Homegrown Tomatoes

Posts Tagged ‘Supersweet 100’

Here are some tomato plant updates for the week (as well as tomato seed updates).  Sorry I haven’t been around much this week — I’ve been busy with my tomatoes (not to mention with my other veggies).

Supersweet 100

I mentioned in my first tomato update post that I had three SuperSweet 100 plants, and I was going to run an experiment with them.  One I kept inside in a south-facing window.  Another I took outside to a protected area with strong indirect sunlight (as well as a couple hours of direct sun).  The third I went and planted in its final container outside.  Three weeks later, how did they fare?

It’s been rather cool here lately, so the plant I kept inside in a south-facing window is by far the tallest and has the most leaves.  However, it’s verging on leggy.  I’m keeping it inside for the time being, seeing as the forecast is for temps in the upper 30’s next week — if I sent it outside now, I’m afraid it would have a severe setback.

The one I planted in its final container in the garden is the next most developed; it has medium-sized new growth — not as much as the one I left inside, but it’s stockier — not leggy at all.  It has a nice, dark green color.

The third that I left outside in a protected location is the smallest.  I decided to go ahead and plant it in its final container out in the garden area, so it could get some more growth.  Dark green leaves, though, so that’s good.

Brandywine

All my started to grow quite well by about the 10th, when I potted them up twice since then.   I was thinking I had the red version of Brandywine, but they all ended up potato leaf style, so I either have red Brandywine with potato leaves or pink Brandywine.  Hmmm.  I’ll have to wait and see the color of the fruit.

Pineapple Tomato

These are for the Great Tomato Experiment, and they are doing very nicely.  I transferred them to the next size container, and am keeping them inside for now, given that lower temperatures are forecast during the week.  All my Pineapple seeds germinated nicely, so I have four plants to choose from — the three strongest will take part in the experiment.

White Bush

I originally said that one of my White Bush seedlings had been going for the sky.  Well, it had, then a short while later it looked like it was going to keel over.  So I brought it inside and hoped for the best.  It hasn’t been until the last few days that it’s started looking healthy — now it’s growing fine again.

The Rest of the Tomato Plants

I have Juliet, Tomatoberry, Big Rainbow, Kellogg’s Breakfastall repotted up.  I brought one Kellogg’s Breakfast inside, and everything else I left outside.  Yellow Cherry is also outside, but I’m not sure how it will fare.  I probably should bring it inside.

New Tomato Seeds Germinated

I tried for some of my legacy seeds, and so far, Green Grape and Loxahatchee are the only two up.  I had also planted newer seeds forand Tumbling Tom, and they both came up.  For the legacy seeds, still waiting on Black Krim and .

Loxahatchee is a strain I am developing.  I originally saved the seed from an unknown globe-shaped tomato that tasted wonderful, and hoped that the resulting plant would also have great-tasting tomatoes.  I didn’t know if the tomato was hybrid or open pollinated, so I wasn’t sure what I’d get.  At any rate, I’ve selected plants for three generations whose tomatoes tasted the best.

Whoops!  For some reason I was down to just 6 seeds — not sure where the rest ran off to.  So I carefully planted 3 of the seeds.  Two have germinated so far, and hopefully the third as well.

For these, I want to do two things.  First is still select the largest of the great-tasting red globes — that will be two of the plants.  The third plant I want to use as the female cross with another tomato variety.  Not sure which I want to use for the male parent of the cross.  I’m debating using Pineapple, Kellogg’s Breakfast or maybe Druzba.  I’ll have to see how this generation fares, first.

Yesterday’s Seeds

Finally, I planted two new varieties yesterday — the heirloom tomato and the hybrid Fabulous.  (If you plan on planting seeds and need some guidance, check out the germinating tomato seeds post.)

With Tomatoes and Flowers

Almost forgot, I have tomatoes on Patio, Celebrity and Husky Red (a cherry-type).  I have more blossoms on all these, plus also with Mr. Stripey (Tigerella) and Park’s Whopper.  It’s been a cooler winter than normal, so everything is growing slower than usual; I should have already had at least some almost-ripe tomatoes by now.  I’ve still got a ways to wait, though.

If you’re just starting out with your garden, you may want to know some good “beginner” tomatoes.  What are some tomato varieties that are easy to grow, good to eat and fun to watch develop?

Tip #1 for a New Tomato Garden

If you’ve never grown tomatoes before, I suggest growing just three plants your first season.  Why?

First, you want the best chance for your plants to grow and produce tomatoes.  This means that you’ll have to watch your plants and see how they react to your particular growing conditions.  If you put your plants out into your garden too soon, they might get killed by frost or stunted by chilly weather.  If you plant too late, you risk both the plants not pollinating well because it’s too hot, or your fruit not ripening fast enough before season end.

So, your first planting season shouldn’t be more than three tomato plants; the next season, after you become familiar with the growing conditions, you can plant with abandon!

Which Tomatoes for a New Gardener?

