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November 16, 2019

Greatgardens,

It's mostly the earlier maturity that I like about Marion. It produces all season (more spread out than Thessaloniki, in my garden). The tastes are so different as to not be terribly comparable, but the fruits have a comparable look and feel. Thessaloniki's fruits are somewhat larger and probably more acidic in drought conditions. Marion (in drought conditions with black plastic) has a gentle flavor that is unusually good, in my opinion, but it's not devoid of acidity, if I recall.

I've only grown Marion once, though (2019).

Anyway, they're both prolific, round to roundish red tomatoes with great qualities. Perhaps Marion has a somewhat smaller plant, but it's no less vigorous. I'm not sure how to describe the differences in plant habit, but they're different. Thessaloniki gets weighty, thick, wide branches that could easily weigh something under them down. Marion is more usual, and compact, but still vigorous. Marion would be easier to cage, I suppose (I did cage Marion, with a wire cage; Thessaloniki probably would have squashed a wire cage). They're both fairly durable and not terribly prone to blemishes, it seems. Marion had extremely remarkable germination, how neatly and orderly they came up.

So it's mostly due to ease of growth, the number of tomatoes I get, and when I get them. In an area with a longer season, or else a garden where Thessaloniki were early, I'm not sure how they'd compare, but they both seem to do well in a wide variety of areas. I think Marion is popular in one of the Carolinas.

I'm not sure what to say about disease resistance, at this point.

I don't grow 100+ varieties every year.

I've cut down to 40 to 65 kinds or so, lately; maybe 70 or 80 something plants). I only did 100+ twice. They smothered each other a lot before I cut down on the number. I might do 60 to 70 kinds next year. If I had more land, I'd grow more, though. I'd grow every kind I have that I haven't tried, I think (perhaps multiple times).

My area has arid summers with cold winters. So, fungal diseases aren't a huge issue. Cleanup takes a while unless we just let the plants sit out and dry up to become light and papery over the winter before we deal with them (but that can be a visual disturbance to people); they're easy to pull up and burn then (but they smell just like tobacco when burned, and that can be awkward; but either way, they're easy to pull up and compact then). However, we're pulling up the plants in the fall and throwing them out, this year (it's taking some weeks, as we only have one garbage can; most of them are already pulled up, though). It's not usually up to me what we do with them. I choose what to grow (for the most part) and start the plants, but the garden isn't technically mine, and I don't make all the decisions. Last year, we just put them in a huge pile in the fall, but that was a mistake. We couldn't easily separate them to throw them away, and being piled up, they didn't dry out over the winter. They attracted rodents, I think (otherwise, we might have composted them). Someone managed to throw them out, eventually. If it were up to me, I'd probably pull them up whenever and compost them with weeds. In an area where fungi would be a problem, I might do something different: pretty much everything I've said here is supposed to be a bad idea where fungal pathogens are a big concern (except maybe pulling up the plants right away and throwing them out).

We use the tomatoes for canning (stewed, blended, and/or juice), fresh eating, sandwiches, salads, etc. I make such as spaghetti/pizza sauce with some of the canned tomatoes, but it also works for chile, tomato soup, and other stuff. We give some fresh tomatoes away.

I grow a lot of kinds in order to find the ones I like the most, and for plant breeding purposes. Plus, to learn and share what I learn. Plus, to save a lot of seeds. I think it's important to have a wide variety on stock (and know how to use them) in case they become unavailable otherwise.

I grow a lot of watermelons and other things, too. Watermelon are more of a challenge than tomatoes, due to spider mites and how larger and even some smaller watermelons often tend to be under-sized in our garden, but we get plenty to eat. I prefer winter watermelons, since you don't have to eat them anytime soon after harvesting them. We had watermelons all over the house, this year, especially with a volunteer Citron watermelon we got (29 fruits from that one; definitely the most prolific watermelon I've grown to date—but it's a preserving melon—a vegetable rather than a fruit, by the supermarket definition; I like it for stir fry and mock apple crisp; it's not meant for eating fresh on picnics!)

