Opinions on Pink Ruffled, Longhorn, Vjerino Paradajiz Sjeme
 

Howdy.

Can't find a lot of info out there on a few varieties I ordered yesterday (there's more on some than others), if anyone has grown them:

Pink Ruffled
Longhorn
Vjerino Paradajiz Sjeme
County Agent
Calypso
Mrs. Schlaubaugh's Famous Strawberry
Lee's Sweet

With the other tomatoes on my list, I won't have room for them all. As for qualities, I'm interested in productivity, heat and disease tolerance, and texture/taste. (Prefer acid or well-balanced, hate sour.) I'm particularly curious about Pink Ruffled. (Is it hollow, for example?)

[QUOTE=celerystalksmidnite;723750]Howdy.

Can't find a lot of info out there on a few varieties I ordered yesterday (there's more on some than others), if anyone has grown them:

Pink Ruffled
Longhorn
Vjerino Paradajiz Sjeme
County Agent
Calypso
Mrs. Schlaubaugh's Famous Strawberry
Lee's Sweet

With the other tomatoes on my list, I won't have room for them all. As for qualities, I'm interested in productivity, heat and disease tolerance, and texture/taste. (Prefer acid or well-balanced, hate sour.) I'm particularly curious about Pink Ruffled. (Is it hollow, for example?)[/QUOTE]

First, are you familiar with Tania's data base where she lists the descriptions of over 5,000 tomato varieties?

I've grown the Vjerino one, but so many years ago,I think I liked it, but it was so many years ago I can't confirm that.

I've also grown the strawberry one and I think it's a good one.

Same for County Agent.

Never heard of a variety named Longhorn but didn't take
the time to do a search.

Here are the other attributes you asked for

(I'm interested in productivity, heat and disease tolerance, and texture/taste. (Prefer acid or well-balanced, hate sour.) I'm particularly curious about Pink Ruffled. (Is it hollow, for example?)[/QUOTE])

I don't think anyone can answer the above as to heat tolerance,how hot, where grown,what year,disease tolerances,which specific diseases since there are a LOT of them.

Taste? Only the person tasting it can answer that and there are lots of variables associated with taste as well.

I tried to help, I really did, but I'm not so sure if I did or not.

Carolyn

I think a lot of folks like County Agent. (Yep, falls very short of the info you asked for; sorry.)

[QUOTE=carolyn137;723764]

I tried to help, I really did, but I'm not so sure if I did or not.

Carolyn[/QUOTE]

Thank you, Carolyn, every little bit certainly does help. I take your points about all of those factors, so I will take any information I receive in stride. Still, it has turned out that I don't get the opportunity to grow tomatoes every season, and as it is a harsh growing environment down here and I cannot expend the time and energy to grow as many as I like, I try to hedge my bets a little by obsessively collecting all the anecdotal evidence I can, even if only in my own mind.

I have not used the reply feature on this site in several years, so I hope I have formatted this correctly. :lol:

EDIT: And, oh yes, thank you for pointing out Tania's site.

Mark

[QUOTE=Nan_PA_6b;723771]I think a lot of folks like County Agent. (Yep, falls very short of the info you asked for; sorry.)[/QUOTE]
That's good news! I'm fairly sure it will make the short list. Every little bit helps fill in the gaps, thank you.

Longhorn is a J and L creation, I believe, so it is not an heirloom. It sure was a pretty picture, though, and I figured it was my duty as a Texan to grow a variety so-named.

Another thing to consider is whether you're getting seed for the same tomato that's described with a specific name. If you're getting it from the breeder or a reputable dealer you can probably depend on it being true to type. The more unique a tomato's name and appearance the more likely you are to be getting what you expect. Less help names like Big Red or Pink Ruffles give you a general idea of what to expect, but sometime get stuck on more than one variety.

Pink Ruffled is obviously pink and ruffled. It's a slicer, not a stuffer. Ruffled means the lobes are separated by deep pleats at the ribs. The Pink Ruffled I've grown in the past was firm textured, low gel, not too dry, sweet and borderline bland. They grew well when it was dry and didn't split if when we got rain in August. Taste wasn't as intense as Zapotec or as complex as Yellow Accordian. They weren't overly productive either. Maybe 6-8 tomatoes per plant all season. I only grew them two years so I didn't think a lot of them.

But to expand upon Carolyn's statement, your mileage may vary. The only way to find out if a variety is one that grows well in your local environment or tastes good to you is to try it. I usually plant a few plants of trial varieties and enough plants to give me what I can use from the tried and try. And of course experimental varieties get their space too. If I'm growing something new, I worry more about problem to expect rather than taste. Taste is too subjective and also is strongly influenced by growing conditions and weather. The genetics are important too, but there are not many varieties that you'd get concensus that they always taste great.

Also important to remember is that tomatoes aren't like zuchinni. They aren't that hard to get rid of if you have a surplus and there are more than two ways to use them. :-) So as long as you have the time and room in the garden, you can't try too many of them.

[QUOTE=oldman;723808]Also important to remember is that tomatoes aren't like zuchinni. They aren't that hard to get rid of if you have a surplus and there are more than two ways to use them. :-) So as long as you have the time and room in the garden, you can't try too many of them.[/QUOTE]

Too true! I always dreamed I would have the room, which I now have after sixteen years of growing tomatoes. Sadly, I do not have the time or the physical condition to grow the dozens of varieties each year as I foresaw. Some years, like last year, I didn't manage to plant any. That made the wife and kids sad, so I am gritting my teeth and determining to get a few plants in the ground despite the obstacles. I can get decent tomatoes from Whole Foods in the summer, but they generally lack the big wow of truly excellent homegrown tomatoes. Now that I have made the resolve, I am excited and overly ambitious and bordering on overkill! :lol:

Thank you very much. The detailed feedback on Pink Ruffles is helpful in whittling down the list, even if it is just one grower's experience, and I simply like reading about other grower's experiences for the sheer enjoyment of reading about it. Sort of like a good short story about one of my favorite subjects. :lol: I have varieties that always do well (CP, PBTD) and varieties that did well when growing them the first time in this location in 2017 (Royal Hillbilly) as well as varieties that I won't be repeating, at least not anytime soon, with so many other tomatoes to try.

Not that I don't repeat failed varieties, if their reputation seems to suggest it is warranted.