Shule's 2021 garden grow log

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Shule
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Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#1

Post: # 44107Unread post Shule
Fri Apr 02, 2021 12:13 am

This thread is for my grow log, for 2021, for garden plants.

See these related posts:
* viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2284
* viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2341

Here's my garden map, which I'm updating periodically:
viewtopic.php?p=47619#p47619

Here's the link to the rules for my plant ID system (which is useful if you want to know what all the names mean; I wasn't using this when I first started this grow log, but rather on 19 Jun 2021, or so):
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=2616&p=48861#p48861

So, I have one tomato planted, so far (Amana Orange). I plan to plant lots more tonight.

I planted my peppers last night. It's a bit later than usual, but not the latest I've ever planted them. I figured I'd follow [mention]Tormato[/mention]'s lead and just keep them in the house until they sprout (before I start taking them out during the day). I'm planning to forego the greenhouse, this year, and just keep them in the sun in the day, and bring them in before bed where needed. Yeah, bringing them in and out is work (but so is dealing with the greenhouse).

Anyway, I planted 42 containers of sweet peppers last night. None of them are from my saved seeds, this year (they're all either from trades/gifts or purchases--but I plan to save plenty of seeds and grow mostly saved seeds next year). Here's what I'm growing:

• Ajvarski x 1
• California Wonder Purple x 1
• Canary Bell x 3
• Chocolate x 1
• Coral Bell x 3
• Cubanelle x 1
• Doe Hill x 1
• Etiuda x 1
• Goccia d'Oro x 1
• Golden California Wonder (orange version from Everwilde farms) x 2
• Golden Treasure x 1
• Horizon x 2
• Hungarian Sweet Wax x 2
• Jimmy Nardello Italian x 1
• Lesya x 1
• Lilac Bell x 1
• Lipstick x 2 (one from each of two sources)
• Midnight Dreams x 1
• Neapolitan x 6
• Orange Sun x 2
• Paradicsom Alaku Sarga Szentes x 1
• Petit Marseillais x 1
• Purple Beauty x 1
• Roumanian Rainbow x 1
• Sheepnose x 1
• White Cloud x 2 (one from each of two sources)
• Zulu x 1

I'm planning to dehydrate most of these peppers, and turn them into powder. I'm planning to let the plants hybridize and save plenty of seeds.

[No hot peppers, this year, since capsaicin, the chemical that makes hot peppers hot, makes my ultraviolet light sensitivity worse. Even without capsaicin, I can't go outside when the UV index is above 0 without issues, normally. So, most of my gardening is either after 6 PM or with these UV400 goggles on (regular sunglasses let in light from the sides). UV gives me headaches, nausea, increased light-sensitivity, fatigue, increased heat-sensitivity, increased thirst (to an uncomfortable degree), and it makes me feel feverish, and makes it harder to sleep. I didn't have major problems with UV before the spring of 2020, though; I've grown hot peppers every year from 2015 to 2020, though (and I still have plenty of powder from previous years, including 2020). My skin isn't bothered by it (I only get symptoms from eye exposure, whether direct or indirect light). Anyway, so if you notice most of my gardening stuff is at night, that's part of the reason why.]
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#2

Post: # 44169Unread post Shule
Sat Apr 03, 2021 7:59 am

Okay, I just finished planting my tomatoes, Morelle De Balbis, and West India burr gherkins (the same way as the peppers). I planted one cell of Morelle De Balbis, 6 cells of West India burr gherkins, and 95 cells of tomatoes (about 61 kinds--more if you count some unstable ones where I'm growing multiples). I've finally succeeded in cutting down the number of varieties significantly! But, I'm still growing lots of plants. Fortunately, a lot of them should be compact or low-profile plants (e.g. Napoli, and Stick).

