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travis · December 30, 2010

I've grown Potato Top for several years, but not in the last two seasons. I got the seeds originally from Doug Oster, and he sent a least 30 seeds in that first little plastic packet.

I've gotten large red beefsteaks, large pink beefsteaks, some on regular leaf vines and some on potato leaf vines. Some had heavily fluted shoulders where the pleats appeared at every locule, and some were smoother with folded shoulders like Ponderosa. Some of the regular leaf shapes were more heavily serrated and some vines had smoother regular leaf shapes. The potato leaf shapes were all very smooth and similar to Brandywine. All the vines were sturdy and had very thick stems. I would describe Potato Top as a late season, moderate producer, not quite of the same quality as Brandywine but equal to or better than Ponderosa.

The best I got were one plant with huge pink tomatoes on potato leaf vines, and another from the same saved seed that made huge red tomatoes on a potato leaf vine. These two vines were from seed out of a single pink tomato the year before.

I never got the same exact results two years in a row, but it is definitely a tomato worth trying as you should get some wonderful tomatoes if you grow enough vines. I'd recommend at least 10 vines if you plan to grow Potato Top. And even then, get your seeds from someone who highly touts their own results, because this particular tomato truly has some diverse genetics due to the method of seed perpetuation followed by Doug Oster.

December 30, 2010	#6
travis Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Evansville, IN Posts: 2,984	I've grown Potato Top for several years, but not in the last two seasons. I got the seeds originally from Doug Oster, and he sent a least 30 seeds in that first little plastic packet. I've gotten large red beefsteaks, large pink beefsteaks, some on regular leaf vines and some on potato leaf vines. Some had heavily fluted shoulders where the pleats appeared at every locule, and some were smoother with folded shoulders like Ponderosa. Some of the regular leaf shapes were more heavily serrated and some vines had smoother regular leaf shapes. The potato leaf shapes were all very smooth and similar to Brandywine. All the vines were sturdy and had very thick stems. I would describe Potato Top as a late season, moderate producer, not quite of the same quality as Brandywine but equal to or better than Ponderosa. The best I got were one plant with huge pink tomatoes on potato leaf vines, and another from the same saved seed that made huge red tomatoes on a potato leaf vine. These two vines were from seed out of a single pink tomato the year before. I never got the same exact results two years in a row, but it is definitely a tomato worth trying as you should get some wonderful tomatoes if you grow enough vines. I'd recommend at least 10 vines if you plan to grow Potato Top. And even then, get your seeds from someone who highly touts their own results, because this particular tomato truly has some diverse genetics due to the method of seed perpetuation followed by Doug Oster.