Help with my wishlist

[Tomatina]

Hey tomatolovers
I could need some help with my wishlist, at the moment my wishlist is far to long, have 39, so I need help to find the 25 ones, that suit me best.

If two varieties are very similar please suggest that and tell me, witch one you like better.

The most important for me:
1taste
2good producer
3early
4no/little cracking/BER
5robust plant

I'll use around half for fresh eating and half for canning, in total I'm planning 60 plants for next year.

My actual list:

BLACK/PURPLE
Ananas Noire++
Carbon+++
Daniel Burson++
Indian Stripe PL/RL+++
Margaret Curtain++
Noire de Crimee++
Paul Robeson++
Spudakee++

CHERRY
Black Opal++
Chocolate Cherry++

DETERMINATE
EM Champion ++

DWARF
Firebird Sweet++
Wild Fred++
Rosella Crimson++
Tasmanian Chocolate++

EASTERN EUROPEAN
Sakharni Pudovichok++

HEART
Fish Lake Oxheart ++
Kosovo++
Mayo's delight++
Rosovyi Myod+++
Russian #117++
KBX++
Wes++

PINK
Rebel Yell++
Aunt Ginnys Purple +++
Dester+++
Earl's Faux+++
Pervaya Lyubov+++
Pruden's Purple++
Stump of the world+++
Blue Ridge Mountain++
Brandywine Sudduth or cowlicks++
(With the Brandywines - I have grown a delicious Brandywine pink this year, but have no idea witch one it is - also read that Blue Ridge Mountain is similar - witch one should I choose?)

RED
Bulgarian Triumph+++
Matina++
Thessaloniki++
Prue+++

STRIPED
Pink Berkley Tie Dye ++

Green
Malakhitovaya Shkatulka++

Paste
Amish Paste+


And please tell me, if I got one in the wrong category. The + indicate, how interested I thought a variety sounded.

Thank you very much

[Toomanymatoes]

Those are all pretty good choices. It will not be easy to narrow down!

KBX is not a heart, but a large orange slicer.

[habitat-gardener]

When I grew Ananas Noire, it was later than most of my other tomatoes. I got ten large juicy tomatoes all at once!! I didn't grow it the same year, but I think Pink Berkeley Tie Dye is a good substitute -- both striped, PBTD is a lot earlier, AN is darker.

I've been looking up Brandywines for a project and noticed that seed sellers seem to equate Brandywine Pink with Brandywine Sudduth, which one seller says is the same as the Quisenberry strain.

[eyegrotom]

Ananas Noire was late for me as well. I grew it 3 years in a row, only got a handful of Tomatoes each time.

[rossomendblot]

Rebel Yell wasn't very prolific for me, it had a gorgeous first truss with 4 big fruit but after that barely produced and in the end only gave me 11 tomatoes, half of them very small. Good taste, though.

EM Champion is very prolific and quite early. Taste is pretty good. Needs good support due to the weight of fruit, and my plants were sprawlers.

Tasmanian Chocolate was a decent producer with good taste, but quite late for me.

Malachite Box is prolific and pretty early. Quite mild in taste which isn't my preference, though perhaps I overwatered.

Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye is early (2nd fastest to ripen in 2021) with good production and excellent taste (one of my favourites so far). The only negative for me is the fruit go soft quite quickly.

[MissS]

You should check with others that live in the same growing conditions that you do to see what worked for them. Someone who is living in a hot dry area will have very different results with the same tomato that you have grown.

Given that and your requirements, I would remove Carbon, all of the dwarfs, Earl's Faux, Brandywine because it's unreliable (there is a 'Brandywine' not all of them are strains), Pink Berkley Tie Dye has a very short shelf life, Blue Ridge Mountain and then the rest you will need to decide and add them onto next year's list.

[Tormahto]

I'm sorry to disappoint you Tomatina, but your wish list of 39 is perfectly fine.

As the host of the swap, I get to make the rules (that don't exist). While I put a limit on wish lists at 25, that's just to make it so that I don't overload myself with too much search time involved in locating those specific varieties. Some participants will add on to their 25, with very clever excuses as to why their lists grew.

For US participants, they generally get another 100+ varieties beyond the 25, most Canadians do, too. But for several overseas participants, instead of the overstuffed ravioli, it's getting one or more thin letters. The time it takes to toss 150 seed packs ,with a wish list of 25, into a bubble mailer, is likely about the same amount of time it takes to mail a couple of thin letters.

And, no need to stop at 39. By early December, there should be a nearly complete list of all varieties that are to come in. If something new catches your eye...

[Danny]

Tormato, mmmm, she could maybe want 1 of everything, LOL!!!

[rossomendblot]

You should check with others that live in the same growing conditions that you do to see what worked for them. Someone who is living in a hot dry area will have very different results with the same tomato that you have grown.

