Brad Gates lecture

[arnorrian]

[MsCowpea]

Can’t thank you enough for posting this. Absolutely great. I heard Brad Gates speak once but this is far more in depth. I was at the farm he leased at that time with a bunch of other people at a farm lunch. Great way to meet the farmer and see how they operate and you get a great lunch. Worth the cost of the ticket for sure,
I haven’t watched all of them yet, jumped ahead to the later ones and the one on soil and nutrients. He mentioned a company where he gets fertilizer. Vital Organics. So I looked them up and will look at what they sell and see if there is anything I would like to try and maybe I can get it locally.
Thanks again. Love these talks.

https://vitallandscaping.com/

[arnorrian]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm sometimes afraid I'm swamping the forum with things that are not interesting.

[PNW_D]

wonderful - so much information ...... thank you for posting

[MsCowpea]

Oh no, I loved this. Keep swamping. I find there isn’t much feedback on some things. But doesn’t hurt just to post and it will find it’s way to people who like and appreciate the info. People have very different interests and what one finds fascinating somebody else will think ho hum. Plus it is winter and people havent switched into high mode gardening . Some of us have opposite seasons so we are gunho now but it will slow down for sure when the season ends and the mosquitoes and rains begin. Brad Gates clips on heirlooms and crosses, seed saving etc will interest most tomato people I am sure. And organic growers will find some inspiration in these talks as well.

[arnorrian]

He didn't mention in this lecture, but he is one of the first people to work on blue tomatoes. The anthocyanin genes was introduced by hybridization with wild species from Chile and the Galapagos Islands back in the 1960s, but it only expressed in the leaves and stems. Blue fruit is much more recent, coming out of Oregon State University.

I saw last year when I first grown Brad's Atomic Grape that anthocyanin varieties need more time to fully ripen and develop their full taste. I also think that the the fullest taste comes from wine-ripened tomatoes. Dancing with Smurfs and Indigo Rose behaved similarly, but their tastes are no match to Brad's atomic Grape's uniqueness. And that anthocyanin adds resistance and longer storage life is important too.

I have a problem with anthocyanin tomatoes being labeled as "purple". i think that label should be used for tomatoes like Cherokee Purple, or Black Krim. Anthocyanin tomatoes should be called violet, blue or indigo.

[Ginger2778]

This was so informative. I thought the new things he is going to try for fungus that he finds available due to the cannabis jndustry. Those cannabis farmers sure kniw their stuff!

[Ginger2778]

He didn't mention in this lecture, but he is one of the first people to work on blue tomatoes. The anthocyanin genes was introduced by hybridization with wild species from Chile and the Galapagos Islands back in the 1960s, but it only expressed in the leaves and stems. Blue fruit is much more recent, coming out of Oregon State University.

I saw last year when I first grown Brad's Atomic Grape that anthocyanin varieties need more time to fully ripen and develop their full taste. I also think that the the fullest taste comes from wine-ripened tomatoes. Dancing with Smurfs and Indigo Rose behaved similarly, but their tastes are no match to Brad's atomic Grape's uniqueness. And that anthocyanin adds resistance and longer storage life is important too.

I have a problem with anthocyanin tomatoes being labeled as "purple". i think that label should be used for tomatoes like Cherokee Purple, or Black Krim. Anthocyanin tomatoes should be called violet, blue or indigo.

Almost every anthocyanin tomato that I have ever grown Has had anything between insipid and horrible taste. . There is one exception though and I will grow it probably every year because I do adore it. That is Brad's Atomic grape. I have also read by people who do a lot of breeding, that there's so much pollen and it's so powdery that they readily cross pollinate a lot more than just 5%. It can be quite a problem because it can contaminate a known variety.
I agree with you 100% about. Labeling anthocyanin Tomatoes as blue.

[AZGardener]

Looking forward to watching the videos. Thank you for posting them!

[Hunt-Grow-Cook]

Can’t thank you enough for posting this. Absolutely great. I heard Brad Gates speak once but this is far more in depth. I was at the farm he leased at that time with a bunch of other people at a farm lunch. Great way to meet the farmer and see how they operate and you get a great lunch. Worth the cost of the ticket for sure,
I haven’t watched all of them yet, jumped ahead to the later ones and the one on soil and nutrients. He mentioned a company where he gets fertilizer. Vital Organics. So I looked them up and will look at what they sell and see if there is anything I would like to try and maybe I can get it locally.
Thanks again. Love these talks.

https://vitallandscaping.com/

Vital is a CA based company. They do ship/distribute some but mostly only found on the west coast. Products can be pricey, but I've been a fan of theirs for years.

[MsCowpea]

Hunt-grow-cook,
Thanks for info. I did find some of their products on Amazon but the liquid organic is pretty expensive. You are lucky to get what you want locally. I used to fill my suitcase full of organic fertilizer on trips to Ca. I would stare enviously at all the products in your local hardware stores. There was time you could barely find anything here in Fla. Times have changed , much more available locally plus there is always Amazon.

[Nan6b]

I grew Dark Galaxy (antho) last year with just a little bit of Osmocote time-released fertilizer, in about 5 hours of sun, and it was delicious.

[NarnianGarden]

Almost every anthocyanin tomato that I have ever grown Has had anything between insipid and horrible taste. . There is one exception though and I will grow it probably every year because I do adore it. That is Brad's Atomic grape. I have also read by people who do a lot of breeding, that there's so much pollen and it's so powdery that they readily cross pollinate a lot more than just 5%. It can be quite a problem because it can contaminate a known variety.
I agree with you 100% about. Labeling anthocyanin Tomatoes as blue.

Amen to this... Almost every year I allow myself to be convinced to try a blue variety. Every season I regret it.. The fruits are so pretty, but not worth the effort.
Last summer, it was Indigo Cherry Drops. Recommended highly by Carolyn herself, I gave it a chance. (actually only because I had temporarily lost the seeds for a pink cherry I was planning to grow..) Nothing remarkable.

Also had BAG growing, and it was interesting.. just not fab. Nice colors, but I will stick to other striped / multi color varieties.
Anything with antho just isn't working for me..

But wait, this coming season I will test a white / antho cross... Not giving up on antho varieties entirely yet..!!

[Ginger2778]

Brad's Atomic Grape is in my seed offer.

[Bronx]

Uh oh, I'm growing Indigo Apple this year. Are you saying I'll be disappointed in the taste of these?

[arnorrian]

I grew three anthocyanin varieties last year. Atomic Grapes tasted very nice, Indigo Rose was nice, and Dancing with Smurfs was a bit acidic, but still goid.

[Rockoe10]

This past summer, i tasted an Atomic Grape from Wild Boar Farms. It was interesting indeed. It was a citric fruity. Everyone who tried it jokingly said to make a pie from them. They weren't overly sweet, just oddly citric.

[Shule]

[mention]Bronx[/mention]
A certain percentage of people don't like blue tomato flavor, but a good portion of people don't mind it. I don't personally find it repulsive in most cases, but it's not a taste I generally aim for, either. I think it possibly goes better with sweet tomatoes than sour ones.

Indigo Apple doesn't have a particularly strong anthocyanin taste to me. If you don't like it, you can always remove the skins first, and it should be like a regular tomato.