I need an advice

[MrBig46]

Next year in April I am going to have surgery on my left knee. But I don't want to lose the whole season, so I'm looking for a way to grow tomatoes only with the help of my son. I can't ask him to spend a lot of time in the garden when he has his family, his interests and his hobbies. Therefore, I decided that the easiest way would be to grow tomatoes from the Dwarf project. I found quite a large selection of seeds of these varieties on the Croatian website, and since I will be ordering other seeds there, I would also like to order the dwarf ones for 2025. I just need advice on the varieties (15 to 20) to cover as many different sizes of tomatoes as possible (cherry ...steaks), the whole range of colors (pink...green). I will be grateful for any advice.
Vladimír

[FatBeeFarm]

The Lucky Garden YouTube channel (great guy from Belarus) has a lot of really charming and helpful videos on Dwarf varieties that might be very informative. He is much closer to you (still far I know, but compared to me much closer) so maybe his terroir and climate matches yours better than mine.

I grew some Dwarfs last year, but I got rained out so I don't have much useful info at this point. But they are shorter, so you are crouching down and bending more all season, whereas the indeterminates eventually grow tall enough you aren't really getting up and down. I don't know if Dwarf's will save you issues with your knee or not?

[Frosti]

I liked the taste of Uluru Ochre, but it didn't produce very many tomatoes.

[PNW_D]

thoughts from the source .....

https://www.craiglehoullier.com/blog1/2 ... -varieties

[WoodSprite]

I've only grown Boronia and Tasmanian Chocolate so far and loved both of them. They both have "dark" fruits. Both were bred from New Big Dwarf x Paul Robeson.

Boronia was a little sweeter of the two for me and was delicious. My single plant grew to 3' tall. I harvested only 15 ripe tomatoes for a total of 7.4 pounds which was disappointing to me. They ranged from 2.9 oz to 12.8 oz.

Tasmanian Chocolate was delicious but not quite as sweet as Boronia. My single plant grew 3-1/2' tall. I harvested 32 ripe tomatoes for a total of 20 pounds which surprised me. They ranged from 4.9 oz to 15.4 oz.

I liked the flavor of Boronia slightly more but very much liked Tasmanian Chocolate, too. If I were to grow just one again, it would be Tasmanian Chocolate.

I haven't grown these yet but have done searches here & elsewhere for recommended dwarf varieties. These are the ones that were mentioned several times that I have a few seeds for and plan to grow.

Sweet Scarlet Dwarf
Rosella Purple
New Big Dwarf
Fred's Tie Dye
Dwarf Artic Rose
Adelaide Festival

Also, I hope your surgery goes well. I'm having surgery this April and am a bit concerned about being able to take care of my garden this year. My husband said he'd help. I hope I don't regret planting a full garden.

[Yak54]

Not knowing exactly what type of knee surgery I can't know how many weeks of recovery you will need but when my wife had her knee replacement surgery she was getting around without crutches after 3 days and had very good mobility by 3 weeks. I've only grown 4 or 5 of the Dwarf varieties and a couple of my favorites were Sweet Scarlet Dwarf, Dwarf Mr. Snow, and Dwarf Orange Cream. Good luck on your surgery and also on your 2024 garden !

[MrBig46]

Thanks everyone for the Dwarf tomato tips. The seeds of the tomato I wanted to buy on the Croatian website (Cow's Tit) were sent to me by a friend from Slovakia, so I don't have to make any purchases yet. I have enough time to evaluate all the recommended varieties and choose the ones that would suit me the most. Thanks again.
Vladimír

[svalli]

I have tried many dwarf varieties, because those grow well outdoors in containers. I like most the old New Big Dwarf and that one I have to grow every year. I do not usually write down comments about the tomatoes, but from the ones I have grown during last years Sleeping Lady Dwarf, Dwarf Saucy Mary and Dwarf Shadow Boxing were good as far as I remember. I liked also taste of Grinch Cherry Dwarf and it was really prolific, but I seem to have trouble picking the green ones, before they are overripe.

[lindalana]

I am wondering if you would look into determinate tomatoes as well. They need less stakes and season might be more congested so you time it better with your sx timing?

[NYTomatoNewbie]

Dwarf tomatoes can still get pretty large at 4 feet. Make sure you have enough room in between the plants and water from bottom to reduce disease so your son doesn’t have to trim as many leaves. As the other person mentioned maybe look into determinate dwarf plants as well.

[Stitchingmom]

Adelaide Festival!!

[GVGardens]

I was in a cast for tomato season a couple of years ago.
-If you'll be harvesting and not your son, consider putting the plants in containers or grow bags instead of the ground. Even containers on top of raised beds. Height is good. This way, you don't have to bend down as much when harvesting.
-Non-dwarfs like Juliet, Viva Italia, and Silver Fir Tree have also done well for me in grow bags. I've eaten and liked these dwarfs: Adelaide Festival, Uluru Ochre, Sweet Scarlet, and Dwarf Saucy Mary but this is my first year growing them myself.
-I agree with @lindalana to look into determinates so that you have fruit-set all at one time and harvesting is easier.

Think about what you'll be doing with the tomatoes and then pick varieties. Are they for fresh eating? Will you still be on painkillers when you're harvesting them? Are you sure you'll have an appetite/want to eat them? Maybe look into varieties with longer shelf lives? Are they for making tomato sauce? Will you want to be standing in a kitchen cooking sauce on a bad knee? Would you rather have tomatoes to freeze and make sauce when you're more mobile? What size tomatoes do you have room for in your freezer? Maybe pick varieties with more days to maturity so that they're ready to harvest when you're feeling better.

Here are some other things I learned:
-Put organic, slow release granular fertilizer in the planting hole. So your son doesn't have to worry about fertilizing.
-Plant half as many plants as you think you should [ha! But this is the year to actually cut back]. I was overwhelmed and frustrated because I didn't.
-Set up a watering system ahead of time. Such as soaker hoses or drip irrigation. A timer is even better. This will make it easier for your son. But it will also make it easier on you when you're unsteady on your feet. Regular hoses are trip hazards and watering cans are difficult when you're on crutches or wobbly.
-Get an apron with pockets for harvesting so that you don't have to carry anything in your hands.
-Plant a couple of "fun" varieties so that you have something to look forward to.
-Make sure all your pathways are level and clear. Walk them with your eyes closed before surgery. If you trip, they're not level and clear!

[Vanman]

Use woven landscape fabric like this: www.amazon.com/dp/B004SI9RY0/ref=dp_iou ... =UTF8&th=1

There are videos on YouTube showing how to put it down and melt holes in it for plants.

You will also need staples to hold it down. It will last for several years. We pulled ours up after two years only because I want to rotate my crops in the garden. The fabric was still in good condition.

We use it and pull weeds around the plants, which are in four inch holes in the fabric, twice a season. This and drip irrigation took most of the work out of our garden.