Let's talk tomatoes

[Shirley U Geste]

I want to have tomatoes again this season.  They will be in a huge pot with a cage.

Any recommendations as to species?

I especially like the heirloom varieties, both for looks and taste. And being low acid is a bonus.

[Deleted]

We always do a cherry tomato because we eat so many salads in the summer, and we all snack on them. Often we do two kinds. For slicing tomatoes I like the Beefsteak. If I do the straw bale thing this year I'm going to do Romas as well. I've grown them in the past, but two years ago we added blueberries to what we normally grow and something had to go.

[Shirley U Geste]

I've never grown Romas before.

I know they are good for cooking, how are they for just slicing and eating?

[Deleted]

I don't know if you like to grow your tomatoes from seed, but if you do, the Ramapo tomato is the best tasting tomato I've ever eaten. I don't grow my tomatoes from seed - I buy the young plants from my garden center, but I'm thinking about trying this tomato this year.

njfarmfresh.rutgers.edu/RamapoTomato.htm

[Deleted]

I use romas for cooking, and at one time for canning. I don't can anymore, but I do make batches of salsa or spaghetti sauce or generic tomato sauce about every two weeks in the summer (or when we're completely overwhelmed with ripe tomatoes) and freeze it. I save my Beefsteaks for slicing and eating.

[Shirley U Geste]

Those Ramapo sound good.

I don't do seeds much anymore. Except for the wildflower ones in the critter garden, those I can just throw and sow and not have to do much work with.

I'm too impatient and it's hard to start plants with the cats around, they want to eat any plant they find in the house. 

[Deleted]

My neighbor told me last year I need to try Cherokee Purple.

[Shirley U Geste]

I've heard good things about the Cherokee Purple and also the Mr Stripey.

There are so many good varieties, but I need to stick to just one pot full or I will be overrun with fruit.   

[Deleted]

A local farm sells a huge variety of tomato seedlings (100+ varieties). Their catalog has info about color, flavor, acidity, maturation dates - maybe this would give you some ideas:

mygardendreams.com/2014-seedling-catalog

[Deleted]

I'm going to try the ramapo, sounds interesting.

I stick to the basics: Brandywine, cherry, roma, beefsteak, and early girl. I like 3 or 4 cherry toms. I set a bowl on the table and keep a fresh batch in there once they ripen. I use the romas for canning because they hold up well. I'm not a big fan of eating them as is.

[val2525]

I don't get enough sunshine on my patio for tomatoes. I tried last year, with a cute little tomato strain designed for container growing….I had 2 tomatoes. The whole summer. Two.

[Shirley U Geste]

You had twice the amount that I did. 

But then I didn't have any tomato plants.   

[kritter]

Feb 14, 2015 2:08:59 GMT val2525 said:

I don't get enough sunshine on my patio for tomatoes. I tried last year, with a cute little tomato strain designed for container growing….I had 2 tomatoes. The whole summer. Two.

LOL  That made me laugh.  Two for the whole summer.  LOL

[zoesam]

LOL, that must be why I had no basil last year! I forgot to plant any LOL.

[Deleted]

Does anyone do the upside down thing? It looks interesting, but I'd have to find a place to hang them.

[Deleted]

Another trick with toms - When you get your plants, bury them 2/3 to 3/4 in the ground. Sounds crazy, but all those little soft prickly things on the stem are roots. Your toms will take hold and grow stronger. It took me years to follow this advice.

[Deleted]

Cherokee purple is delicious and another really good heirloom is Brandywine. Aunt Ruby's German Green is good too. 

For cherry tomatoes, Black Cherry and Sundgold tomatoes are really delicious. I grew 3 plants of each of these in  very large containers and they did really well. We had enough for ourselves and to give away to family and friends.

[Shirley U Geste]

I'm leaning towards the Cherokee Purple. The pot I have is easily big enough for 2 plants so I still have to come up with another complimentary species. Maybe the Sungold for the color and size difference.