I suggest three different varieties for your tomato garden; a determinate, a cherry and an heirloom.  These three will give you tomatoes both early on and all through the season.

Determinate:  Determinate tomatoes tend to be smaller plants and bear fruit earlier.  Many don’t even need staking, which is a plus for the beginning home gardener.  Determinate tomatoes tend to be early-to-mid-season tomatoes, so they will be among the first of your homegrown tomatoes harvested.  In general, I’ve found the determinate tomatoes to be a bit more resistant to diseases.

Cherry:  A cherry tomato is one of the very easiest to grow, and the plants usually very prolific.   Cherry tomatoes are small (usually less than 2 ounces) and are born in clusters…sometimes very large clusters of 10 or more tomatoes!  Because the plants are so prolific, there are usually tomatoes ready at any given time.  Great for salads and snacking.  The cherry tomato plants are normally indeterminate, so they continue producing their fruit for the entire season.

Heirloom:  Finally, I suggest an heirloom, because most taste absolutely divine!   Heirloom tomatoes tend to be late-season, so they are ready for harvest after the determinate and cherry tomatoes produce.  I like the beefsteak-style heirloom tomatoes for their truly tomato taste, and the fact that they make great tomato sandwiches!

So, those are the tomato types I suggest for the first-time tomato gardener.  Now on to the varieties you can plant!

Tomato Veriety Suggestions

I’ll give you two different groups of three.  The first group should appeal to anyone; they are beautiful red tomatoes that are easy to grow.

The second group of three is for anyone who wants to get a little more adventurous.  Instead of red tomatoes, you’ll find these in three different colors!

Group #1:  Red Tomatoes

My three picks are: Celebrity, Supersweet 100 and Brandywine, and here’s why.

I have found Celebrity to be a tried-and-true addition to my garden.  The plants are easy to grow and it’s rare they need staking.  The tomatoes are medium-sized and quite good — much better than the grocery store tomatoes.  Beyond regular watering an a little fertilizer now and then, Celebrity produces without fuss.

Supersweet 100 has been a great perfomer for me — the plants sprout and grow quickly.  The cherry tomatoes are produced rampantly, once the plant has been established.  It’s hard to go wrong with this plant, and the cherry tomatoes are very sweet.  You will need to stake this plant, however.

Brandywine is a favorite of many a gardener (not to mention one of my favorites).  It’s known as one of the best-tasting of the heirloom varieties.  It’s reasonably resistant to diseases; just make sure it has plenty of air circulation around it.  A somewhat sprawly plant, it could use staking or a tomato cage.  The fruits are late season, and generally in the 1-pound range — definitely worth the wait!

Group #2: Tomatoes of Different Colors

For adventurous souls, here are my picks for different-colored tomatoes: Razzleberry, Jenny and Cherokee Purple. Determinate tomatoes are usually red, but Razzleberry is a pink determinate.  Another thing that’s different is that Razzleberry is a mid-season tomato, instead of early-season.  This means that although you’ll have to wait a bit longer for those fruits, they will be more succulent.   Razzleberry is just a fun plant to grow, with delicious, sweet fruits.  One caveat; you’ll very likely need to stake this plant (also rather unusual for a determinate).

Jenny is an orange cherry tomato, very small (less than an ouce), sweet and prolific.  Jenny sets fruits before Razzleberry, so you’ll be eating them sooner, not to mention throughout the entire season.  Jenny is indeterminate, as are most (if not all) cherry tomatoes, and the plants are prolific enough to need staking.  It’s a nice way to branch out into a cherry tomato of a different color.

My heirloom choice is Cherokee Purple.  Cherokee Purple is one of the more widely-adapted of the heirloom tomatoes, and pretty easy to grow no matter where you are.   A late-season producer, Cherokee Purple has medium to large fruits, with a heavenly tomato taste.  Now as to the purple.  never fear, the tomatoes are really a deep pink tinged with brown (much prettier than how it sounds).  No neon colors!   Altogether one of the nicest and easiest of the heirlooms to grow.

A Word to Florida Gardeners

Summers are brutal in Florida, and hard on the tomatoes; they just don’t pollinate or set fruits well in high temperatures.  So, I grow my main crops in two seasons — Spring and Fall. 

For a Spring crop, you’ll want to plant seeds by the middle of February (end of January is better).  This way most of your tomatoes will be harvested before the temperatures get really hot.  Your cherry tomatoes may continue to produce fruits, though, into the summer heat.

For a Fall crop, plant seeds by the end of May; a bit earlier if you live in the inland North Florida and Panhandle area, where it gets cooler sooner.

I can and do plant crops for Summer and Winter, seeing as I live in South Florida.  However, I plant the fewest tomatoes then.  While I may have a few dozen tomato plants in Spring and Fall, I may grow only 5 or 6 most summers and winters.  But for the beginning tomato gardener, I don’t recommend starting out with a Summer crop — the chance of tomato diseases is higher, due to the heat and humidity.