Davin surprised me with this drawing on our kitchen chalkboard this morning.
I know that some of you in the warmer regions have already started your tomato seeds. Around here I still have a month(ish) to go before I will start my first batch of dwarf varieties.
Which varieties are you growing or planning to grow this year?
My tomato seeds are growing strong! I plan to plant them in the garden toward the end of the month. (I live on the Texas Gulf coast). The varieties I’m planting this year are:
Jersey Giant
Amish Paste
Bonnie’s Best
ACE
Cour di Bue
Some Pink Tomato I can’t remember the name of
Riesentraube (a cherry tomato)
German Lunchbox (also cherry tomato size)
I’m also near the Gulf Coast (houston) and our seeds were started several weeks ago and are doing good. I went a little crazy this year and planted these: http://www.sproutdispatch.com/tomatoes-for-2013/
Not all of them sprouted and a few bit the dust in a freeze we didn’t know was coming but the ones that survived are doing well!
Last year I grew 2 fabulous varieties – Black Krim and Tim’s Black Ruffles. They were both easy to grow (I’m not great at growing tomatoes), extremely flavourful, and ripened well in the house. I will grow both again this year. Love the chalk drawings, btw!
Both of these are in my top 5!
Still not sure what my garden schedule is this year, and not sure if tomatoes are in it. But – when I do grow tomatoes again, I have the following:
Hahms Gelbe
Indigo Rose
Anna Russian
Zapotec
Woodles Orange
Big Rainbow
Monomakh’s Hat
Tsar’s Royal Gift
Purple Calabash
Paul Robeson
Nature’s Riddle
I have a few other varieties of seed, but these are on the top of my priority list. I found out I might be moving to Tucson late this year or early next year, so I’ll have to see how tomatoes do in that desert heat.
I would suggest sticking with the Mexican varieties that really like heat. How exciting!
I live in Phoenix and have tomatoes in the ground already (crazy, I know!). The seasons are very different here and take some adjusting to get used to, but most varieties go great here when planted at the right time and watered and mulched appropriately! This year I’m growing Black Prince, Brandywine, Sungold, and Romas.
Welcome to the desert if you do move, Mathew!
Short-season tomato varieties work best here, but you can nurse most varieties along well into the beginning of the warmest season by using shadecloth for sun blocking and/or planting in an area that will get some shade relief in the afternoon. Start them as early as you can, keep them potted while they’re developing and able to be moved in case of sudden low temp dips during your hardening-off period (we had a couple of really sneaky cold-punches here this late winter, and anyone with Solanums in the ground vs in a portable pot ended up very sad), and get them in their forever homes as soon as the weather seems to be staying reliably in the 50’s at night. Stay steady with your watering, don’t let ’em burn, and all will be well!
Our organic CSA farm grew heat-tolerant hybrids well into the season of 100+ weather (yellow pears and certain varieties of current-sized ones did especially well, although the taste wasn’t the best), but that was with lots of deep irrigation and we still got a fair amount of sunscorch without shade covers – it’s pretty crucial for all tomatoes at a certain point, and most varieties will shut down pollination when the temps regularly climb into the mid-high 90’s, so the focus becomes nurturing the bracts that have set.
/my two cents as a desert grower
I have so little space, that I may only grow one variety this year. But it sounds so perfect for my personal tomato likes and needs that I think that might be okay. I decided to try the Italian heirloom Red Pear from Franchi seeds. It gets rave reviews and is supposed to be good both for eating fresh and for sauce. If I do a second I might buy one Sungold plant because…well, Sungold. Yum!
I’m trying to stick to under 30 plants this year. So far 20 varieties have made the cut:
Arbuznyi
Barlow Japanese
Big Beef
Black and Red Boar
Gezahnthe
Giant Belgian
Indian Moon
Isis Candy
Lancia
Livingston’s Perfection
Manitoba
Orange Jubilee
Plum Fryer
Principe Borghese
Purple Calabash
Snow White
Stupice
Sweet Baby Girl
Taxi
White Currant
I haven’t started them yet but may before the week is out. The trouble is I have no growth light so mine always get way too leggy. And since this years tomato plants lasted until almost Jan, I figure starting a month later than usual shouldn’t affect them too badly.
Cherokee Purple
Risentraube (free with purchase)
Roma
Black from Tula (my family’s favorite)
Chianti Rose
these I just ordered
Principe Borghese
Gary Ibsens Gold
Gigantesque
Ispolin
Manitoba
Marmande
Amish Paste
Black Prince
Early Annie
Red Fig
Wapsipinicon Peach
Piccolo
Persimmon
Sweet Pea
San Marzano
these I’m still waiting to arrive …
Champagne
Costoluto Fiorentino
Doublerich
Longkeeper
Silvery Fir
St. Pierre
Whippersnapper
that’s only 22 right … and once I find my binder full of tomato seeds, there’ll be a few more (make that more than a few more) …
I just want to eat all the seeds right now!
My list this year is:
ASHHABADH’S HEART
Ballad Tomato
Amazon Chocolate
Sandul Moldovan Tomato
Belarus Orange 1 Tomato
Black Krim
Caspian Pink
Red Pear (Franchi)
Sungold
And if I get a second bed in the community garden:
Zapotec
Tim’s Black Ruffles
Cour de Bue
I won’t plant any until probably late March. While it tends to be fairly mild in February here in Portland, OR, we often get at least one good freeze in March which often sets back spring planting. I also don’t have anywhere inside for starts (at least, that’s safe from cats and clumsy humans). We’ll just deal with it when it gets a little more consistently warm.
