Carolyn's Fall 2011 Feedback Data For Seeds Sent

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Heritage

Carol,

My Green Zebra Cherry were from Carolyn through SSE. I pruned a few greenhouse plants to a single stem and they produced large cherries - about golf ball size. I left a couple of other plants grow without pruning and the fruit from those was about one inch and smaller. Was the flavor of yours the same as GZ or was it sweeter (more typical of GZC)? It would be nice to have a larger GZC-flavored tomato.

Steve

First, Carol, it's good to see you back posting.

Now, about GZ cherry. It was named by Manfred Hahm who found it in the small box of cherries in a store in Germany and named b'c it looks like GZ. He was able to trace the shipment back to the Netherlands and that was it.

Carol, if you look in your 2011 Yearbook you'll see that those who list GZ Cherry are getting about 1-2 oz cherries, and if you look at the listers for Green Zebra you'll see that sizes range from 2 oz up to 7 oz and some say about 2 1/2 inches in diameter.

So, no known relationship at all between GX Cherry and GZ and the tastes are very very different. I'm not a fan of GZ but love GZ cherry b'c is has a much sweeter taste than does GZ.

In addition, the seeds of GZ cherry for several folks, including myself, are much larger than I've ever seen for a cherry tomato.

I don't prune plants so maybe if one does one might get larger fruits, and that's rather well known if plants are pruned to jsut one stem, as Steve did.

My results were based on the original seeds that Reinhard Kraft sent to me that I grew and I did distribute seeds to several places, as I usually do.

Manfred is a good friend of Reinhard's and he's the one who has the seed list which one can access off Reinhard's website, and all there is in German.

I hope that clarifies that GZ and GZ cherry are tow different varieties, in many ways.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by dustdevil

Carolyn,

I went 0/6 this year with Meme Beauce also. I didn't grow the others from the 2010 offer yet. I had record heat and rain...worst year ever, so it was for the best.

Dust

I'm somewhat mystified with the low germination of Meme Beauce, but as I said above, the person who was regrowing it this year lost his plants so no seeds.

But he was able to germinate the seeds I sent him with no problem, thus the mystery to me.

Ah well, stuff happens.

[gill_s]

I grew Green Zebra Cherry from Casey's of Airdrie.
The tomatoes were small cherry size, they were all badly crazed/russetted and were not at all sweet. I wonder whether the russetting may have been caused by wind damage. It was an unusually windy Spring and although some of the tomatoes in a similar position showed russetting on the early fruits the later ones were ok. We didn't get a single GZC which was fit to eat. Is this likely to have been its position?

My best tomato this year was Maya and Sion's Airdrie Classic, also from Jeff Casey. This plant was in the greenhouse.

[Wi-sunflower]

I knew about the history of GZC as not being directly from GZ.

And I've grown GZ many times so I know it's size and the taste that has a bite to it.

We just collected the fruit from GZC today, about 1/3 of a bucket. Sizewise many are close to the same size I usually get from GZ. The taste wasn't sweet but wasn't nearly as bitey as GZ.

We are going to save the seed but I might not offer it til I can grow it again and see if the size and taste were just part of my awful growing year.

Carol

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by gill_s

I grew Green Zebra Cherry from Casey's of Airdrie.
The tomatoes were small cherry size, they were all badly crazed/russetted and were not at all sweet. I wonder whether the russetting may have been caused by wind damage. It was an unusually windy Spring and although some of the tomatoes in a similar position showed russetting on the early fruits the later ones were ok. We didn't get a single GZC which was fit to eat. Is this likely to have been its position?

My best tomato this year was Maya and Sion's Airdrie Classic, also from Jeff Casey. This plant was in the greenhouse.

Gill I think I remember that I was the source to Jeff Casey for GZ cherry.

I don't think I've ever heard of crazed/russeted tomato fruits, nor seen any in all the years Ive grown tomatoes which includes several thousands of varieties I've grown, so I have no idea what was going on.

