DTM Input Needed

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GoDawgs
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DTM Input Needed

#1

Post: # 60743Unread post GoDawgs
Fri Jan 14, 2022 5:33 pm

I'm coming down the home stretch with this spreadsheet of MMMM varieties. I've looked up every one, most in several places and also included an Excel note for any history I found for the varieties. As far as DTM, I have a mix of actual numbers and the "early", "mid" etc categories. Since actual days all depend on who's growing it, where and under what conditions and are so variable, should I just use the categories?

Looking on the internet I found the DTMs defined as:
early - 50-60 days
mid - 60-80 days
late - 80+ days

In some descriptions I found the in-betweeners of early-mid and mid-late.

All suggestions welcomed.

Also while I'm at it, Shape and Type... are the following shapes correct? Beefsteak, flat globe, globe, heart, oblate, oblong, oval, pear, plum, round.

What about types? Cherry, paste, saladette, sauce, slicer. Should sauce just be paste? Any other types?

I appreciate the help!

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Toomanymatoes
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Re: DTM Input Needed

#2

Post: # 60855Unread post Toomanymatoes
Sun Jan 16, 2022 1:46 pm

I find the DTM is often quite variable depending on where you look. I think that's why sites like Tatianas Tomatobase just use the categories instead. I am not sure what the 'standard"' day ranges are for early/mid/late. I always went up to 65 days for early.

Personally, I like using the number of days but often have to translate early/mid/late into days anyway so it can be somewhat arbitrary.

As for shapes/types....not sure if there is a standard for that or not. I am not sure beefsteak would be a shape. Those would likely be oblate. I think it gets very complicated. Is an oxheart a paste? I think some are more paste-like than others.

I would put paste/sauce together. There are also stuffer and juice(?) tomatoes. There are also long keepers, but not sure if that would be a type or not? Are salad and saladette different? To me they are, but I don''t know if that is typical. To me, a saladette is basically a big cherry while a salad is a small slicer. I might put currant as another type. How does something like Reisetomate fit in?

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GoDawgs
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Re: DTM Input Needed

#3

Post: # 60863Unread post GoDawgs
Sun Jan 16, 2022 4:03 pm

I have a Comments column and am tempted to use that for things like "good for sauce", "long keeper", etc. And I have a feeling not all heart shaped tomatoes make good sauce or are good for canning, especially if they don't have the flavor you want. Soooo subjective unless the criteria is "meatiness" which would make a thicker puree. When I see paste I'm thinking it is thicker, doesn't have a lot of juice and would be suitable for sauce, etc IF it tasted good to me.

The DTM thing. Are terms like early, mid and late pretty much the same for most gardeners relative to their own experience? For example, a person in one area of the country might experience 50-55 days regularly as "early" whereas someone else in a different location might consider 60 days as an early tomato due to their climate. Maybe I should convert all DTMs to categories and not numbers. Everything I've put in so far is what I've found on line, be it category or number.

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bower
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Re: DTM Input Needed

#4

Post: # 60867Unread post bower
Sun Jan 16, 2022 4:54 pm

I wouldn't drop the numbers if you have em. There's a big difference between 60 DTM and 80 DTM. So "midseason" wouldn't mean that much to me - where early might be 60, mid might be 70 and late might be 80 for us because our season is over then.
Even though the actual days will vary depending on the grower, the climate, and the weather that year, those ballpark numbers are useful to me, even to judge whether I can get fruit or not - some "80 day" fruit run later but they will be within striking distance of the figure.
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eyegrotom
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Re: DTM Input Needed

#5

Post: # 60881Unread post eyegrotom
Sun Jan 16, 2022 9:09 pm

On the DTM thing, I just go by the numbers. It's a lot easier than trying to figure out if 65 days is early or mid.

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GoDawgs
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Re: DTM Input Needed

#6

Post: # 60934Unread post GoDawgs
Mon Jan 17, 2022 3:15 pm

I think what I'll do then is just leave the DTM data alone, keeping it as I found it. People can then interpret that as applies to them.

mama_lor
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Re: DTM Input Needed

#7

Post: # 60973Unread post mama_lor
Tue Jan 18, 2022 3:33 am

I like to categorize in two categories. All 'late' ones I tried have the potential to be medium if you have the right conditions or know how to handle them.

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