I need some help narrowing down my choices for oxheart tomatoes to grow this summer.

What are your 3 favourite oxhearts? (And if you'd like to tell me why, that would be helpful, too!)

Well, I’ve got a top 2 anyway: Anna Russian and Orange Russian 117, both for taste.

I only have one.........
Orange Russian 117.

I will add another vote for Orange Russian 117. Very delicious, hugely productive for me and a pretty tomato.
The other I like is Brad's Black Heart-for all the same reasons.

top one for me is anna russian for taste, productivity, and earliness. i need an early.
second favorite is wes. i grew it last year for fresh seeds. great tasting, but a later variety that
wasn't as productive for me. a hard one to beat in the flavor category.



keith

My three favourites are Wes, Amish Paste, which I believe fits in the heart category better and KarenO's Midnight Sun. One or two mentioned above are on my must grow list. Captain Lucky is loaded up, just waiting for one to ripen

Wes is consistently number one for flavor. Sheryl's Portuguese Oxheart is huge, meaty, and tasty, and is my number two. And I have to say I am partial to Pink Honey, mainly because it is weeks earlier than most, is tasty, and gives me great BLT fare before I get it anywhere else. But I am also partial to Orange Russian 117, Brad's Black Heart, and St. Pepper's, as well as a few others...

I agree with - Wes, Orange Russian 117, and Brad's Black Heart for one of each color. And Karen's Midnight Sun and related tri/bicolor hearts are very good too! And for an "early", Fish Lake Oxheart is good.

Thank you, everyone, for the recommendations! Some of those varieties are new to me.

Where does Sheryl's Portuguese Oxheart fall in terms of earliness - similar to Anna Russian? I can't find much info about it.

Here, we usually put out transplants in late May/early June and a hard frost hits late August/early September. So anything 85+ days is pushing it (though most things ripen well in boxes indoors once harvested).

Anna Maria’s Heart is another early one and delicious for me.

Dee wrote: ↑Tue Mar 10, 2020 10:50 am Thank you, everyone, for the recommendations! Some of those varieties are new to me.

Where does Sheryl's Portuguese Oxheart fall in terms of earliness - similar to Anna Russian? I can't find much info about it.

Here, we usually put out transplants in late May/early June and a hard frost hits late August/early September. So anything 85+ days is pushing it (though most things ripen well in boxes indoors once harvested).

SPO I would classify as mid-late season. But I've only grown it for a couple of years. Compared with Anna Russian, I'd say just a bit later.
By the way, I mistyped the name. In Carolyn's offer, where I got it, it was called Sheryl's Portuguese Red Heart.

This question elicits memories of Carolyn.

I like Nicky Crain: large and in charge meaty pink

Anna Maria's Heart: tomato machine

Kosovo: flavor and mojo

OR117: the reason we garden

EM Champion
Velmozha
Zolotoe Serdtse

Of all the oxhearts I've grown, my favorites are Golden King of Siberia and Thessie O. Palestinian would probably be third.

The others I've tried include Anna Russian, Anna Banana Russian, Cuor di Bue, and Jerusalem. Maybe some others. Also, Green Giant x Golden King of Siberia F1, if you count crosses.

Jerusalem was the earliest of all of the above (but all were midseason). Golden King of Siberia was the most impressive with regard to appearance and taste, but Thessie O was close in taste (and less heavy on my stomach), followed by Palestinian and then Cuor di Bue. Jerusalem and Golden King of Siberia were the most prolific. GKOS was the firmest and meatiest, probably. Jerusalem was the softest and smallest fruited. Palestinian was the next softest (but pretty big and sturdy fruits). Palestinian's plant smelled like BBQ sauce later in the season; the fruits had a bold appearance. Jerusalem was the most vigorous. GKOS probably vined the furthest (but was so wispy that it wouldn't smother anything). Palestinian had the biggest, most robust plant (it could smother others, probably).

I've had occasional oxhearts on some non-oxheart plants, too, such as Sheboygan and Early Girl F2. If the shape turns out to be genetic on Sheboygan I'll be pretty pleased about the fact. It wasn't genetic on Early Girl F2.

Whwoz wrote: ↑Mon Mar 09, 2020 9:26 pm My three favourites are Wes, Amish Paste, which I believe fits in the heart category better and KarenO's Midnight Sun. One or two mentioned above are on my must grow list. Captain Lucky is loaded up, just waiting for one to ripen

Karen and I think that while Captain Lucky isn't a heart, it definitely has heart genes.

Ginger2778 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 12, 2020 5:55 am

Whwoz wrote: ↑Mon Mar 09, 2020 9:26 pm My three favourites are Wes, Amish Paste, which I believe fits in the heart category better and KarenO's Midnight Sun. One or two mentioned above are on my must grow list. Captain Lucky is loaded up, just waiting for one to ripen

Karen and I think that while Captain Lucky isn't a heart, it definitely has heart genes.

From what I've read, I thought it was a heart, but from what I've seen, I will agree with you

For early hearts, a side-by-side trial of Anna Russian and Fish Lake Oxheart is my recommendation.

I answered this post a week ago or so, but when I went back to see what I said, the post was not there. Pushed a wrong button I guess. I will try to remember.

Over the years, hearts are the most popular of the tomato varieties in my gardens having grown as many as I could find. Last year Canadian Heart was the very best. Whether it is a repeat hit we shall see. In order to just pick three is a chore so I looked the most often planted in the past 20 years or so and the three I will suggest are: Nicky Crain, Eagle's Beak and Sylvan Guame.

Close to the top three are Zore's Big Red, Joe's Pink Oxheart, Hungarian Heart, Fish Lake Oxheart, and Coeur de Valours. Another 40 or 50 could be listed since there isn't a heart I don't love.

Orange Russian #117 deserves special mention since I see it on some lists. When OR117 is good, it is very good, but it has a history in my garden of being good only about 1 in 3 years. The off years it is pretty average. The "on" year makes up for the average year. The good year it is beautiful to look at and delicious to eat. Just can't list a 1 of 3 chance.

I've often wondered what Jeff Dawson thought of the renaming of Dawson's Russian Oxheart.

Tormato wrote: ↑Sat Mar 14, 2020 3:01 pm I've often wondered what Jeff Dawson thought of the renaming of Dawson's Russian Oxheart.

Yes that's a good question and who changed that name? I miss Carolyn, she would know these answers. OR117 is Orange Russian 117 aka Dawson's Russian Oxheart bred by Jeff Dawson. A cross between Russian 117 and Georgia Streak. It is an excellent tomato IMO.