Non-finicky varieties?

[Cranraspberry]

This year I’m volunteering to be in charge of tomatoes/peppers in our donation plot for a local food pantry.
Any suggestions on reliable, productive, non-finicky varieties that would be good for something like this? Pickup is once a week, so something a little on the firmer side and not prone to splitting is probably a good idea.

[Cole_Robbie]

I'm sure you will get a lot of suggestions. Big Beef is the first that comes to mind. Are you starting from seed? If you are buying plants, the best deals in my area are at the farmers market, and tend to be varieties that do well locally.

[Cranraspberry]

@Cole_Robbie starting from seed! There’s room for about 6-7 tomatoes. I was thinking Big Beef - it actually didn’t do well for me in my own plot last year, but everyone loves it so it could have been operator error. I probably wouldn’t do more than 1 plant of it though - last year it was hands down my worst producer out of a dozen plants.

[Cranraspberry]

Momotaro did really well for me and was bulletproof till the very end of the season, so thinking of doing one of those as well. The gardener who manages the relationship with the food pantry suggested a couple of cherries - Sun Gold splits pretty bad with our rain, any suggestions for sturdier options? I have Black Cherry seeds and a few cherry plums (Cherry Roma, Chocolate Pear), but haven’t grown any of those yet.

[zeuspaul]

Early Girl has been my most reliable and productive tomato.

[Tormato]

Supersonic F1 would be my suggestion. But, I haven't seen any seeds for sale for several years.

[Seven Bends]

@Cole_Robbie starting from seed! There’s room for about 6-7 tomatoes. I was thinking Big Beef - it actually didn’t do well for me in my own plot last year, but everyone loves it so it could have been operator error. I probably wouldn’t do more than 1 plant of it though - last year it was hands down my worst producer out of a dozen plants.

I've failed with Big Beef in the DC area three times now, in years when the other tomatoes have done fine, so I've given up on it. Maybe it's our climate?

For full-size red hybrids, I recommend Supersonic, Better Boy and Whopper for this area. Big Boy tastes pretty much the same but doesn't produce as well for me. I highly recommend Cherokee Carbon -- a winner for plant health, heavy production, and delicious tomatoes. Fourth of July (not the same as Independence Day) is early and easy to grow, with juicy, tasty saladette-sized tomatoes. Can't beat Juliette for bullet-proof reliability and huge production; you'll get sick of picking them. Kind of a firm, drier tomato, though.

For cherries: Super Sweet 100 is easy to grow and will produce tons of fruit for you, plus it's delicious. Braveheart and Nectar are good hybrid red cherries on a more compact plant; excellent flavor. Fruit Punch (OP) did great for me, though mine were slightly off-type (supposed to be pink, but mine were red). Very vigorous and large plant, heavy production all season to frost, pretty and tasty fruit, a little milder. I also like Super Snow White and Dikovinka. I know Yellow Pear comes in for a lot of criticism, but it might be a good choice for a food bank. Lots of people love it. It's not the most amazing flavor, but it's way better than store tomatoes, and production is unbelievable. Plus they're really cute.

I tried to come up with some OP full-size tomato suggestions for you, but most of the OPs I've liked have been huge beefsteaks, and I'm not sure that's such a great choice for food bank purposes.

[JRinPA]

Estiva F1 is a pretty blemish free variety. They run smaller than big beef and more perfectly round. Tennis ball size is the very top end. Well, maybe baseball is very top. The stems stay nice and green.
https://www.johnnyseeds.com/vegetables/ ... -2087.html They used to be a johnny's exclusive; if they still are, it looks like they are sold out of the small packs. I do have some, if you want to try them.

They really do like that, huge trusses without misses and very green calyx. That color looks true too. I did not know they were bred for tunnels until just now when I read that. I use them for salsa making, mostly.

[Seven Bends]

Supersonic F1 would be my suggestion. But, I haven't seen any seeds for sale for several years.

Mine, too!
Supersonic seeds are still around, though not as common. Tomato Growers Supply carries it at a reasonable price. Also available from Harris but not cheaply. I think you can still find Supersonic plants at independent nurseries and pop-up plant places around here in the spring.

[karstopography]

Carmello. Looks like a store bought tomato, but tastes better and performs well in a variety of conditions.

In my limited experience with food pantries and my son’s much more extensive experience working as an employee of a food pantry, tomatoes that look like pretty much identical to normal store bought tomatoes do much better getting taken home than anything that looks abnormal, heirloom, smallish, different, fluted, complicated, etc.

Carmello can handle early season cool conditions and normal summer heat equally well. It’s a 70 days to maturity tomato, but should produce all season. Plus, the skins resist cracking.

It isn’t that perhaps some, a minority of patrons of the pantry might not appreciate heirloom or different looking tomatoes, but, generally, the majority of people coming in want tomatoes and produce that more or less resembles the same produce they might see at a regular supermarket.

[Cranraspberry]

Thanks for all these suggestions! Lots to research tomorrow, I hadn’t heard much about Carmello or Estiva.

I’m surprised that Supersonic seeds are hard to find - I see them sold as plants in our nurseries every year and assumed seeds were as common as the Boys etc. Maybe I could pick up a plant since it sounds like it would be worth it.

@Seven Bends I remember you mentioned that about Big Beef and it’s just so odd! I’m almost curious to grow it in a different plot. I had planted my leftover tomatoes there last year and was surprised that they showed no signs of fusarium even late in the season while a few plots away I got my first yellowing mid-July.