Given that and your requirements, I would remove Carbon, all of the dwarfs, Earl's Faux, Brandywine because it's unreliable (there is a 'Brandywine' not all of them are strains), Pink Berkley Tie Dye has a very short shelf life, Blue Ridge Mountain and then the rest you will need to decide and add them onto next year's list.

I guess Germany's season could be similar to mine in the UK? @Tomatina I am wondering if you grow outdoors or under cover? EM Champion and Matina do really well outdoors here, and most cherries are fine too, whereas the dwarfs I've tried (Tasmanian Chocolate/Rosella Purple) and other larger fruited varieties are less reliable.

[Tormahto]

Tormato, mmmm, she could maybe want 1 of everything, LOL!!!

Only US participants are cra..., would ask for 1 of everything.

And, it's only been 2 or 3 people out of the thousand, or so, over the years.

[Seven Bends]

For reference, I grow outdoors in the ground in full sun in the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC. Average midsummer high temperature is 89F, and average low is about 70F. We typically get lots of days with highs in the mid-90s, occasionally 100+F. Very humid, lots of foliage disease.

I grew Ananas Noire for the first time this year from MMMM seeds, and I was very pleased with it. It was a mid-season variety in my garden, not late. I planted seeds 4/21, transplanted 5/26, and picked the first fruit on 7/29 (64 days after transplant). At picking, they were probably about 3 days from being fully ripe. I had the same transplant and maturity dates for Armenian, Oaxacan Jewel, Alice's Dream, Cherokee Carbon, and Cornue des Andes. By comparison, Big Beef took 61 days, Better Boy 65 days, Sun Gold 51 days, Fourth of July 53 days, Moruno de San Pablo 70 days, and Cuore Antico di Acqui Termi 76 days. Production was very heavy in early/mid-August, then things slowed when fruit didn't set much in the mid-summer heat, and then the plant produced another big set of tomatoes in mid/late-September. The tomatoes are huge and stunning. The plant was healthy and well-behaved, not as sprawling as some of the others. Flavor of the August tomatoes was very good to excellent, as long as they didn't sit around too long on the counter, at which point they developed a very unpleasant taste. The late September tomatoes had that unpleasant taste also. These were fun to grow and I will grow them again, but not every year.

I tried Paul Robeson once but it caught an awful disease (probably fusarium) soon after transplant, and I had to pull the plant before any fruit ripened.

I grew Indian Stripe PL this year for the first time, and it was a disappointment. It wasn't really a fair trial -- planted very late in relatively poor soil -- but the poor thing really struggled, barely grew, and set only about five small to medium-sized fruit, only one of which I was able to eat. The rest split, rotted, fell off the vine, or became pockmarked with anthracnose. The taste of the one I ate was nothing special. I'll try this one again eventually to see if it does better with better care.

I haven't grown Carbon, but I grow Cherokee Carbon (hybrid of Carbon and Cherokee Purple) every year and love it. Delicious, great texture and juiciness, healthy plant, heavy producer. I've had Carbon seeds in my stash for three years now and have never grown it because I love Cherokee Carbon so much and I figure I don't need them both.

I grew Chocolate Cherry once, alongside Black Cherry. I preferred Black Cherry. Now I've found Dikovinka (from MMMM) and I prefer that over both Black Cherry and Chocolate Cherry. Chocolate Cherry tasted fine but the plant wasn't very healthy and it only produced about 20-30 tomatoes for me. Dikovinka is delicious and pumps out the fruit, so many I couldn't eat or give them all away. Consider adding that to your wish list if you haven't grown it yet.

I grew Blue Ridge Mountain for the first time this year, from MMMM. I planted it late in a poor location, so the plant wasn't very healthy and only produced about 5-6 fruit. But wow, were they delicious! Sweet but also very rich and flavorful, not bland. They're a really pretty color, too. Unfortunately, they split badly and rotted fast, so I didn't get to enjoy many of them. I'll definitely try this one again in a better spot.

Rebel Yell -- Grown for the first time this year, from MMMM. Delicious; more tangy/more tart than Blue Ridge Mountain (I liked BRM's flavor better). Production was similarly poor. The plant was in excellent soil but was crowded by adjacent tomato plants and an overly-enthusiastic volunteer squash plant, plus I ran out of cages and stakes so it only had a small pepper cage for support. Some splitting, but not as bad as Blue Ridge Mountain. I will try this one again.

Stump of the World -- Definitely grow this one; it's great. Delicious, healthy, productive. I've grown it twice with excellent results. Skipped it this year and wished I hadn't.

Wes -- Have only grown it once and was disappointed. It had problems with disease and only set a few fruit, and I didn't like them all that much. I prefer Cuore Antico di Acqui Termi and Mediterranean for large red hearts.

Consider adding Oaxacan Jewel and Armenian to your list if you like bicolors and haven't tried them yet.

Hope this helps!

[Tomatina]

Thanks for all the answers, I really appreciate your input on the different variaties and I will adjust my wishlist a bit.
Thanks to super generous tormato, I might be freed from the struggle to erase too many of them

@rossomendblot
I'm not sure, how similar our conditions are - I live in a wine region, so it might be a bit dryer & hotter here - I grow 90% without roof and so far it worked fine mostly.