Here are the tomatoes I planted:
List:
* Amana Orange x 3 (from saved seed from 2020; each from a different fruit; one of these is the one I planted outside previously)
* Atkinson (Gift from Tormato)
* Aunt Ginny's Purple (Gift from Tormato)
* Black Cherry (from saved seed)
* Black Bear (from saved seed)
* Black Beauty (from a Baker Creek packet that pepperhead212 gave me--not here)
* Blush (Gift from Gardenboy's 2020 SASE seed offer)
* BSX x 4 (from saved seed)
* Carbon x 3 (from saved seed)
* Cherokee Carbon F1 (from a trade or gift; I think from eyegrotom)
* Cherokee Chocolate (Gift from Marsha's 2020 SASE seed offer)
* Cherokee Yellow (Gift from JohnnyRock)
* Cherokee Yellow Perfection Peach (from saved seed)
* Chocolate Chestnut (from saved seed)
* Church (from a trade or gift from zendog)
* Cold Black Brandy (from saved seed)
* Cosmic Eclipse (from saved seed)
* Costoluto Florentino (Gift from Tormato)
* Costoluto Genovese (Gift from Tormato)
* Dinner Plate (from a trade or gift from zendog)
* Egg Yolk (from saved seed)
* Flaming Burst (from root_grow, I believe)
* Frittata Kitchen x 2 (from saved seed)
* Galapagos Island (from saved seed from 2020)
* Garden Leader Monster (from saved seed from 2020)
* Girl Girl's Weird Thing x 2 (each from a different trade/gift source, and not a source I've grown it from before; these are from eyegrotom and FarmerShawn)
* Great White (Gift or trade from TomatoPassion)
* Isis Candy x 2 (from saved seed)
* Insurance_2 (from saved seed)
* Japanese Black Trifele x 2 (from saved seed)
* Marion (from saved seed from 2020)
* Matina (from saved seed from 2019; from the bushy plant; I don't know if the bushy trait will pass on)
* Matt's Hornet (from a trade or gift; from root_grow, I believe)
* Mexican Yellow (from saved seed from 2016; this could turn out being an F1 incidental cross, since it was in 2017 when I tried these seeds)
* Mexican Yellow cross F2 (from saved seed from 2017)
* Mexican Yellow cross F3 (from saved seed from 2019)
* Napoli x 6 (from saved seed; 3 from 2019 and 3 from 2020)
* Napoli cross A F2 x 6 (from saved seed from 2020; 2 from each of three fruits)
* Napoli cross B F2 x 3 (from saved seed from 2020; each from a different fruit)
* Neves Azorean Red (from a trade or gift; I think from KathyDC, it's marked 2014)
* Orange Jazz (Gift from Marsha's 2017 SASE offer)
* Pakenham Pear (from saved seed)
* Picnic_2 x 2 (from saved seed)
* Pink Bumble Bee (trade or gift from Cole_Robbie)
* Purple Calabash cross F2 (from saved seed from 2020; the cross may be with Costoluto Genovese, from someone else's garden: this is the first year I've planted Costoluto Genovese)
* Purple Russian (Gift or trade from TomatoPassion)
* Red Stuffer (from a trade with axiomaticAbsurd; they are Victory Seeds seeds)
* Sprite (from saved seed from 2020; for the flower garden)
* Stick x 12 (from saved seed)
* Stump of the World (Gift from Tormato)
* SunChocola F3 (from saved seed; The F2 in 2020 was quite tasty and sweet, even in the shade.)
* SunCitron F2 (Gift from Barb_FL)
* SunDolce F2 (Gift from Barb_FL)
* SunGarnet F2 (Gift from Barb_FL)
* SunGold F1 (Gift from Tormato; First time growing SunGold F1.)
* Sun Green Improved F1 (Gift from Barb_FL)
* SunLemon F2 (Gift from Barb_FL)
* SunOrange F2 (Gift from Barb_FL)
* SunPeach F2 (Gift from Barb_FL)
* Sweet Ozark Orange (from seeds I saved in 2017)
* Terhune (Gift or trade from FarmerShawn)

Thank you, everyone who helped me accumulate the seeds I got as gifts and from trades. Yes, I still have a backlog of other stuff to grow.

I froze the tomato trades/gifts dry for a short time before planting. I'm curious to see if they'll have a vigor difference with my saved seeds.

I sure have a lot of cherry tomatoes, this year! I wasn't even trying to have a lot of cherries (last year I was). In fact, I postponed quite a few cherries that I wanted to grow. I guess once you start, it's hard to stop.
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#3

Post: # 44178Unread post Julianna
Sat Apr 03, 2021 9:19 am

Oh man! Sorry about the UV sensitivity. I burn super easily and the sunlight produces a lot of the same effects you describe on me too, but not to the degree you mentioned (it zaps my energy and I will feel nauseous and feverish). One year I weirdly developed hives with sunlight and I was never quite sure why. But anyway.

Your list is spectacular! I look forward to seeing the grow out. I am interested in what you end up thinking about the cherries. I am always on the hunt for another good cherry.
-julianna
10a Monterey Bay
Lover of Fogust, tomatoes, flowers, and pumpkins

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#4

Post: # 44292Unread post Shule
Mon Apr 05, 2021 7:21 pm

[mention]Julianna[/mention]
Hi! Thanks for the nice feedback about my list, and for sharing about your sunlight-sensitivity, too. It's good to hear about someone else's experience. I know people with migraines sometimes experience similar stuff, but I don't know that I've met someone personally who has talked about it like that, or who experienced it so often. I found some things that seems to help a lot; last year, I didn't know what was going on until I had already been exposed quite a bit (and I had to spend time figuring out how to handle it). So, I have an advantage, this year, even if my sensitivity is stronger.

Keep in mind that my F2 cherries are unstable. So, they might not be like the F1s that you can buy (I haven't grown those to compare, either). I figured they're likely to be good even if they're not the same, though, considering the F1s are supposed to be so awesome (and I'd like to breed new tomatoes out of those F2s). But, I've got the F1s for SunGold and Sun Green Improved; so, I should be able to tell you about those, as well as Purple Bumble Bee, Flaming Burst, Blush and the ones I've grown before: Sprite, Black Cherry, Isis Candy, Galapagos Island, and Egg Yolk.