November 16, 2019	#9
shule1 Guest Posts: n/a	Greatgardens, It's mostly the earlier maturity that I like about Marion. It produces all season (more spread out than Thessaloniki, in my garden). The tastes are so different as to not be terribly comparable, but the fruits have a comparable look and feel. Thessaloniki's fruits are somewhat larger and probably more acidic in drought conditions. Marion (in drought conditions with black plastic) has a gentle flavor that is unusually good, in my opinion, but it's not devoid of acidity, if I recall. I've only grown Marion once, though (2019). Anyway, they're both prolific, round to roundish red tomatoes with great qualities. Perhaps Marion has a somewhat smaller plant, but it's no less vigorous. I'm not sure how to describe the differences in plant habit, but they're different. Thessaloniki gets weighty, thick, wide branches that could easily weigh something under them down. Marion is more usual, and compact, but still vigorous. Marion would be easier to cage, I suppose (I did cage Marion, with a wire cage; Thessaloniki probably would have squashed a wire cage). They're both fairly durable and not terribly prone to blemishes, it seems. Marion had extremely remarkable germination, how neatly and orderly they came up. So it's mostly due to ease of growth, the number of tomatoes I get, and when I get them. In an area with a longer season, or else a garden where Thessaloniki were early, I'm not sure how they'd compare, but they both seem to do well in a wide variety of areas. I think Marion is popular in one of the Carolinas. I'm not sure what to say about disease resistance, at this point. I don't grow 100+ varieties every year. I've cut down to 40 to 65 kinds or so, lately; maybe 70 or 80 something plants). I only did 100+ twice. They smothered each other a lot before I cut down on the number. I might do 60 to 70 kinds next year. If I had more land, I'd grow more, though. I'd grow every kind I have that I haven't tried, I think (perhaps multiple times). My area has arid summers with cold winters. So, fungal diseases aren't a huge issue. Cleanup takes a while unless we just let the plants sit out and dry up to become light and papery over the winter before we deal with them (but that can be a visual disturbance to people); they're easy to pull up and burn then (but they smell just like tobacco when burned, and that can be awkward; but either way, they're easy to pull up and compact then). However, we're pulling up the plants in the fall and throwing them out, this year (it's taking some weeks, as we only have one garbage can; most of them are already pulled up, though). It's not usually up to me what we do with them. I choose what to grow (for the most part) and start the plants, but the garden isn't technically mine, and I don't make all the decisions. Last year, we just put them in a huge pile in the fall, but that was a mistake. We couldn't easily separate them to throw them away, and being piled up, they didn't dry out over the winter. They attracted rodents, I think (otherwise, we might have composted them). Someone managed to throw them out, eventually. If it were up to me, I'd probably pull them up whenever and compost them with weeds. In an area where fungi would be a problem, I might do something different: pretty much everything I've said here is supposed to be a bad idea where fungal pathogens are a big concern (except maybe pulling up the plants right away and throwing them out). We use the tomatoes for canning (stewed, blended, and/or juice), fresh eating, sandwiches, salads, etc. I make such as spaghetti/pizza sauce with some of the canned tomatoes, but it also works for chile, tomato soup, and other stuff. We give some fresh tomatoes away. I grow a lot of kinds in order to find the ones I like the most, and for plant breeding purposes. Plus, to learn and share what I learn. Plus, to save a lot of seeds. I think it's important to have a wide variety on stock (and know how to use them) in case they become unavailable otherwise. I grow a lot of watermelons and other things, too. Watermelon are more of a challenge than tomatoes, due to spider mites and how larger and even some smaller watermelons often tend to be under-sized in our garden, but we get plenty to eat. I prefer winter watermelons, since you don't have to eat them anytime soon after harvesting them. We had watermelons all over the house, this year, especially with a volunteer Citron watermelon we got (29 fruits from that one; definitely the most prolific watermelon I've grown to date—but it's a preserving melon—a vegetable rather than a fruit, by the supermarket definition; I like it for stir fry and mock apple crisp; it's not meant for eating fresh on picnics!) Last edited by shule1; November 16, 2019 at 05:12 PM.