[rossomendblot]

@rossomendblot
I'm not sure, how similar our conditions are - I live in a wine region, so it might be a bit dryer & hotter here - I grow 90% without roof and so far it worked fine mostly.

Yes I imagine you have more sunshine hours and a longer season. If we got better weather in September and October here I could grow many more varieties outside. @Amateurinawe is further south than me and grows most of his tomatoes outdoors with very good results.

[Danny]

Terrific detail, Seven Bends!! Helpful to all.

[Tormahto]

For reference, I grow outdoors in the ground in full sun in the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC. Average midsummer high temperature is 89F, and average low is about 70F. We typically get lots of days with highs in the mid-90s, occasionally 100+F. Very humid, lots of foliage disease.

I grew Ananas Noire for the first time this year from MMMM seeds, and I was very pleased with it. It was a mid-season variety in my garden, not late. I planted seeds 4/21, transplanted 5/26, and picked the first fruit on 7/29 (64 days after transplant). At picking, they were probably about 3 days from being fully ripe. I had the same transplant and maturity dates for Armenian, Oaxacan Jewel, Alice's Dream, Cherokee Carbon, and Cornue des Andes. By comparison, Big Beef took 61 days, Better Boy 65 days, Sun Gold 51 days, Fourth of July 53 days, Moruno de San Pablo 70 days, and Cuore Antico di Acqui Termi 76 days. Production was very heavy in early/mid-August, then things slowed when fruit didn't set much in the mid-summer heat, and then the plant produced another big set of tomatoes in mid/late-September. The tomatoes are huge and stunning. The plant was healthy and well-behaved, not as sprawling as some of the others. Flavor of the August tomatoes was very good to excellent, as long as they didn't sit around too long on the counter, at which point they developed a very unpleasant taste. The late September tomatoes had that unpleasant taste also. These were fun to grow and I will grow them again, but not every year.

I tried Paul Robeson once but it caught an awful disease (probably fusarium) soon after transplant, and I had to pull the plant before any fruit ripened.

I grew Indian Stripe PL this year for the first time, and it was a disappointment. It wasn't really a fair trial -- planted very late in relatively poor soil -- but the poor thing really struggled, barely grew, and set only about five small to medium-sized fruit, only one of which I was able to eat. The rest split, rotted, fell off the vine, or became pockmarked with anthracnose. The taste of the one I ate was nothing special. I'll try this one again eventually to see if it does better with better care.

I haven't grown Carbon, but I grow Cherokee Carbon (hybrid of Carbon and Cherokee Purple) every year and love it. Delicious, great texture and juiciness, healthy plant, heavy producer. I've had Carbon seeds in my stash for three years now and have never grown it because I love Cherokee Carbon so much and I figure I don't need them both.

I grew Chocolate Cherry once, alongside Black Cherry. I preferred Black Cherry. Now I've found Dikovinka (from MMMM) and I prefer that over both Black Cherry and Chocolate Cherry. Chocolate Cherry tasted fine but the plant wasn't very healthy and it only produced about 20-30 tomatoes for me. Dikovinka is delicious and pumps out the fruit, so many I couldn't eat or give them all away. Consider adding that to your wish list if you haven't grown it yet.

I grew Blue Ridge Mountain for the first time this year, from MMMM. I planted it late in a poor location, so the plant wasn't very healthy and only produced about 5-6 fruit. But wow, were they delicious! Sweet but also very rich and flavorful, not bland. They're a really pretty color, too. Unfortunately, they split badly and rotted fast, so I didn't get to enjoy many of them. I'll definitely try this one again in a better spot.

Rebel Yell -- Grown for the first time this year, from MMMM. Delicious; more tangy/more tart than Blue Ridge Mountain (I liked BRM's flavor better). Production was similarly poor. The plant was in excellent soil but was crowded by adjacent tomato plants and an overly-enthusiastic volunteer squash plant, plus I ran out of cages and stakes so it only had a small pepper cage for support. Some splitting, but not as bad as Blue Ridge Mountain. I will try this one again.

Stump of the World -- Definitely grow this one; it's great. Delicious, healthy, productive. I've grown it twice with excellent results. Skipped it this year and wished I hadn't.

Wes -- Have only grown it once and was disappointed. It had problems with disease and only set a few fruit, and I didn't like them all that much. I prefer Cuore Antico di Acqui Termi and Mediterranean for large red hearts.

Consider adding Oaxacan Jewel and Armenian to your list if you like bicolors and haven't tried them yet.

Hope this helps!

I think you've learned that SOTW should be grown every year, serving as THE benchmark to judge other varieties. Sure, in poor weather, it may do poorly, and maybe some other varieties will do better, tastewise. But with good weather, there needs to be that benchmark, instead of guessing...was "that" variety from last year, as good as "this " other variety from this year?