@karstopography I agree about sticking with mostly “standard” looking tomatoes. The gardener I’m working with suggested maybe one larger heirloom (I was thinking a heart of some sort), a couple of cherries and the rest basic red slicers. I figure the earlier and more productive the better.

[Tormato]

Carmello. Looks like a store bought tomato, but tastes better and performs well in a variety of conditions.

In my limited experience with food pantries and my son’s much more extensive experience working as an employee of a food pantry, tomatoes that look like pretty much identical to normal store bought tomatoes do much better getting taken home than anything that looks abnormal, heirloom, smallish, different, fluted, complicated, etc.

Carmello can handle early season cool conditions and normal summer heat equally well. It’s a 70 days to maturity tomato, but should produce all season. Plus, the skins resist cracking.

It isn’t that perhaps some, a minority of patrons of the pantry might not appreciate heirloom or different looking tomatoes, but, generally, the majority of people coming in want tomatoes and produce that more or less resembles the same produce they might see at a regular supermarket.

The F1, or the OP one?

[Seven Bends]

For bell peppers in our area, you need something highly disease resistant, including bacterial leaf spot (BLS). I swear by Alliance and Declaration (both of which are green maturing to red, large, thick-walled, blocky bells); they stay healthy all season and produce very heavily. Parks Whopper II is pretty good but a step down in disease resistance.

There are newer varieties now that have resistance to even more of the BLS races. Here's a great resource for pepper disease resistance:
https://www.vegetables.cornell.edu/pest ... varieties/

Giant Marconi hybrid isn't resistant to BLS but does have some other disease resistance and generally stays pretty healthy in my garden. The peppers are fantastic. Gypsy hybrid also has some disease resistance (not BLS) and holds up okay, but not as well as it used to. Carmen hybrid used to be a good choice for us, but now it gets sick right away, before producing any peppers. Maybe you can find something similar but with better disease resistance on that Cornell list.

Gatherer's Gold (OP) performed pretty well in my garden this year. Most other OP peppers I've tried so far have not done well at all, too much disease. I'm going to keep trying, though.

[Seven Bends]

@Seven Bends I remember you mentioned that about Big Beef and it’s just so odd! I’m almost curious to grow it in a different plot. I had planted my leftover tomatoes there last year and was surprised that they showed no signs of fusarium even late in the season while a few plots away I got my first yellowing mid-July.

I didn't have trouble with Big Beef with fusarium, just early blight, septoria, and inability to set fruit in heat/humidity, plus it was just plain unhappy I think. Are you saying your Big Beef did poorly because of fusarium in your plot, but you think it might do better in a different plot? Not sure I followed your meaning.

[Tormato]

The cure for non-spitting SunGold tomatoes is to keep the rain away.

First, slightly mound up the soil, so that it slopes away from the stem of the plant outward for about 2 feet, a slope of about 2 to 3 inches in height is fine. Then get a thin sheet of plastic material, like a trash bag, cut roughly into a circular shape, about 3 to 4 feet in diameter. Slit the fabric from the outside of the circle to the middle, slide the fabric around the plant stem to the end of the slit, overlap the fabric along the slit. Leave enough room for watering. At the end of the slit at the middle, you may want to cut out an additional small circle, for your ease of watering.

You're creating a near water proof barrier, where rain will run away from the stem in all directions. You'll need to secure the plastic so that it does not blow away. A few inches of mulch, or bricks/rocks will do. Unless covering with mulch, a white plastic would likely be better than black (or clear), to avoid overheating the soil.

[Tormato]

As for large heirlooms, with a pickup once a week, don't expect picked ripe ones to sit around for close to a week. You may have to experiment with picking not fully ripe tomatoes, in advance of the pickup day.

And if customers are knowledgeable enough, info on letting tomatoes finish ripening at home might be a possibility.

[Shule]

FYI: I don't know if these resist any of your local diseases and such.

Hot peppers:
- Aji Habanero (C. baccatum—it's not the same thing as a C. chinense Habanero)
- Orange Carbonero

Sweet peppers:
- Canary Bell
- Neapolitan
- Corbaci

[Shule]

Napoli is a good tomato if you don't give it too much nitrogen. The fruits are very durable. It's prolific.

[Cranraspberry]

@Seven Bends I don’t know if fusarium was holding it back, but I am curious to see if it would perform any differently in a non-fusarium plot. Given your experience I suspect it’s something about our region. But then again if you’ve ever seen Millennial Gardener on youtube - he’s in one of the Carolinas where it’s a lot more hot/humid/rainy than here and Big Beef is one of his top performers! So it’s a mystery.

[karstopography]

Carmello. Looks like a store bought tomato, but tastes better and performs well in a variety of conditions.

In my limited experience with food pantries and my son’s much more extensive experience working as an employee of a food pantry, tomatoes that look like pretty much identical to normal store bought tomatoes do much better getting taken home than anything that looks abnormal, heirloom, smallish, different, fluted, complicated, etc.

Carmello can handle early season cool conditions and normal summer heat equally well. It’s a 70 days to maturity tomato, but should produce all season. Plus, the skins resist cracking.

It isn’t that perhaps some, a minority of patrons of the pantry might not appreciate heirloom or different looking tomatoes, but, generally, the majority of people coming in want tomatoes and produce that more or less resembles the same produce they might see at a regular supermarket.

The F1, or the OP one?

The F1