If you couldn't eat them at least you could have saved seeds for next year, yes? And I ask b'c in general this variety has been liked by many at the several message sites where I read/post.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Wi-sunflower

I knew about the history of GZC as not being directly from GZ.

And I've grown GZ many times so I know it's size and the taste that has a bite to it.

We just collected the fruit from GZC today, about 1/3 of a bucket. Sizewise many are close to the same size I usually get from GZ. The taste wasn't sweet but wasn't nearly as bitey as GZ.

We are going to save the seed but I might not offer it til I can grow it again and see if the size and taste were just part of my awful growing year.

Carol

Carol, knowing what the temps have been in WI of late I can certainly understand why the taste isn't what it should be, especially harvesting so late.

Maybe your GZ is just on the small size, b'c as I noted above if you look at the various listings for GZ in the Yearbook they're all over the lot.

I've grown GZ a few times and as grown by me where I am and growing tomatoes as I used to, GZ was always much bigger than GZ cherry.

[ireilly]

Well, thank you again for sending these out. I wish I had better results but it was pretty hot here in Texas, but also just really, really dry.

Almost everything that was in the open (full sun) eventually died, but not all. I am terrible at identifying diseases because they all look the same in pictures to me. The plants basically dies from the bottom leaves to the tips, slowly, no matter how much or how little water they got. Of the many many seedling I had planted, only a fraction made it through. The seedlings needed watering twice a day and only morning sun. A brutal season.

I also planted in my front garden that had some pruned Red Tipped Photinias, and I think that this and the exposure allowed more plants to live - just not the ones on the concrete porch. Oh well, live and learn.

Red Barn 2003 - Sowed 10, germinated 2. One plant lives, but I have yet to see any fruit. It is growing again after almost dying. Hope springs eternal.

Cluj 2004 - Sowed 10, germinated 4. This was the star of this season. I gave away one and planted the rest. The one in full sun succumbed, but put out a good amont of fruit before that. I have two more alive in front that are yielding fruit and flowering now. Yellow cherry tomatoes, mildly sweet, some largish for a cherry, some not.

Sara's Galapagos 2006 - Sowed 7, germinated 4. I gave away 2 and both of the remaining 2 died.

Kazachka 2009 - Sowed 5, germinated 1. Died.

Kardia Karpos 2010 - Sowed 13, germinated 9. All are PL. All died.

This was an unusual season to say the least. I think I learned a bit more about trying to grow tomatoes here. Peppers were and are going full speed ahead, right through the high heat.

Hopefully I will get some red barn seeds to go with the Cluj seeds. A taste would be nice too. I will report back if I do get fruit for Red Barn and it seems odd. I hope some others who got it had a good season.

Thanks again.

[Wi-sunflower]

Carolyn,

I thought about the fact that late season tomatoes don't always taste as good as earlier ones. That's why I will save the GZC seeds and try them again.

Actually our weather has been absolutely all over the place this year. Too hoot -- too cold. From one extreme to another. A real roller coaster. With the rain too. Nothing in the middle.

The odd thing is the fact that we haven't totally froze out yet. We've had several light to moderate frosts but it hasn't totally killed everything yet. This is rather late for us here. The weeds helped protect things.

Carol

[gill_s]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

Gill I think I remember that I was the source to Jeff Casey for GZ cherry.

I don't think I've ever heard of crazed/russeted tomato fruits, nor seen any in all the years Ive grown tomatoes which includes several thousands of varieties I've grown, so I have no idea what was going on.

If you couldn't eat them at least you could have saved seeds for next year, yes? And I ask b'c in general this variety has been liked by many at the several message sites where I read/post.