Sprite is quite sweet and is almost like a meaty (and low-juice), red version of Esterina F1 in flavor, but it's a grape tomato (almost like a pear tomato); Esterina F1 can probably get sweeter, though (but it isn't always). The fruits fall off the vines easily. It's very productive. The latest fruits almost all split. The flavor is gentle, and not acidic. Fruit that don't split are quite durable.

Egg Yolk is a good-sized yellow cherry. Flavor seemed pretty standard for a non-sweet yellow cherry to me, but I hear people think it's unique. Mine could climb, last year, without encouragement.

Black Cherry tastes amazing, and has good texture, too. Very refreshing and quite sweet (and even though my plant was pretty much in the shade, it was still one of the best-tasting tomatoes I've tasted). The flavor was exotic and not very much like standard tomato flavor. The fruits were quite big for cherries. Took a while to sprout.

Isis Candy was prolific. The plant was kind of like a dwarf indeterminate (but not completely dwarf). The fruits were pretty big for a cherry, too. Only sometimes sweet. The flavor wasn't unpleasant, but I'm guessing most people would have other favorites. Bicolor. Early. Handled cold as a seedling better than most.

My Galapagos Island (which might be Early Galapagos) is very early (my earliest tomato). The fruits taste different some years. Last year they were kind of sweet and fruity, but in previous years they were closer to acidic. Not a large nor a tiny cherry. Gold fruits. Very prolific. If I pick them all, the harvest weighs more than the harvest from most bigger tomatoes I grow. Produces all season. The plants get much bigger with black plastic to warm the soil. When it's not sweet/fruity, it tastes just like Egg Yolk, pretty much.

While I haven't grown Pink Bumble Bee before this year, I have grown Purple Bumble Bee. Mine were firm like unripe fruits are firm, and kind of sour. The ones I tasted were grown in a raised bed in the shade, but I had a plant in full sun, and it vined extremely far (but I wouldn't call the plant huge beyond that particular vine's length). I'm trying Pink Bumble Bee with black plastic in full sun, probably; so, it'll probably taste different. I think they're both RIN tomatoes (RIN tomatoes ripen without softening), which would explain why they're crunchy like unripe tomatoes (as opposed to soft). However, I haven't tasted Pink Bumble Bee to confirm that it's crunchy; I'm kind of counting on it, though, since I think crunchy tomatoes might make good pickles, and might be nice in stir fry (maybe they'd hold some texture like peppers do). Maybe they'd be great for stuffing. I'm not a fan of crunchy tomatoes for fresh eating, but you never know: I could change my mind. Maybe I should cross it with Frittata Kitchen (since that's my favorite tomato flavor-wise for cooking--although Peaceful Valley's Beefsteak is also a good one there).

I can tell you about more cherries, too:

Sugar Lump: Great taste (sweet and tart), but in my garden, it wasn't prolific, in the ground or in a container.

Texas Wild Cherry: Pretty standard red tomato taste, IMO. Small grape tomato. I think it might taste and produce better in Texas than in my garden. It might do better with a repeat grow-out, too.

Husky Cherry Red F1: Prolific. Early. Produces all season. Decent-sized cherries. It was prone to splitting, and you could squirt the seeds long distances by squeezing them. Pretty standard taste; the F2s tasted awesome like Sugar Lump, though.

Jackie: Excellent grapefruit-like taste. Sweet and tart. Early. Not prolific in my garden either year I grew it, but produced all season. Small cherries. Red with anthocyanin skin.

Chocolate Pear: Can be very sweet, but isn't always. Early in my garden. Produces well.

Ovita: The year I had it in a container, it tasted phenomenal, and very complex. The year I grew it in the ground, I didn't like the flavor; it was simple, bold and a bit bitter.

Vini Vidi Vici: Super tiny red fruits with normal tomato taste. Just got a few fruits.

Red Robin: Cool plant. Wasn't really into the flavor: very mild. I'm not sure if mine was the OP or the F1 hybrid, but I'm guessing it was an OP. It got quite a few fruits, but they collectively didn't amount to much fruit by weight/substance.

Sweetie: Prolific. Tiny cherries. They were sweet, but I didn't like the flavor. They weren't early where I grew them.

Medovaya Kaplya: Very sweet and simple.

Ron's Carbon Copy: Bold, but simple, sweet earthy flavor. Quite good and different from anything else I've tried. Took a long time to sprout.

Porter: Flavor can be excellent, sweet, and tart, but isn't always. Can be very productive, but that also depends.

Brown Berry: Very sweet. I think the flavor is an acquired taste, but I might grow it again. Prolific. Good-sized fruit. It has a lot of potential and is an excellent cherry if you like the flavor.

Garnet: Sweet and fruity-tasting. Normal-sized cherries. Decent production. I liked it a lot.

Green Tiger: Very sweet and tasty. Fruits wrinkled in my garden.

Maglia Rosa: Sweet and tasty, and not as sharply sweet as Green Tiger. Fruits wrinkled in my garden. I grew it at least twice. Bushy plant.

Eva: More firm than Maglia Rosa and Green Tiger. Didn't wrinkle. Excellent taste; not as sweet as Green Tiger, but more complex.

