Which tomatoes to plant?

[DonnaMarieNJ]

I know all of you are probably sick of this subject, and I'm extremely embarassed about my inability to make a decision, but I need to know which of my seedlings to actually plant. I have WAY too many and not enough room. I HAVE done my research - please don't think I haven't, and the majority of these come from Carolyn's book. As I said I don't have room to grow all of them in the ground, but I have numerous containers (some 12 gal and others 17 gal).

Never mind how big my garden is, I'll figure that out later.

Bear in mind that this is my first season growing tomatoes and what I'm looking for is taste first. But who's or what taste? I don't know. I don't know if I like Carolyn's taste or Earl's or any other member's. I don't know if I like red, pink, yellow, black, etc.

Once my first season is over and I get to taste what "smoky," "complex," "rich," "winey," "sweet," etc. is, then I shouldn't have to bother you again.

But in the interim, please tell me which of these I should ABSOLUTLY plant in the ground and which can be potted, and which I should give away and/or not be bothered with. I have neighbors waiting for about ten plants, too, and I'll make that decision AFTER I hear from you wonderful, brainy, tomatoey people (a little schmooze never hurt anyone).

My list:

Aker’s West Virginia
Andrew Rahart Jumbo Red
Aunt Ruby’s German Green
Black Cherry
Black From Tula
Box Car Willie
Brandywine, Pink (Sudduth)
Brandywine, Red
Bulgarian Triumph
Carbon
Cherokee Purple
Crnkovic Yugoslavian
Dr. Lyle
Druzba
Earl’s Faux
Eva Purple Ball
German Head
German Red Strawberry
Green Grape
Kellogg’s Breakfast
Lida Ukrainian
Lime Green Salad
Lucky Leprechaun
Noir de Crimee
Omar’s Lebanese
Pale Perfect Purple
Pink Ping Pong
Riesentraube
Sandul Moldovan
Ste. Lucie
Stump of the World
Stupice
Sun Gold
Sweet Million
Zogola

I don't need descriptions of the tomatoes listed above. Just a yes/no as to putting it in the ground, yes/no as to putting it in pot or yes/no to get rid of it.

As I said, since this is my first year, I picked by reading Carolyn's book. Some of these plants I only have one of, but others, I have at least five of (don't ask me - I must be on drugs - I THOUGHT I only planted two seeds of each variety).

I have three Brandywine Sudduth, for instance. Should I plant all three since it is so highly rated on these forums? Or should I only plant one of each variety to get a more varied "taste" of what's out there?

Again, I did my research, and what I think I want are ARGG, Brandwine Sudduth, Brandywine Red, Cherokee Purple, Earl's Faux, Kellogg's Breakfast, Stump of the World, Stupice and Sungold. Those are definite must grows (right?)

Since I don't know how tall my plants get, or what they taste like I have no idea if I should plant them in the ground, in the container or just give them away.

"TomatoIndex" lists Brandywine sudduth #1 and lists Riesentraube as #64. Should I ditch the Riesentraub completly and put a Sudduth in its place and grow 2 sudduths?

I know this is a tall order, and I should not have to ask you again once I find out which is my favorite tomato taste. But for now I grew them all (stupid, I know) and have to choose.

Any help would be appreciated.

Kisses from Donna!

(I'm tired - it is late at night.)

I'm hoping to plant these tomatoes tomorrow if it is nice out. WE NEED A NICE DAY!!!!!!

I'll probably be mortified in the morning that i actually submitted this post.

Forgive my lack of knowledge, asking questions already asked, typos, etc.

Thanks!

DonnaMarieNJ

[Catntree]

3 more 'must-grows': Carbon, Crnkvich, and German Red Strawberry. Next...German Head Sandul M, and Omar's L. I'm not a big fan of Stupice....you can pot that one. Red Brandywine is a fine tomato, but not at the top of my list.....

You stress taste, and though these have decent taste, they aren't top ten: Box Car Willie, Eva Purple Ball, Druzba, Lida Ukrainian.

