Tomatoville® Gardening Forums


Notices

Member discussion regarding the methods, varieties and merits of growing tomatoes.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old July 11, 2016   #1
gdaddybill
Tomatovillian™
 
gdaddybill's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Burton, TX
Posts: 294
Default Johnnys French Heritage collection

These seeds were rather expensive but knowing the French lust for delicious I just couldn't resist. Marbonne is an F1 hyb. similar to Marmande, Marnero is an F1 similar to Cherokee Purple and Margold is described as a hybrid similar to red-streaked heirlooms. Initially all were vigorous plants that got off to a good start. Then the rains came in buckets and frankly every variety of the 50 or so I planted suffered from Early Blight and later stinkbugs. As things dried out with little or no rain the armadillos found my soft compost-rich soil a great place to dig for worms especially at the base of my plants. Marnero produced some nice tomatoes early that were more uniform compared to my Cherokee Purples but they were a bit smaller and the plant seemed especially susceptible to fungal disease- some of the fruit ripened with very few leaves left on the plant and the flavor was just okay. Marbonne was also vigorous and remained so with the best foliage and the fruit was very tasty. I will try it again next season. Margold was the best tasting--nice acidity and tomato flavor but it was later to ripen, the fruit was rather small and the plants seemed almost as susceptible to leaf spot as Marnero. I will plant Margold next year and not spare the fungicide. The photos are Marnero, Marbonne and Margold.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Marnero_cut_Web_WM.jpg (389.5 KB, 138 views)
File Type: jpg Marbonne_slices_Web_WM.jpg (401.1 KB, 135 views)
File Type: jpg Margold_harvested & sliced_WM.jpg (303.5 KB, 139 views)
gdaddybill is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 10, 2017   #2
BigVanVader
Tomatovillian™
 
BigVanVader's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Greenville, South Carolina
Posts: 3,099
Default

Anyone else grown these and have reports on flavor/texture?
BigVanVader is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 10, 2017   #3
gdaddybill
Tomatovillian™
 
gdaddybill's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Burton, TX
Posts: 294
Default

I grew Marbonne again this year. It's a monster plant grown outdoors in a cage and rather productive with good tasting tomatoes. The heat and dry weather are causing lots of cracks in a number of varieties now. Also tried some Margold from saved seed (F2s). They have been good and flatter shaped than the F1s. I planted too many varieties this year and have missed some photo ops.
gdaddybill is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 10, 2017   #4
Cole_Robbie
Tomatovillian™
 
Cole_Robbie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Illinois, zone 6
Posts: 8,407
Default

They look juicier than I would have expected. How does the flavor on the Marbonne compare to, say, Big Beef? Are all of the varieties firm? Or do they soften quickly like a typical heirloom?
Cole_Robbie is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 08:28 PM.


★ Tomatoville® is a registered trademark of Commerce Holdings, LLC ★ All Content ©2022 Commerce Holdings, LLC ★