Big Sungold Select: Excellent unique snacking flavor/texture. Good-sized cherries. Didn't produce all season. Not super sweet, nor super tart. Fruits were kind of blocky. Orange.

Sweet Orange Cherry: Similar to Galapagos Island, but a bit sweeter, with fruits that are a bit bigger. Very prolific (but not in every soil). Early, but not as early as Galapagos Island. Combined with a Husky Cherry Red F4+ that it crossed with, it produced an exceedingly vigorous hybrid with a phenomenal root system. So, it must have some great genetics.

Rosella: Sweet, and kind of like Esterina F1, but more complex, and a bit more bold. Great flavor. Fruits were a bit smaller than what I consider a standard cherry size. I'll probably grow it again some year.

Black Plum: If you get a good start on the plant, before the transplant, it can fruit early. Taste is decent, but I wouldn't call it amazing. It produces an above-average amount all season.

Austin's Black Cherry: Tiny firm brown fruits; PL plant. Great taste, but I preferred SunChocola F2, as it tasted the same, but was more potent in flavor and sweetness (with bigger fruit, too). Production of ABC was decent. They weren't round; they were like the shape of a smooth beefsteak (except tiny).

Yellow Riesentraube: Produced an okay amount of fruits a bit smaller than what I consider standard for a cherry. Not early. Flavor was pretty standard for a non-sweet yellow (it wasn't sweet). Nippled fruits.

Riesentraube: Good-sized cherries, but it didn't produce lots of them, and it was kind of late. Never got to taste them, but I did save seeds.

Early Treat F1: I really liked this one. I don't know that it's supposed to be a cherry, but it was the size of a large cherry for me. It wasn't early, but the fruits had a satisfying look and feel to them, and the flavor was good. They produced well once they started producing.

Yellow Pear: Can taste vastly different depending either on the growing conditions or the vendor. The fruits look nice. They can be super mealy and not very tasty, but they can also taste quite good. Prolific.

Red Pear: Rich and bold tomatoey flavor that would probably be excellent in sauce. I don't know if the one we grew was the standard Red Pear.

Blue Berries: I liked the flavor, but although the plant looked prolific at any given moment, I didn't really get that much fruit from it. Nice to look at and novelty taste. Fruits were an okay size. However, I'm not encouraged to grow it again.

Brad's Atomic Grape: Got BER, and had low, late production for me, but it wasn't in the best soil. I don't remember the flavor, but it wasn't a favorite for me (although it was likeable).

Grape F1: Pretty standard, but good, tomato flavor. You can put them on pizza without even slicing them. Produces well. Smaller than what I consider a standard-sized cherry.

Camp Joy: This is an excellent cherry tomato. Great flavor. Nice fruit size. Produces decently. Handles early season cold better than most. Not the earliest. I plan to grow it again some year.

Bosque Blue Bumblebee: Looks cool, but my plant struggled and didn't produce a lot. I get the feeling it could be a really nice cherry in better conditions.

Menehune: Cool plant, and cool-looking fruit, but hardly any hang-time, and the fruits in my garden seemed to have pollination issues with how they formed. I don't remember if I ever got to taste one, due to how quickly they spoiled, but it produced a decent number of fruits.

Voyage: I wasn't expecting this to be a cherry, but it was. Gnarly-looking fruits. I don't remember the taste.

Coyote: Very early, but it's not finished ripening after it first starts changing color. The fruits are quite small. Prolific, but has a lot of leaves compared to fruit, and it's kind of hard to harvest and keep track of the fruit because of that (I'd be surprised if I got a pound of fruit; I certainly didn't harvest a pound). Flavor is interesting and sweet. White to yellow fruits.

Matt's Wild Cherry: Similar to Coyote, except it's red and is more viny than bushy. I prefer its flavor to Coyote's; the flavor is sweet (not super sweet). Nice red color. Quite small fruits. Big plant. Decent production (and easier to harvest than Coyote; so, I ate quite a few more of these). Pretty early, but not quite as early as Coyote. Probably not as leafy as Coyote. It would probably be a great one to use in crosses, I think, especially with the look of Matt's Hornet (which is a descendant of one such cross).

Fahrenheit Blues: Showy anthocyanin fruits. Large cherry size. Took a long time to ripen. Flavor wasn't great (you really taste the anthocyanin). Production wasn't great, but it started out looking like it might be.

Wonderberries: These aren't tomatoes, but you should probably pretend they are. Very prolific, and great used in cooking along with regular tomatoes. Tiny purple/black fruits. Sweet, but not super sweet. Mild, refreshing flavor. I love wonderberries. The taste weirds some people out, though (probably because they're expecting them to taste like blueberries); and some people don't think they have much taste (I'm not one of those people). They have more of that berry flavor that people expect when you put them in smoothies with bananas and stuff, though (I prefer them to blueberries in smoothies; but I haven't let enough other people taste-test the smoothies to see if they agree). I feel like wonderberries are like cilantro: I mean, I love them, but it's strangely easy to find people who don't. I'm curious if they would like them better if they didn't know what they were and they were blindfolded; I'm guessing they might have preconceived notions about how they should taste before they taste them.

