Member discussion regarding the methods, varieties and merits of growing tomatoes.
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January 15, 2017 | #16 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Alabama
Posts: 2,250
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Quote:
I'll add one tomato to the list that is not discussed above. Costoluto Genovese is a very dense flattened tomato that makes superb paste and sauce. The flavor is incredibly intense. The only caveat to this recommendation is that it is not a sweet tomato. If you prefer sweet sauce, grow a few sweeter tomatoes to mix with the Costoluto Genovese or add some sugar/honey. |
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January 16, 2017 | #17 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Frisco Texas
Posts: 390
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I will second the Heidi recommended on Carolyn's list. I grew it last year and found it works well for sauce. Truth is, I only grow sauce tomato except for one cherry tomato for the salad or bruschetta. I always grow San Marzano and Genovese tomato plus one experiment tomato plant different every year. Last year I grew Heidi and this year I will grow a tomato my uncle calls "Sorrento Tomato" from seed I brought back from Italy last fall. I think its more a slicer but I he raves about it so I thought I try it. Anyway, I find Roma tomato still make the best vodka sauce IMO but BER is a problem for some, me included.
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January 16, 2017 | #18 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Indiana
Posts: 97
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I know I am way in the minority but I like Roma's for sauce. I like the consistency and the taste is good enough to be combined with the spices and other ingredients. The other plus's in my view is that it is determinate so I can do most of my canning at one time and it is also easy to process. I have been trying other varieties the last few years including dense hearts and it just hasn't been the same.
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January 16, 2017 | #19 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Illinois, zone 6
Posts: 8,407
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Density of flesh is still the most predictive trait
I'm just now getting started with varieties that have dense flesh, and finding the few that I like. I had a De Barao Orange that was good, and want to try the other De Barao varieties. I had two Russian saladettes called Grot and Zarca that were dense and still good. I am looking forward to trying the de Colgar varieties soon. All of these varieties are dense, and I will need a few more seasons to feel them out in respect to BER. Maglia Rosa was my one elongated variety that didn't get BER last summer, and it is not dense. It's also a bushy determinate, though, which throws in another variable. If BER is about moisture transport, could it be worse in long-vined indeterminates? I've never grown a bushy, determinate paste tomato to see if it gets BER just as badly. |
January 16, 2017 | #20 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Ohio
Posts: 457
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Here is another vote for Heidi.
I've grown this the last two seasons and it is da bomb! Had two plants each time, and each one had approx. 200 tomatoes/plant for the season. No BER. These taste truly sublime when split in half and roasted. Sauce is really good, full and sweet flavor when sauced alone, with or without roasting, or you can combine with others, too. Heidi has been an all-around winner for me. Seedlings courtesy of Fusion (Darrel Jones.) They are on my "always" list. That said, I want to try Marzano Fire this year (no seeds yet) and have seeds for an Amos Coli paste which has rave reviews, too. But they will be growing alongside Heidi. |
January 16, 2017 | #21 | |
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a
Posts: 21,169
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Quote:
http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Heidi Carolyn
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Carolyn |
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January 16, 2017 | #22 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Boca Raton, FL
Posts: 36
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Quote:
I am open to all suggestions
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Chef Bert |
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January 16, 2017 | #23 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Vancouver Island
Posts: 5,922
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Don't write off an entire class of excellent sauce tomato based on a few opinions about BER. Clearly many people grow romas and other plum shaped or elongated tomatoes successfully. I find those with blunt tips or s little "belly button" at the blossom end are easier to grow without BER than the ones with pointed blossom ends. I think perhaps that a home gardener can pay attention to the watering needs of a few plants in a garden more easily than in field grown tomatoes although certainly there are millions of pounds of field grown hybrid Roma's grown successfully each year as well and processed on an industrial scale. How many plants are you planning on?
KarenO Pm me and I'll send you a few seeds to try. Last edited by KarenO; January 16, 2017 at 06:00 PM. |
January 16, 2017 | #24 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: NewYork 5a
Posts: 2,303
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I think i might be with karen about that. Finding a 'sauce' for Alabama is something to experiment with. I find my harvest to be great with heirlooms for sauce but my neighbor
a mere sling-shot from my barn to his, only grows paste being Sicilian with a dozen starts from the local nursery, and will grow no other. He will not fuss with an heirloom. He wants Fall 'sauce'. I give him a good shovel root cutting of rhubarb every year and he can't get it to root and grow...i have dozens all over. So i just harvest a load and rest on his doorstep...he grew enormous leeks and did the same back. "ya want some of these leeks?"... I can't grow a leek beyond a pencil. Wow i want his leeks. "sure!'. Up the hill down the hill and around the corner...no mater where you are others will do fine with a variety and another will do better with another. Need to find your groove by process and error. Soil, drainage, a watering plan... |
January 16, 2017 | #25 | |
BANNED FOR LIFE
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 13,333
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Quote:
If my wife's tastes change and she decides she likes cooked tomatoes, I want to grow a very good one that doesn't get BER. My luck with hearts has not been that great here in Texas, but that could do with the varieties I grew, and it was a very rainy year. |
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January 17, 2017 | #26 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Boca Raton, FL
Posts: 36
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Quote:
All told I think Im going to have around 10 tomato plants of various types,ie, beefsteak, grape/cherry and saladettes. Thank you for your very kind offer, I accept.PM to follow. Thank you very much
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Chef Bert |
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January 17, 2017 | #27 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Zone 6a Denver North Metro
Posts: 1,910
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If BER is about moisture transport, could it be worse in long-vined indeterminates?
Cole Robbie, I think it's related more to amount of foliage than length of vines. Vines themselves, especially thinner more dense ones, would seem more efficient water movers and retainers than open leaves and bigger stalks. I had zero BER on long vined potato leaved plants last season and was eat up with it on bushy plants. Plant hydraulics, and their relationship to container growing and BER has been my number one research and think time item this Winter. And there is very little to find. |
January 17, 2017 | #28 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Frisco Texas
Posts: 390
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Quote:
I dont understand why so many have the idea that sauce needs to cook for hours and hours. 20 to 30 minutes and DONE. |
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January 17, 2017 | #29 | |
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a
Posts: 21,169
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Quote:
What is,is,I guess. http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Martino%27s_Roma Maybe b/c MR is shorter and fatter? And yes I did get the seeds directly from Maureen Conway when she SSE listed it. Another good possibility for you is http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/wiki/Mama_Leone Carolyn
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Carolyn |
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January 17, 2017 | #30 | |
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a
Posts: 21,169
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Quote:
Here's an article about BER that Mike Dunton at Victory seeds asked me to write. http://www.webgrower.com/information/carolyn_ber.html I forgot to mention internal BER where the fruits show no external symptoms, but internal BER occurs when the normal Ca++ concentration is depleted internally before it even gets to the blossom end. Cut open a fruit and it's all black inside. Carolyn
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Carolyn |
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