Kosovo Stole My Heart!

jillian · July 8, 2016

This may be the biggest tomato I've ever grown! What is surprising to me is that it is growing in a 7 gallon growbag as I had run out of my large containers when I got around to planting it. It is absolutely delicious!

Ricky Shaw · July 8, 2016

Music to my ears! So is it wispy, and how tall is the plant? How many other toms and fruit sets on this plant?

I would love to grow hearts here, but afraid of sun scald. I do have an OR117 pruned to four branches and it looks very thin. Healthy, just sparse.

jillian · July 8, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ricky Shaw

Music to my ears! So is it wispy, and how tall is the plant? How many other toms and fruit sets on this plant?

I would love to grow hearts here, but afraid of sun scald. I do have an OR117 pruned to four branches and it looks very thin. Healthy, just sparse.

It is wispy, not as much as OR 117 (at least in my garden). I pulled my OR 117, it may have been a premature move but it developed some twisted growth and looked just horrible.

Kosovo is now about 7 ft. tall. I initially had it pruned to two stems. It set fruit rather quickly and first fruit set was a dozen or so, most in the medium range. Lots of flowers and fruits forming now, definitely a grow again for me!

I don't try to grow huge tomatoes but I must say it is exciting! Big Cheef and Biksyaka Roza have also put out some huge tomatoes this year, have not weighed those but I think Kosovo is the winner.

Ricky Shaw · July 8, 2016

Well it's a beautiful tom, very nice work. I'll for sure be trying the Kosovo or Rozovyi Myod. Not certain whether the OR117 will be coming back, it and Chapman are the weakest setters in my container garden.

jillian · July 8, 2016

Thank you Ricky Shaw! Are you growing any dwarf tomatoes? Dwarf Purple Heart is a very pretty and tasty one. Have it growing in a 5 gallon grow bag, highly recommend!

Barb_FL · July 8, 2016

Jillian - Great job growing a 2 pounder in a 7 gallon grow bag. I grow everything in containers and this spring was the first time I reached 1#.

What did you feed it?

NarnianGarden · July 8, 2016

That's a beauty! I currently have three fruits growing on my Kosovo plant. Its' not size I'm after, bt edible fruit that tastes good... The last time I tried growing a heart (Fishlake OH), nearly every fruit was affected by BER .. Grrrrr.

jillian · July 8, 2016

Thanks all! I grow organically. Dr. Earth, Garden Tone and Neptune's Harvest on a rotational schedule. No BER this year, knock on wood!

Happy growing everyone!
Jillian

Gerardo · July 8, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ricky Shaw

Well it's a beautiful tom, very nice work. I'll for sure be trying the Kosovo or Rozovyi Myod. Not certain whether the OR117 will be coming back, it and Chapman are the weakest setters in my container garden.

Don't give up on them. OR117 taste is fantastic. The plant just grows ugly, it catches a 2nd wind and starts setting fruit.

Chapman has been doing well for me. Very productive, splits but it doesn't matter, taste is excellent. It's has those Bwine qualities to it.

Kosovo is cursed for me. Stem Rot got it this time. Before it was a wind incident and before that I forget but it gave up the ghost..Maybe the 4th time will be the charm.

Beautiful tomato Jillian!

Ricky Shaw · July 9, 2016

Jillian I have no dwarfs in the garden this year, I will definitely look at Purple Heart, thank you.

And thank you Gerardo for the growing info on OR117 and Chapman. It's been hot and everything is slowed down so I won't be pulling them yet, maybe they will come around.

The heirlooms that have most impressed me in the heat are Crnkovic Yugoslavian and Elgin Pink, both are vigorous and productive. Twenty-five plus toms each and some fairly large ones, these will be coming back.

gardeninglee · July 9, 2016

Wow, can you share how often & how much you fertilize with each of the brands you mentioned? I get big plants but never big tomatoes. My biggest is probably about 3/4 of a pound.

**carolyn137** · July 9, 2016

I think Kosovo is an outstanding variety and seems to do well,for almost everyone everywhere.

Here's the background on it for those who might be interested.

http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/w...b=General_Info

As you can see I got the seeds directly from Glenn in NZ and he got the seeds from a friend who was a UN worker in Kosovo.