Ground cherries: Also not tomatoes, but if you like mild, sweet cherry tomatoes, you'll probably like these. Not tomatoey to my tongue, but some people think they taste like tomatoes. There are several varieties (e.g. Goldie, Aunt Molly's, etc.) and more than one species.
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#5

Post: # 44296Unread post MissS
Mon Apr 05, 2021 8:44 pm

[mention]Shule[/mention] Well we now have a person who knows more about cherry tomatoes and their taste than anyone else that I know! :)
~ Patti ~

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#6

Post: # 44302Unread post Julianna
Mon Apr 05, 2021 9:28 pm

Oh my gosh, thank you for the reviews! Some I have tried and most not. I always lean towards hearts and beefsteaks and get suckered in there. I will end up referring to this and wrote down a few names!

Have you ever tried Yellow Marble? It has a full tomato taste to me, slightly acidic, but in small cherries almost like a currant. Prolific. I have grown it since 2005 and it has reigned supreme to me but I rarely see anyone mention it.
-julianna
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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#7

Post: # 44354Unread post Shule
Tue Apr 06, 2021 5:41 pm

MissS wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 8:44 pm @Shule Well we now have a person who knows more about cherry tomatoes and their taste than anyone else that I know! :)
I wouldn't go that I'd go that far, but I'm flattered! :) I like to give perspective, but it's just my perspective (which other people may not all agree with). I wouldn't encourage people to go by my opinions and experience alone, if they can help it (I'd encourage them to look up reviews online, such as at Tatiana's, Dave's Garden, rareseeds.com, bonnieplants.com, other vendors, forums like ours and others, etc. Also vendor descriptions, which can be useful/encouraging. And, pay attention to the reviewer's location, and what they think of tomatoes you like.)

I know Gardenboy grows a lot of cherries; so, I would consult him, too, and Barb_FL has grown a lot. I imagine Cole_Robbie has grown a lot. I'd be surprised if Tormato hadn't grown more cherries than I have. I wouldn't be surprised if Nan6b, Labradors, SeaninVa, ginger2778, root_grow, and others have tried lots of them, too (whether or not they grow a lot in a single year). And there are many very popular cherries that I haven't grown, yet; most of the ones I've tried already are lesser-known ones by comparison (with a few obvious exceptions like Black Cherry). Carolyn probably grew way more cherries than me! :) I don't know if you know them (and they're not all on the forum), but I'm guessing Craig LeHoullier, Tom Wagner, Brad Gates, Joseph Lofthouse, and other famous tomato people have grown a lot more than me.

Now I'm imagining Joseph Lofthouse growing a thousand kinds of cherry tomatoes in a big field. lol I wouldn't put it past him, but I don't know how many cherries he's grown. I think most of the ones he grows are bigger. He grows tomatoes to breed, to sell seeds, and to produce fruit for market. I don't think he pays much attention to how individual varieties do by name, though, with some exceptions (I think he focuses more on the ones he's breeding from them).

What I've learned about cherries is this:
* Most (not all) of them have big plants, but even if you crowd them, you can still get at least a few fruit, probably (if you're just growing them to taste and save seeds). Crowding larger-fruited plants can often result in no fruit.
* About half of them are pretty sweet.
* The cherry stereotypes aren't all true. For instance, not all cherries are early (most of them aren't, actually, even if a large proportion of early tomatoes are cherries). Not all are prolific. Not all are heat-tolerant. Not all hardier than larger tomatoes. Not all are red. Not all are the same size. Not all are sweet. Not all are acidic. Not all have large plants. Not all are round. Not all have the same wild tomato ancestor (and some probably don't even have wild tomatoes in their ancestry, due to mutations that make cherry-sized fruit). There's still a reason for the stereotypes, but you can't expect every cherry tomato to match a given one.
* Some produce a lot more fruit than others.
* On average, they don't tend to get sunscald and blossom-end rot as much as tomatoes that are larger than cherries, even if the fruits are exposed to lots of sun.
* On average, they have plenty of seeds per fruit (maybe 25 to 60), but not nearly as many as a super seedy large beefsteak (which might get hundreds). I probably find seedless cherries much less often than I find seedless larger tomatoes.
* They tend to reseed pretty easily.
* On average, they seem to have smaller seeds (but not all cherries do).
* The smallest cherries aren't always the most prolific ones.
Julianna wrote: Mon Apr 05, 2021 9:28 pm Oh my gosh, thank you for the reviews! Some I have tried and most not. I always lean towards hearts and beefsteaks and get suckered in there. I will end up referring to this and wrote down a few names!

Have you ever tried Yellow Marble? It has a full tomato taste to me, slightly acidic, but in small cherries almost like a currant. Prolific. I have grown it since 2005 and it has reigned supreme to me but I rarely see anyone mention it.
You're quite welcome! :)

I haven't tried Yellow Marble, yet, but it sounds great. I think I read about it once or twice. Sounds like one I would enjoy. It looks a lot like my Galapagos Island tomato, and Sweet Orange Cherry (which I forgot to mention isn't orange), both of which I like a lot.