Now that’s love right there! ?
I’m so anxious to start seeds. We’re not huge tomato people, so I only do three varieties:
Brandywine
Speckled Roman
Mexican Midgit
I’ve never done them from seed before, so this spring will be exciting.
I’ve already sown some Italian Roma seeds since I’m keeping my garden small this year even though I’m tempted to add a couple of other varieties. North Texas weather is so mild this year, I’m hoping to be able to get an early start despite the unpredictable weather of my area.
Our curious young cat’s taste for my tomato sprouts has forced me wait for spring and buy young plants that I can just leave outside, so I have given into my weakness and will now be growing Cherokee Purple, Yellow Pear, and San Marzano tomatoes… and possibly Phoenix… maybe others…
I don’t have tons of direct sunlight, but I can manage a few in large containers. This year I’ll be growing:
Sungold
Principe Borghese
one more, probably Black Russian
I’m starting mine earlier this year than usual (this weekend), hoping to get a bit of a start on the season. Hope my experiment works!
My seeds got started indoors a little late this year (I live in a lower desert) but the weather during the day has been great so my seedlings get sunshine all day and then come indoors in the evening to weather out the temperature drops. I hope to have them in the soil in 3 weeks.
I had to scale back the number of tomatoes this year (new garden site and I’m growing some other things I haven’t planted previously…) but I could only manage to “narrow down” to this list…
Old favorites:
Black Krim (haven’t grown in a couple years, but really enjoyed them a few years ago – and these were the first tomatoes I learned to save seed with)
Tlaculula Pink (community garden favorite, you can smell the sugar when you cut into one…)
Vorlon (super popular with my friends for the dense and complex flavor)
Morning Sun (this and Golden Sunray were great producers and treats in salads or in making “fresh sauce” as my 70+ italian neighbor called it)
Golden Sunray
New varieties for 2013:
Pink Accordion
Tigerella
Wapsipinicon Peach
Yellow Riesentraube
Mini Orange
Bali
White Queen
Purple Calabash
Black Cheery
I’m in Kansas, and we had weeks of over-100 degree temperatures and practically no rain. I saved the seeds of the only heirloom tomato that produced well, but I didn’t write down the name when I planted it. I’m only buying varieties that the catalogue says are heat and drought resistant, including Old Virginia, Stone, Super Sioux, Red House, and Marvel Striped. Anybody have any suggestions for my conditions?
I have an every expanding variety of tomatoes but I’ll probably have 15 vines in the garden and in containers.
Riesentraube, Chocolate Cherry, Sungold, Super Sweet 100, Roma, San Marzano, Black Krim, Jubilee, Kellog’s Breakfast, Brandywine, Paul Robeson and I’ll plant a Cherokee Purple if I can find another seedling.
In Alabama where we have 2-4 weeks of 100 deg temperatures, all of these have done well. Not sure about the Riesentraube and Paul Robeson since they are new this year.
I love tomatoes!
What I Started:
Red Brandywine
Indigo Rose
Buckbee’s 50 Day
What I Will Start this Week:
Delicious
Zapotec Pink
Cherokee Purple
Garden Peach
Maglia Rosa
Green Zebra
Salad Peach
Pomodoro
Yellow Pear
San Marzano
Amish Paste
What I’ve Ordered:
Sungold Hybrid
Tumbling Tom Hybrid
Yellow Stuffer
Mexico Midget
Cherokee Chocolate (a bonus)
I saw a drawing of a bird on Davin’s Twitter — and now I think he must have drawn that, too. Brilliant.
He did! He draws a lot of birds. All fictional and out of his head.
I haven’t actually gone through the seeds I already have, but I ordered two new-to-me varieties from Urban Harvest called pink pear cherry and indigo rose that I’m excited to try. But I won’t be starting any tomato seeds until probably the middle to end of April since there is always a possibility of snow up until the first week of June (groan).
What a fun drawing! There must be a way you could turn that into a card or print.
I’m volunteering with a nursery propagator right now and I got some great heirlooms from her:
– Eva Purple Ball
– Pinky Tuscadero
– Pink Honey
– Frankenstein
– Taxi
– Kootenai
– Indigo Rose
– Cream Sausage
– Italian Heirloom
– Purple Russian
– Thai Red (exact variety unknown, just origin/color)
– Iditarod Red
– Red Cherry (small, like currant in size/form)
We’re in Zone 9b (Scottsdale, AZ), so they’re mostly in 1 – 5 gallons right now, waiting for their 15-gal forever homes. Love this time of year!
We’re in Toronto and I repotted my seedlings this afternoon and put them under a grow light. For our small urban garden, we prefer cherry varieties because there’s enough for everyone (our family, neighbours and the local critters):
Black Cherry
Brownberry
Ildi
Isis Candy
Juliet
Tomatoberry
White Currant
Chocolate and Black Cherry are the big favourites of our family and neighbours so I’ve planted all the seeds to spread the wealth. Happy growing everyone!