I SSE listed it to make it more available, I sent seeds to the owners of many seed sites whom I knew for trial and also offered it in several seed offers here and there.

Again, IMO and the opinions of many,it's a winner.

Carolyn

Gerardo · July 9, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ricky Shaw

Jillian I have no dwarfs in the garden this year, I will definitely look at Purple Heart, thank you.

And thank you Gerardo for the growing info on OR117 and Chapman. It's been hot and everything is slowed down so I won't be pulling them yet, maybe they will come around.

The heirlooms that have most impressed me in the heat are Crnkovic Yugoslavian and Elgin Pink, both are vigorous and productive. Twenty-five plus toms each and some fairly large ones, these will be coming back.

Wait until you bite into a CrnKovic Y, it'll have a permanent spot.

**carolyn137** · July 9, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gerardo

Wait until you bite into a CrnKovic Y, it'll have a permanent spot.

I agree completely, and Yasha also gave me one we called Yasha Yugoslavian, please note Gerardo re hearts which I think you are still interested in re my latest em to you.

http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/w...b=General_Info

Carolyn

jillian · July 9, 2016

Gardeninglee, I mixed my own potting medium this year. 2 yd.'s of it, by myself. I thought I would die. lol, my neighbor thought I had gone completely crazy. I think my compost has really made a huge difference this year. I incorporated Dr. Earth in the mix. At first I thought I was in trouble. Everything was growing rapidly and flowering very early. And typically as expected the weather turned very hot and humid. I started watering daily but discovered that with my mix every other day is sufficient.

6 weeks after plant out I figured that all the watering had leached out my ferts so I used a mixture of Dr. Earth and Garden tone. My containers are different sizes, 5 to 25 gallons. Smaller pots got 1/4 cup, medium 1/2 cup, largest 1 cup. At that time also foliar fed Neptune's Harvest. I really prefer to water it in but I just have too many and it is so freaking hot now. So I foliar feed about every 3 weeks.

I will then repeat the Dr. Earth/Garden Tone about every 4 weeks. This is just what I do and what is working for me. I also like to sprinkle in some Epsom salts now and then. Last year I also used molasses and it is wonderful stuff, but I haven't really seen the need this year.

Thanks again for the kind replies!! You guys are all just awesome and I love T'ville!

July 9, 2016	#12
carolyn137 Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a Posts: 21,169	I think Kosovo is an outstanding variety and seems to do well,for almost everyone everywhere. Here's the background on it for those who might be interested. http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/w...b=General_Info As you can see I got the seeds directly from Glenn in NZ and he got the seeds from a friend who was a UN worker in Kosovo. I SSE listed it to make it more available, I sent seeds to the owners of many seed sites whom I knew for trial and also offered it in several seed offers here and there. Again, IMO and the opinions of many,it's a winner. Carolyn __________________ Carolyn

July 8, 2016	#2
Ricky Shaw Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Zone 6a Denver North Metro Posts: 1,910	Music to my ears! So is it wispy, and how tall is the plant? How many other toms and fruit sets on this plant? I would love to grow hearts here, but afraid of sun scald. I do have an OR117 pruned to four branches and it looks very thin. Healthy, just sparse.

July 8, 2016	#5
jillian Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: North Carolina Posts: 880	Thank you Ricky Shaw! Are you growing any dwarf tomatoes? Dwarf Purple Heart is a very pretty and tasty one. Have it growing in a 5 gallon grow bag, highly recommend!

July 8, 2016	#6
Barb_FL Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Indialantic, Florida Posts: 2,000	Jillian - Great job growing a 2 pounder in a 7 gallon grow bag. I grow everything in containers and this spring was the first time I reached 1#. What did you feed it?

July 8, 2016	#7
NarnianGarden Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Finland, EU Posts: 2,550	That's a beauty! I currently have three fruits growing on my Kosovo plant. Its' not size I'm after, bt edible fruit that tastes good... The last time I tried growing a heart (Fishlake OH), nearly every fruit was affected by BER .. Grrrrr.

July 9, 2016	#11
gardeninglee Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2016 Location: West Los Angeles Posts: 203	Wow, can you share how often & how much you fertilize with each of the brands you mentioned? I get big plants but never big tomatoes. My biggest is probably about 3/4 of a pound.