I forgot to mention Farthest North. I didn't grow it myself, but I started a plant, and gave it to my neighbor. I saw the plant and tasted one to a few fruits. The taste was awesome (very sweet, and somewhat tart). Really good. Small fruits. Small plant. Early. I'm not sure how prolific it was, as I don't know how many they ate, but I didn't see loads on the plant. I wasn't expecting such great taste from the vendor description.

Oh, I also grew these:

Snow Fairy: Big cherries with good standard type flavor. The plants looked rather nice. Small plants (dwarf). Production was decent for the plant size.

Monroe: Very sweet. Tastes good. Larger cherry or small salad tomato (about the size of Pink Ping Pong). I need to evaluate it more, though, in better soil. It's an heirloom cherry that had been reseeding in Virginia for like 40 to 45 years or something. It's said to be very prolific there, as well as heat-tolerant. Probably not the best fit for my garden's compact soil and semi-arid climate, though (but it might do better in a choicer spot with black plastic or something).
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#8

Post: # 44367Unread post Julianna
Tue Apr 06, 2021 7:54 pm

It is funny because i was looking at Galapagos thinking it may be similar. Yellow Marble usually isnt hard to find, but if you ever want some seed, let me know. I have grown it in Southern IN, NW Arkansas, and here by Monterey Bay and it performed well in all places.
-julianna
10a Monterey Bay
Lover of Fogust, tomatoes, flowers, and pumpkins

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#9

Post: # 44369Unread post Shule
Tue Apr 06, 2021 10:38 pm

[mention]Julianna[/mention]
Cool. If you want any that I likely have (I save seeds from most things I grow), then let me know, too. Some of the ones I have aren't the easiest to obtain; here's a list of most of the harder to obtain ones where I have saved seed (if any of them caught your attention):

* Galapagos Island (I don't know anyone who sells it. I got it for free from wintersown.org in the fall of 2014. They said it was Solanum cheesmaniae, spelling it cheesmanii.)
* Monroe (I don't know anyone who sells it. It was a gift from the neighbor of the person who has been growing it for decades.)
* Thessie O (Once popular for flavor in the Yahoo! group called TomatoMania. It's an oxheart. I got seeds from a friend who used to belong to the group. It's not related to Thessaloniki, and the taste and texture is considerably different.)
* Scary Larry (only available at Snake River Seeds; it's a big long pepper-shaped paste tomato; kind of hollow inside, but good flavor)
* a true-to-type Brandy Boy (I got this from the one who stabilized it--John11840 of Gardenweb.)
* B.S.X. (quite early and very prolific for a beefsteak; I got this from HudsonValley of Tomatoville; it's a black beefsteak; tolerates cold well as a seedling)
* Cold Black Brandy (Can't seem to find anyone else who has grown it, but it must have come from somewhere. I got it from Tormato. One of the best-tasting tomatoes I've grown. It's a big pear that looks a lot like Japanese Black Trifele, but tastes different.)
* Eva (I got this from the breeder. I know others who have tried it, but I don't know any seed sources, other than them and the breeder. It's a mahogany-colored bullet-shaped tomato.)
* The ones that originated in my garden, like Frittata Kitchen and all the Brandy Boy cross growouts (e.g. Picnic_1+ and such), Mexican Yellow cross growouts (e.g. Insurance_1+), and the other hybrids I've been growing out.

Frittata Kitchen is a sport of Bloody Butcher. Unlike Bloody Butcher, its best use is in cooking (such as in Frittatas). It has firmer fruits with more seeds than Bloody Butcher, too. But, the plant habit, days to maturity, and production style are the same as Bloody Butcher. It has a kind of weird taste fresh, but it's excellent cooked (very flavorful in a tart, almost salty, sort of way). Bloody Butcher is milder.
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#10

Post: # 44387Unread post Julianna
Wed Apr 07, 2021 8:47 am

[mention]Shule[/mention] oh wow! Four caught my eye - Galapagos Island, B.S.X., Cold Black Brandy, and Thessie O. I can produce a full list of what I have if you are interested. Nothing is impossible to get on my list since I bought it all, but some things only have a single source at this point outside of someone else with saved seed. All my seed is previous season with very few exceptions so it would keep a while until you could find room in your plans to try it.
-julianna
10a Monterey Bay
Lover of Fogust, tomatoes, flowers, and pumpkins

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Shule
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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#11

Post: # 44435Unread post Shule
Wed Apr 07, 2021 11:30 pm

[mention]Julianna[/mention]
Sounds good. I'll send you a PM.

@all
None of the seeds in the containers indoors have sprouted, yet.

Today, I weeded the spot where the Amana Orange seedlings are growing (there was a lot of lambsquarter in with it).