I'm not into cherry tomatoes, so you could give all those away, LOL! Still, you probably don't ant to many cherry varieties unless you know you will have help eating them.

Holpe this helps some...

[jerseyjohn61]

And a fine list it is lady Donna, and my, what an
ambitious newbee u be! O.K. schmoozing's over.

My Call for in the ground:

Aker's West Virginia
Aunt Ruby' GG
Black from Tula
Brandywine "Sudduth" (more than 1)
Red Brandywine
Cherokee Purple
Kellogg's Breakfast
Omar's Lebanese
Stump of the World

In Pots:

Black Cherry
Boxcar Willie
Lime Green Salad
Stupice
Sungold

Others will voice in and i hope you can come
to a reasonable consensus....JJ61

P.S. It will be too wet to plant tomorrow after
the heavy showers we've had. Can you wait till
Mon or tues when the sun breaks back out for
a bit? This will also give you more time to mull
it over and unstress yourself. There is still alot of
Summer ahead....JJ61

P.P.S. MY BAD! Forgot Earl's Faux...

[carolyn137]

Donna, you've got quite a few similar varieties, and I have no idea of how many you can plant, and there's nothing wrong with planting one plant of as many as you can. This early in your tomato career I see no special need to double up on any one variety unless you're planning to save seeds.

So I'll just pretend I was also starting out and I've starred the ones I'd grow first.



*Aker’s West Virginia
*Andrew Rahart Jumbo Red
*Aunt Ruby’s German Green
*Black Cherry
*Black From Tula
Box Car Willie, suggest Druzba first
*Brandywine, Pink (Sudduth)
*Brandywine, Red
Bulgarian Triumph
Carbon , you have a black already
*Cherokee Purple , I think better than Carbon
*Crnkovic Yugoslavian
Dr. Lyle, great, but also a large pink
*Druzba Earl’s Faux , similar to Brandywine
Eva Purple Ball
German Head , another large pink
*German Red Strawberry
Green Grape, if you haven't grow green when ripes but you already have ARGG
*Kellogg’s Breakfast
Lida Ukrainian, another medium red
Lime Green Salad
Lucky Leprechaun
Noir de Crimee , another black
*Omar’s Lebanese
Pale Perfect Purple, a med pink such as EPB
Pink Ping Pong
Riesentraube
*Sandul Moldovan
Ste. Lucie, another large red
Stump of the World , another large pink
Stupice
*Sun Gold
Sweet Million
Zogola, another large red

I like them all, except for Lime Green Salad and Sweet Million, but you can't grow everything you might want to in just one year unless you have lots and lots of room.

[bcday]

Green Grape, Lime Green Salad, Lucky Leprechaun, and Stupice can go in your 12 gal. containers, or even in 5 gal. buckets.

[PNW_D]

Of those that I've grown, two stand out for me on your list:

Aker's West Virginia - a classic big red taste and the perfect size for a pot - very well behaved plant and the fruit keeps well

Black Cherry - quite the varieity of results out there for this one - mine had so many fruit I couldn't pick them all (partly because the taste for me was just not quite there). I did grow BC in a 5 gallon conainer, but it was a monster and kept falling over - put this one on a trellis if you have one

[peppereater]

I would double up on Brandywine and Black from Tula. Kellogs Breakfast isn't the tastiest, but I would absolutely grow it for it's production and because it's flavor is unique, a very high quality tomato but on the mild side. I'm trying Aunt Ruby's for the first time this year, but it's supposed to be wonderful.

[TheDens]

I kept track of the varieties I saw people recommend most often before deciding which varieties to try for the first time. I wound up with Sungold, Cherokee Purple, Aunt Ruby's German Green, and Brandywine (Sudduth), and Silvery Fir Tree for my potted early. I planted extra BS (I love that abbreviation ) because they aren't supposed to be very productive, especially in our heat and humidity.

Denna