a lovely tangy salad tomato and the entire family loves it. The only reason it's not in my garden this year is that I decided I needed to grow completely 'new to me' varieties if I was going to keep up with all the varieties people keep sending me!

One question I do have for Davida is: last year, your first year, did you start tomatoes from seed or did you buy plants from a nursery? That makes a bit of difference in how we can best help you. Good luck with your tomatoes and let us know which of them were your favourites at the end of the season!

Buona fortuna,
Julianna

for peppereater i live in southeastern oklahoma about two and a half hours from your location. but its nice to hear from a fellow okie someone who knows about our weather here. got my garden ready last week now all i need is spring. hope yours does well. i've already got tomatoes and squash up under my lights hope its not to late? they are about 3 inches tall right now. didn't know when to start them. thanks for the help

I haven't planted my 'mators yet. But with this Oklahoma weather I am ready anytime to plant them, can't be this weekend.

I like to plant Roma, Celerity, and Rutgers.

NOTE: I live in Haskell OK.

I started my tomatoes and half have sprouted in 4 days...I am like you weezie...I can't hardly wait for them to get ripe and they don't even have true leaves yet