The weather looks really weird, this year. It's all dry, and cool, and eerie in the evening, but there are plenty of birds singing earlier in the day (when I'm in the house), and it's sunny then, at least. It doesn't really look like spring. The bulbs are late in growing up and blooming. The weeds even look oppressed/rugged/few. It's weird. The roses sure are growing a lot of new leaves, though, and the blackcurrants don't seem to mind a whit. The horseradish looks fine. The herbs look quite oppressed (as if it were still winter). The daffodils and crocuses are the only things to have flowered, so far, as far as I know (no tulips, yet, but they're growing--and they look oppressed). The Sempervivum still looks like it did in the winter. The lambsquarter weeds that I pulled up by the Amana Orange tomato seedlings had plenty of purple under their leaves (which might indicate they're cold or phosphorus-deficient). The tomato seedlings look fine, although I thought they might grow a little faster; they're just starting to get their first true leaves.

Anyway, considering the look of things outside, I'm glad I've been keeping the seeds in the house until they sprout (instead of putting them in the greenhouse)! It looks challenging out there, like everything still wants to be dormant.

The horseradish roots look great, though. Someone dug some up, today. (We've got a *lot* of horseradish plants.)
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#12

Post: # 44557Unread post Shule
Sat Apr 10, 2021 12:41 am

So, today, my tomatoes started to sprout!

Here's what came up (none have actually opened their leaves, yet, though; they're like little loops above the soil):

Amana Orange
Black Cherry
Black Bear
Flaming Burst

So, Amana Orange is up both outside and in one of the containers.

Black Cherry took a while to sprout last year; so, I'm very happy that it sprouted so quickly this year.

No peppers up, yet.

It's looking more like spring outside. More flowers are out (mostly daffodils). The tulips don't look oppressed anymore. At least one tulip has bloomed (we have loads of tulips, by the way; they even spread from seeds, and we get new kinds, sometimes).

The collards from last year are growing back. I thought they were dead.

The kohlrabi reseeded (but not in ideal places). It sprouted weeks ago.

I think our original fennel plants have died (but there are new ones). It looks like they lived three years.

The bunching onions tried to go to seed super early, after I trimmed the winter growth off, this year, but I took the seed heads off (so they can focus on other stuff).

There seems to be salsify sprouting up in various places already.
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#13

Post: # 44638Unread post Shule
Sat Apr 10, 2021 4:21 pm

Okay, so more tomatoes, and the first pepper sprouted, today! I put them outside on a table (I didn't yesterday); they're handling the sun well. I think Tormato's way of keeping them inside until they sprout works just fine.

Some of the soil got moldy on top, but no fungus gnats or mites so far (the DE seems to be working).

Tomatoes sprouted today:
* SunChocola F3
* SunDolce F2
* SunOrange F2
* Cold Black Brandy
* Galapagos Island
* Purple Calabash cross F2
* Terhune
* Orange Jazz
* Mexican Yellow
* Mexican Yellow cross F2
* Mexican Yellow cross F3
* Japanese Black Trifele (one container)
* Egg Yolk
* Garden Leader Monster
* Black Beauty (sort of; technically, I moved a piece of soil and uncovered what looks like a sprouting tomato)
* Cherokee Yellow Perfection Peach

Pepper sprouted today:
* Doe Hill
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#14

Post: # 44788Unread post Shule
Mon Apr 12, 2021 8:01 pm

Here's what sprouted by today:

Tomatoes:
Amana Orange (final container)
B.S.X. (1 container)
Stick (3 containers)
Cherokee Carbon F1
Cherokee Chocolate
Chocolate Chestnut
Aunt Ginny's Purple
Black Beauty (if you didn't count it before)
Cosmic Eclipse
Matina
Marion
Insurance_2
Great White
Isis Candy (one container)
Japanese Black Trifele (final container)
Red Stuffer
Purple Russian
Picnic_2
SunPeach F2
Frittata Kitchen (1 container)
Napoli cross A F2 (5 containers)
Napoli (2020, 2 containers; 2019, 2 containers)
Girl Girl's Weird Thing (one container)

Peppers:
Etiuda
Purple Beauty
Lilac Bell
Horizon (2 containers)
Goccia d'Oro
Orange Sun (1 container)

Several of the plants have some sun bleaching on their cotyledons (probably because I kept them indoors on Sunday, so maybe they got a little too comfortable with indoors), and I found mite webs on the plants, despite the DE--but things are looking up.
16182753891974797148831600898623.jpg
I'm hoping to plant the muskmelons and watermelons soon.
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Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#15

Post: # 44873Unread post Shule
Tue Apr 13, 2021 8:45 pm

No visible mite webs, today! (Indoors or out.)

