What is the problem with Dester

[Lindalana]

One and ONLY / well that makes 2 / plants that did not give me any ripe tomatoes...
granted it was planted at the house, in some not so sunny areas and not as early as majority but there is at least dozen varieties planted same way that did produce at least something.
All I have is bunch of greenies and it is the end of the season, third day it is so cold that most tomatoes are just done...
How late is it? Appear to be very iffy... unless I need to get different seeds.

[ginger2778]

When I grew Dester it was pretty late. Also, taste was only meh, I was wondering if I got the right seeds as most love it. I am trying it again this year with a different seed source, SSE.

[Barb_FL]

I grew it last spring and had one plant in an earthbox and got 2 tomatoes; One was big and tasted good.

I grew another plant in a root pouch and had ZERO tomatoes. We had a really hot spring starting in April so thought that had something to do with it.

Not growing it this fall.

[Gerardo]

PLEASE SEE #6 BELOW...

Dester behaves strangely. I have 3 plants.
One is in a 5 gal bucket and it's a large plant with 3+ stems that has given me over 5 really big tomatoes, good flavor profile, excellent texture. New ones on the 4th/5th cluster growing nicely. They were great on Margheritas and in BLTs.

Another plant is in a 7 gal. plastic bag and it is struggling a bit. Very little fruit set. Lucky if I get 1 or 2 from that one. Similar to what you've described.

And a 3rd is sharing a 25 gal. rootpot with an Orange Minsk Heart and a NAR. This plant is also struggling. Somewhat large, thick, healthy looking, but not very productive.

They were all fed and watered more or less the same, so I'm scratching my head a bit, plus they were all from the same seed swap.

I will save a few from the successful plant and procure new seeds (Tatiana or Baker Creek) to do a side-by-side and see if that gives some insight. The flavor justifies this.

Perhaps we can procure them from all the available sources and we can swap to hedge our bets a bit.

PS It has been heat wave after heat wave, so maybe that has been the major factor for poor fruit set.

PLEASE SEE #6 BELOW...

[carolyn137]

I didn't know there was a problem with Dester, honestly.

The first time I tasted it several gorgeous large fruits were brought to me by someone I knew from the Albany area and I think he got the seeds from SSE when it first won the top billing as the best for that year.

I saved some seeds from those fruits, but then Darlene, aka greyghost here sent me a huge number of seeds which I offered in a recent seed offer here and I don't remember anyone who reported back, when I put up the Fall report thread, having problems although I could check that.

More to thepoint, one of the varieties that Rob raised seedlings for me for this summer, was Dester, and yes, I got some fruits, not many since June and July were very cold and rainy, but Istra, another large one did a bit better production wise.Rob had brought me too many seedlings so I shared with a couple of other local folks and they got fruits as well, but not many b/c of the local weather this summer/

With few exceptions most very large fruited varieties are not as productive as smaller ones, and I'm referring mainly to beefsteak shaped ones but then as I've said before, taste is my first priority.

Carolyn

[Gerardo]

Upon further review, addendum to #4.

PREFACE: Large party recently, plants moved by others, put back in a haphazard manner. Chart became useless. The one I thought was a Dester turned out to be German Johnson Regular Leaf, so here we go again:

1 plant in a 5-6 gal. bucket, very productive, healthy with minimal susceptibility to EB, have harvested many tomatoes from it, continues to set fruit. Confirmed Dester.

1 plant in a 10 gal. plastic grow bag, not quite as aesthetic as the one in the smaller container, nevertheless, I just counted 12 tomatoes at various stages of development. They are large. Confirmed Dester.

Plant in rootpot was something else, it will not return.

Dester has earned a permanent spot. I will save these seeds and order more, just for fun.

I apologize for erroneous info.

[greyghost]

I suspect Dester may be on the late side for some people. Last year I found myself wondering if I was going to have a good crop of Dester fruits because I
saw a lot of fruit set on other large, pink beefsteaks but just a few on the 3 Dester plants that I grew. As the season progressed, Dester ended up being productive with nice, large fruits. That said, it's usually not among the earliest
here or the most productive or even the last to produce-that's pretty much how
I'd describe it's performance this year--sort of average but the taste was pretty
much on a par with Rebel Yell, for example.

Darlene

[MissS]

I purchased my Dester seeds directly from Larry Pierce in 2011. It was meh to good for me but certainly nothing to brag about. It was 85-90 days from plant out to harvest. It produced pretty darn well if I recall correctly. I chalked up my results to a bad growing year. I still have my package of seeds and I will give it one more chance before I say that I just do not care for it.

[Sodak]

I grew Dester twice, 2013 and 14. Fair yield in raised bed first year. Great taste! Second year only 4 fruit when planted in ground. Did not try in 2015. Agree with the 90 day span from plant out to harvest. In my garden that is about like Brandywine Platfoot, which yielded better. It has not been planted again either. There are too many earlier and equally tasty varieties.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Sodak

I grew Dester twice, 2013 and 14. Fair yield in raised bed first year. Great taste! Second year only 4 fruit when planted in ground. Did not try in 2015. Agree with the 90 day span from plant out to harvest. In my garden that is about like Brandywine Platfoot, which yielded better. It has not been planted again either. There are too many earlier and equally tasty varieties.

Dick, I think you meant to type Yellow Brandywine ( Platfoot) lest some here think there's a new Brandywine in town.

Carolyn

[Lindalana]

Thanks you so much for reviews, it really helps.
My short season area can not accommodate late plants and I already have few favs in that category. Last year I had Yuvel, which was late, although with lots of large beautiful beefs with excellent taste, this year Our Own Pink goes there- great taste, productive but a bit on late side for me. Someone in zones 6-7 would LOVE them.
I will give another try to Rebel Yell, it got sick very early but was not late for me.

[AKmark]

I agree with Greyghost, Dester is on par with Rebel Yell, both have a good balanced taste with a bite. I did a couple of crosses with Dester, they are much earlier and do taste good.

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by MissS

I purchased my Dester seeds directly from Larry Pierce in 2011. It was meh to good for me but certainly nothing to brag about. It was 85-90 days from plant out to harvest. It produced pretty darn well if I recall correctly. I chalked up my results to a bad growing year. I still have my package of seeds and I will give it one more chance before I say that I just do not care for it.

That is who I got my seeds from, in 2011. I found the taste to be meh also. The ones at SSE came from tomatoes that won taste awards, so I am hoping they might be better/different.

[paulgrow]

I grew Dester this year for the 3rd year in a row. It has done very well for me. I have saved the seeds for the past 3 years. This year I grew 20 various varieties including Dester in strawbales they were outstanding about 85 days.

[Gardeneer]

Thanks for the thread and reviews. This helps me to stay away from Dester.
It is also evdent that it is a late variety and it like SanDiego weather. hehe

Gardeneer