Carolyn, I may have used the wrong tems. By crazed they look exactly like a crazed crockery! There were many tiny cracks all over the fruits. These splits in the skin turned brown but did not cause the fruit to rot. I had exactly the same with Isis Candy two years ago but then the cracks opened up and the fruits rotted. Again the flavour of those I did taste was poor. 'Russetting' I took to be the term when the skins became dull, thickened and rough which I had on several early fruits. The leaves on these plants showed wind burn, although the trellis against which they were grown had 2 layers of windproof netting attached to it. I am not planning to use that spot next year!
It is too late to save seeds of GZC but I have some of the original left and shall try again.
Gill

[Paul R]

Sorry for my slow reply Carolyn, have had some crazy times of late.

Huge Black 2004, true to type. 2011 offer.

Pot up, 2 May
Plant to garden, 18 May
First pick, 4 August.
Good production and flavor, will grow again.

Noire Charbonneuse, true to type. 2011 offer.

Pot up, 2 May
Plant to garden, 2 June
First pick, 30 July.
Average production, OK flavor, need to grow again.

Green Zebra Cherry from your 2010 offer. True to type

Pot up, 14 April
Plant to garden, 18 May
First pick, 10 August.
Plant seemed to struggle with growth, flavor was sharp-tart, need to grow again.

Paul R

[barkeater]

Hi Carolyn,

Growing conditions were tough in both locations this summer so none planted lasted the entire season. In NY we had an extreme drought from late June to mid August followed by torrential rains from 2 tropical storms that destroyed pretty all 7 tomato plants. In VT it was fine until late blight took out my 12 plants there the end of August, just as everything was ripening. Of the seeds you sent me here is how they did:

Orange Minsk: (VT) What a monster! It was the quickest to germinate and most vigorous transplant of the bunch. It was also extremely productive with very large tomatoes that I guess I would consider a second early when it comes to ripening, what the seed catalogues would categorize as a 72-76 day tomato. I probably got a half dozen before late blight took it out. The flavor was very good and a little on the mild side. I'm growing it again in 2012.

Danko: (VT) Germination was fine and was a vigorous determinate that ripened fairly early. In fact I was amazed how in late July from a distance it looked like a sea of yellow flowers on the top of the plant. However that was probably not a good thing as the result was many deformed or catfaced small tomatoes. The tomatoes I did eat were bland next to the great taste of Wes and Granny's Heart that I had also grown. It won't be back.

Moravsky Div: (NY) Germination was fine and grew quickly and beared the first fruit the same time as Bloody Butcher with similar great taste and tomato size - at first. Maybe because it's such a small determinate plant it has a small root system so couldn't handle the drought we were in but the tomatoes quickly became smaller and smaller while BB was as robust as ever.
I think Moravsky Div would be best for growing in a pot, not in the ground. It won't be back.

[barefootgardener]

Carolyn, sorry for the slow response.

Kenosha Paste: 2 plants grown in GH. true to type. excellent germination. Indet. Reg. lf. Mid season. Red plum shaped fruit. Medium in size. Great flavor, excellent production. Production lasted through hard frost. Will grow again for 2012 season.

Bobbie:One plant grown in GH. Indet. Reg. lf . Wispy foliage. Mid season. Medium sized pinkish/red fruit with good flavor. Meaty, Fruit that produced earlier were larger, and as season went on fruit size got smaller. Good producer.

Irish Pink: one plant grown in GH. Seems true to type. Potato Lf. medium to lg pink beef fruit, with pretty good flavor. Thin skinned. If not picked at right time fruit tended to get soft quick. Average yield .

As I posted in your feedback for seed germination, the Carie Claxon Yellow and Tree Bottoms Yellow did not germinate. Hopefully will get seeds to try another time.

I always grow at least one plant of each from your seed offer in my G.H. I am thankfull I did, as my larger garden did not produce due to the terrible season we had, enduring floods, hail, drought, record breaking heat and diseases. it was the worst growing season ever for me. I planted over 90 different varieties, 200 tomatoe plants, and none produced. I gave up mid- season and am cutting back # of plants and varieties for 2012. Enjoying lots of time with my 2 year old grandson..

Thank you again Carolyn for your kind offer.

Ginny