Here's what sprouted by today:

Peppers:
Lesya
Ajvarski
Canary Bell (1)
Coral Bell (2)
Midnight Dreams
Orange Sun (final container)

Tomatoes:
Carbon (2 of 3)
Stick (2 more; 5 of 12)
B.S.X. (all four are up)
Church
Cherokee Yellow
Neves Azorean Red (I've been waiting for this moment for years)
Pakenham Pear
Picnic_2 (final container)
Sprite
Napoli cross A F2 (final container)
Napoli, 2020 (final container; 3 of 3)

West India burr gherkins (1 of 6)
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#16

Post: # 44975Unread post Shule
Thu Apr 15, 2021 11:25 pm

Since my last post, these have sprouted:

Tomatoes:
Napoli, 2019 (final container; 3 of 3)
SunGarnet F2
Pink Bumble Bee
Isis Candy (final container)
Dinner Plate
Costoluto Florentino
Girl Girl's Weird Thing (final container)
Stick (3 more; 8 of 12)
Napoli cross B F2 (1)

Peppers:
Zulu
Neapolitan (1 of 6)
Golden California Wonder (1)

Tomatoes that died:
Matina (more will probably sprout, if I overseeded; cause of death unknown, but probably from sun scorch or else damping off).

A few other varieties died, but new ones sprouted.

I saw a small amount of mite webs, today.
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#17

Post: # 45048Unread post Shule
Fri Apr 16, 2021 11:53 pm

Since my last post, here is what has sprouted:

Tomatoes:
SunCitron F2
SunLemon F2
Frittata Kitchen (final container; 2/2)
Sweet Ozark Orange
Matina (resprouted)
Napoli cross B F2 (final two containers; 3/3)
Carbon (1 more; 2/3)

Peppers:
Jimmy Nardello Italian
Coral Bell (final container; 3/3)
Canary Bell (1 more; 2/3)
Hungarian Sweet Wax (both containers; 2/2)
Golden California Wonder (final container; 2/2)

I'm still waiting on these tomatoes (as well as several peppers, the Morelle De Balbis, and the rest of those tomatoes where only some containers have sprouted):
Atkinson
Blush
Costoluto Genovese
Matt's Hornet
Stump of the World
SunGold F1
SunGreen Improved F1

Note that the West India burr gherkins still haven't fully come out of the soil; they must be too cold. They've done that in previous years, too; I should have started them in foam cups.
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#18

Post: # 45137Unread post Shule
Sun Apr 18, 2021 12:16 am

Here's what sprouted since my last post.

Tomatoes:
Stick (1 more; 9/12)

Peppers:
Neapolitan (3 more; 4/6)
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#19

Post: # 46602Unread post Shule
Wed May 12, 2021 3:01 am

So, I've begun transplanting, as of 11 May 2021. I transplanted the following where I usually plant muskmelons:

* Mexican Yellow
* Mexican Yellow cross F3
* Insurance_2
* Garden Leader Monster
* Church
* Dinner Plate

And I transplanted these on the eastern edge of the area where I most commonly transplant tomatoes:
* Napoli cross A F2 (all six containers of plants)

I would have transplanted the Mexican Yellow cross F2, too, but it died for some reason.

Not all my plants sprouted, and some that sprouted didn't survive. I planted Napoli, 2020 seeds in most of the containers that didn't have plants. Three of those sprouted on the 11th. I also replanted Matina and Sprite (which both got damping off or some such). I put cinnamon on the soil afterward I planted the new seeds, since I heard that it helps with damping off.

The original three Napoli, 2020, plants died, as did one of the 2019 plants.

Stump of the World died. I didn't have more seeds to replant. Flaming Burst died, too.

All three Carbons died. One BSX died.

SunGreen Improved F1 hasn't sprouted, yet.

I'm not sure offhand what else died (or didn't sprout), but that should be apparent after I chart where I transplant everything.

I think Garden Leader Monster seems to be my most resilient variety for the method of starting tomatoes that I used this year, with the soil I used (which is comprised of worm castings and peat moss, with wood ash, monoammonium phosphate, and PermaGuard food grade diatomaceous earth). In future years, I'm thinking about just using potting soil (to avoid damping off), and growing more than one Garden Leader Monster plant (it might be cool to get a cross between it and Stick, with Garden Leader Monster as the mother plant).

No fungus gnats! That's a success. A few mites, but no damage that I noticed, particularly.
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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Re: Shule's 2021 garden grow log

#20

Post: # 46604Unread post Shule
Wed May 12, 2021 4:22 am

I transplanted six more tomatoes:

* Aunt Ginny's Purple (this is where Insurance_1 was last year)
* Amana Orange (one of the two remaining to transplant; I put this where Moonglow was last year)
* Galapagos Island (I was going to plant this exactly where its parent was last year, as an experiment in acclimatization, but I had to settle for near there, since that area's black plastic is pulled up and I think someone else planted stuff there, as all the weeds are gone and it looks watered--but I don't know.)
* Black Cherry (this is where the Marion plant that died was last year; I planted watermelons in its stead, but they didn't sprout; so, this spot was vacant last year, pretty much)
* Black Beauty
* Black Bear (This is where one of the Napoli plants was last year.)

It feels great to have Black Cherry transplanted so early, since I transplanted its parent late (and young) last year.

I removed the milk jug from the Amana Orange tomatoes that I direct-seeded. They're bigger than my transplants.

Oh, I should note that I replanted all six West India burr gherkins; I noticed that most of them had sprouted by the 11th. I guess it's best to plant them around the beginning of May, maybe.
Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet

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