Tomato growers?

[s13sr20det]

got a late start on my tomato seeds but so far ive got
sugary, cherokee purple, delicious, costoluto genovese, and marglobe

ive never grown any of them other than the sugary before

 

[Wait...What?]

There are better, but you're not going to find them at the garden center as transplants. Alas, you don't want to sow seed, so you will miss out on things like SunGold and Black Cherry and Green Grape and any of the currant tomatoes.

So.... Can someone recommend some commercially available grape and/or cherry tomato varieties?

I dont want to get seeds, so ill need to find the variety at Lowes, HD, Walmart, or garden center. (gonna plant them in 10Gal smart pots)

I want something that produces all year long, has good flavor, and yeilds avg or better.

i always see super sweet 100's(among others), but im sure there are better.

 

[ShroomDr]

i think ive seen black cherry, last year, the HD by my house had at least 6-8 varieties of cherry/grape tomatoes.

 

[Insomniac]

So far I've planted: Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Black Sea Man, Grape, and Early Girl.
I'm excited!

 

[dubwise]

Hello all. I've got a bunch of maters going right now, and would like to push in the 100-200 plant count....I've got others to help with the maintenance of the crop, but I'm curious about the amount of labor that will go in to tending to 200 or so tomatoes? Anyone have any insight on this? I've got plenty of space and want to grow on as much of it as I can.

 

[osoloco69]

How are the japanese black truffle tomatos? German head? African queen?

 

[bodymind]

man, i just skimmed over this thread... i grew over fifty strains of heirlooms for about three years. it felt like a fulltime job. i my climate the off season for tomatoes is july and august as well as december and january. i started my seedlings indoors under lights and transplanted to the well-amended beds in early february in holes dug about 2 feet deep. the depth protects the seedlings from wind burn and cold as well as giving them a great root system as i back-fill with compost as the vine grows out.

cherokee purple is definitely my old standby. green zebra was a good prodcer as well. i LOVE the big red-gold bicolors despite their low-yield and soft skin. they taste like tropical fruit.

i could go on and on.... i love tomatoes. but i dug up the tomato beds a few years ago and planted a citrus grove, which is now starting to do it's thing

i'll get back to tomatoes when i can get some better and more low-maintenance beds built...

 

[dubwise]

50 strains is a HUGE number in my book! How many of each (avg) did you grow? I've got one heirloom and a four or five hybrids going right now....the heirlooms appear to germinate at a much faster rate.

 

[Strainbrain]

I thought I was a little crazy with 14...

 

[Budley Doright]

So.... Can someone recommend some commercially available grape and/or cherry tomato varieties?

I dont want to get seeds, so ill need to find the variety at Lowes, HD, Walmart, or garden center. (gonna plant them in 10Gal smart pots)

I want something that produces all year long, has good flavor, and yeilds avg or better.

i always see super sweet 100's(among others), but im sure there are better.

I grew ss100 along side 2 small toms.....sugary and sweet baby girl....

I found ss100 to have super tough skin....

I would eat them outside only...so I could spit out the skins.....

My fav small tomato by a long shot is a new one called sweet baby girl....

fab tomato....not quite a cherry.... more like a two bite tom.....

 

[bodymind]

well, i grew out fifty strains over about three years... i averaged about three plants per strain. my favorite strains i grew more of. i made my own seeds of the varieties i liked, etc. i am looking forward to getting back into tomatoes, but i have so many other projects begging for attention that the next phase of huge tomato beds are still a few years away.

and btw, the sweet 100's are always going to be on my top ten list.... the best hybrid tomato in my books... i don't care if they crack and fall of the vine. isis candy, cherise orange, and reisentraube (sp?) were also good cherry tomatoes for me. reisintraube is nuts in the HUGE clusters of flowers it pumps out.

 

[bodymind]

dubwise - about the many maters you want to get going.... here are some pointers:

- START EARLY but don't let your seedlings get rootbound in their containers

- make sure your soil is perfect! perfect texture, perfect everything, but texture is key.... i use horse manure with wood shaving bedding as the base for most of my beds.... i amend it heavily to balance everything out... but the texture is like a sponge.

- give your plants room! packing them in may seem like a good idea at first, but if you are trying get the most mileage out of each plant give them room to get through the season - room for ventilation and room for roots.

btw, i grow in a humid, hot climate in acidic, silica based beach sand.

 

[dubwise]

thanks bodymind! I've got 60 in the field now and another 30 about two weeks away. I plan on going through with another 50 or so. So far I've used four varieties and I'd like to get a few more strains. I'll be sure to go with those sweet 100's. My soil has been ammended with horse manure, hay, perlite.

 

[AbbieDoobie]

I got 23 plants in the ground, finally. I grow only heirlooms. Got Anna Russian, Andrew Rahart Jumbo Red, Cherokee Purple, Neve's Azorean Red, Brandywine Sudduth, and Opalka. Had to shut down the mj grow, so now I'm throwin' everything into the tomatoes. They even got the rest of my Foxfarm Ocean Forest. They love the stuff!

~Abbie

 

[ItsGrowTime]

Good to see this thread rejuvenated. I switched up my outdoor veggie garden a little this year. Last year I picked varieties willy nilly and while my produce was awesome, my garden ended up looking like shit. Giant 8' tall Pink Brandywine shading out a 2' tall Bush Goliath, etc etc. This year Im sticking with more compact varieties like Better Bush (Bush Goliath x Better Boy) and various cherry and roma varieties. The Husky Red Cherry is a great looking plant already at only a foot tall.

I also added 9 pepper varieties and a few different squash and eggplants. My garden should be much more organized this year. Can't wait for the okra! Gardening is just plain cool, no matter if it's tomatoes or killer cannabis or both. I'd kill to put one of my NLxBigbud clones out there though...but it's not time yet.

 

[Sam_Skunkman]

Quisenberry Red Brandywine, "my favorite" Cherokee Purple, Rose, Big Beef (F1), Matt's Wild Cherry, Black Prince, San Marzano bush and vine, Caspian Pink, as well as a bunch of Corn, Luscious (F1) (se+), and heirloom Marvel of Venice yellow pole beans.

I grow more then 100 tomato plants, in big round cages 3-4 feet diameter across and 6 feet high with a pole to support when young, cages made out of coated wire fencing with big holes to easily pick the tomatoes.

I have grown veggies most of my adult life, 40+ years.
In spring I plant Corn every two weeks, same with beans.
Right now the first two plantings of corn and beans are up.
Tomatoes maybe 2-3 feet tall and doing great, starting to make flowers.

-SamS

 

[kpt.G]

cherry tomatos is best IMO

 

[s13sr20det]

i planted mine late as hell, but they seem to be doing quite well...

im glad i am growing the cherokee purple because i keep reading over and over how tasty they are!

im growing 3 determinate (marglobes) like this

i grew one like this last year after reading silverbacks yield improving technique thread. it was the biggest tomato plant ive ever grown.

 

[qwerty]

-fellow tomato grower here, roughly 75 plants this year

I need to check out silverbacks thread.

 

[SecretGardener]

I am growing this list of tomatos this year, has anyone grow any of these? I like some input.
black, pink, red and yellow Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Green Zebra, White Wonder and orange Nebraska Wedding

Hey man, I am actually growing some cherokee purple, green zebra and clint eastwoods rowdy red hehe. I will get some pictures of my plants, I don't remember which is which though ahhah shoulda marked the containers : /