It's been 3-4 years since I did any veggies and I am looking forward to it. They will make a nice addition alongside of the wildflower critter garden.

[denise15601]

I grow from plants and the nursery where I pick them up always have tons of different ones.

Always get the cherries which do well. My big tomatoes usually have problems, but I had a decent amount last summer.
I am too lazy to can them, but will make a kind of sauce with my peppers (if they grow) and onions. I freeze it in bags and add to a jar of spaghetti sauce.

[Deleted]

I usually do tomatos and various squash from seed and do well. Anything else doesn't produce unless I use plants.

One year we got a variety of tomato plants, beefsteak, Roma, and grape. Those grape tomatos did well, but grew so darn fast! And there were so many of them! I hated them by the end of the season. No more grape tomatos! The chickens loved them.

[denise15601]

I use the cherries in my "sauce" too. They burst after you cook them for awhile.

[kritter]

I love the grape tomatoes. Sprouts has has them on sale for .99 a pint for 2 weeks and I think I am on my 8th pint.

Maybe I will try to grow some of them this year if I can find the plants. I am too impatient for seeds.

[sunsetpainter]

Grape tomatoes are our favorites. They rarely make it all the way back to the house!

[betabutton]

I am trying to work up the courage to try again. Last year I decided not to plant any tomatoes because in 2013 EVERY SINGLE ONE was claimed by a squirrel, though mostly they just took a single bite and then left the rest behind on the plant or the ground. Everything was planted in 16" tall boxes next to the deck. I surrounded the 3 boxes with grid and watered them from the deck. Still, the critters managed to worm under or leap over the grid and destroy my tomatoes.
Open to suggestions for neutralizing their efforts.
One journalist harnessed his similar frustrations and wrote an article that won him the James Beard Foundation, MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award for his effort.

chicagoreader.com/chicago/why-eating-squirrels-makes-sense/Content?oid=7215952 

[Dawn R]

I get plants from a friend. She cultivates/grows/saves the seeds of heirloom tomatoes. It is a huge process that involves covering the blooms so they don't get incorrectly pollinated and then hand pollinates.

Anyway, I get a variety of plants and have fruit that varies from grape to huge ones and in colors from yellow to orange and red. I love my tomatoes!

[denise15601]

beta-I would try the netting-actually called bird netting, now that I think of it.

[betabutton]

Thanks Denise. I may try a few plants again this summer. I think the resident chippies also contribute to the destruction.

I checked my link this morning and discovered it does not work. Checked for accuracy and saw that the  "http://"  disappeared when I posted. If you would like to read it, Google these words.   Chicken of the Trees

As for me, bird netting is a more appealing solution 

[Desire]

I do about 4 cherry tomato plants and one large size tomato plant. We had so many last summer that I was bringing in a basketful of the cherry tomatoes every two days. I leave them on the counter and we use them in salads mostly but also eat them like candy - better than snacking on sweets, because they are usually so sweet themselves. I get them from the nursery in small plants, always different varieties and transplant into the garden.

[val2525]

Feb 15, 2015 7:24:41 GMT betabutton said:

I am trying to work up the courage to try again. Last year I decided not to plant any tomatoes because in 2013 EVERY SINGLE ONE was claimed by a squirrel, though mostly they just took a single bite and then left the rest behind on the plant or the ground. Everything was planted in 16" tall boxes next to the deck. I surrounded the 3 boxes with grid and watered them from the deck. Still, the critters managed to worm under or leap over the grid and destroy my tomatoes.
Open to suggestions for neutralizing their efforts.
One journalist harnessed his similar frustrations and wrote an article that won him the James Beard Foundation, MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award for his effort.

chicagoreader.com/chicago/why-eating-squirrels-makes-sense/Content?oid=7215952 

At least you had more than two tomatoes.

[Deleted]

We grow tomatoes in pots every year. As soon as we ditch the kids swingset, I am putting in a big garden. Love tomatoes but I must get disease resistant types, I get blight every year when I don't.