Early season Determinates

[AKmark]

Alright, where are we with the determinates with flavor? Good yield is a bonus too. lol

[Greatgardens]

I always liked Early Wonder (dark pink) from Tomato Growers Supply. But I now grow dwarfs for my earliest plants. Best overall I've found is Dwarf Pink Passion. But the yield is not so good as with determinates. Another early, compact, dwarf is Arctic Rose -- a little earlier than DPP, but lower yielding. All of these have good flavor (to me).

[slugworth]

Livingston Independence Day.
I started seeds indoors sept 25th
Nov 25th the plants had blossoms
Put the plants in a south facing window because they were starting to sprawl.
Tickled the blossoms with a battery powered electric toothbrush.
January I was eating tomatoes even tho the plants were getting less than 12 hours of direct sunlight per day.
End of february the plants looked anemic and were starting to die.
I noticed near the base of the plants there were suckers growing.I did a drastic pruning just above the suckers and cloned the remainder of the plants in fertilized potting soil.
Those cuttings now have blossoms 5 months after the original plants.The stubs that had suckers are under led grow light and are doing well.All this I did indoors and will plant them outdoors if the weather ever warms up. Indoors the tomatoes were cherry size.Outdoors the packet says 6-8 oz size.The tomatoes indoors were yummy.

[slugworth]

The skin gets stuck between your teeth.
Some people don't like tough skin tomatoes.

[slugworth]

A secret but I think the burpee 4th of july hybrid tomato is based on this one.
After many grow outs of saved seed, the 4th of july hybrid reverted to this type.
It must have been a cross between this one and a RL cherry tomato for the hybrid to be early and cherry type.
The determinate is PL and 6-8oz like the 4th of july hybrid saved seed plants.

[Yak54]

In my experience I never found any determinate varieties that could compare with the best indeterminate varieties as far as taste goes so I stopped growing determinate varieties. 2003 was the last year for me. But I'm open to the collective wisdom of Tomatoville.

[Cole_Robbie]

Cole, Sol Gold, and Maglia Rosa

[GrowingCoastal]

I haven't grown a lot of determinates but found these to be tasty.

EM Champion - heart, balanced flavour
Sasha's Altai - on the sweet side - Early
Ondraszek - smaller round fruit, taste is good, productive

[slugworth]

a lot of the heat resistant varieties are determinate.
I had good luck with phoenix last year.

[Koala Doug]

While I don't grow determinates anymore (other than Maglia Rosa and a few micro-dwarf cherries - Red Robin, Yellow Canary, and Rosy Finch), I did remember that Carolyn helped to popularize one called, Sophie's Choice: http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Sophie%27s_Choice

It appears to be quite early (most people put its DTM between 55-60 days), it is open-pollinated, and gives medium-sized fruit. Also, Carolyn gave it a thumbs-up for flavor.



Another option might be Bush Champion II. It is a hybrid that produces about two weeks later than Sophie's Choice, but could still likely be considered 'early' by some people (around 70 DTM?). It would also give medium-sized fruit like Sophie's Choice. The flavor is more than acceptable (better than a grocery store 'mater).



Cole mentioned Maglia Rosa and that is a really good one if you're looking for a cherry tomato instead of a slicer. Good production for its size and pretty early too (55-60 days). It is also open-pollinated, if that matters to you.





Edit: I inadvertently wrote 'Champion II' (which is an indeterminate) instead of the correct 'Bush Champion II' (which is a determinate).

[taboule]

I've grown Front Runner for a couple years, a hybrid that has a nice balance of early, large, and moderately tasty. Have grown it in bags, but it gets large if planted in the ground, and produces ~8 oz fruit.

[Freeland]

Originally Posted by AKmark

Alright, where are we with the determinates with flavor? Good yield is a bonus too. lol

For 1) early; 2) excellent flavor; and 3) good yield: I nominate Garden Gem.

Garden Gem is a “semi-determinate” tomato. Seeds are available from Dr. Harry Klee’s lab at the University of Florida. According to https://hos.ifas.ufl.edu/public/klee...etytrials.html a panel of consumers ranked Garden Gem second best in taste (Maglia Rosa Cherry was top-ranked).

In 2019, my friend and I grew Garden Gems in our greenhouses north of Seattle. My friend harvested 90 pounds of incredibly flavorful vine-ripened Garden Gems per plant (270 pounds from three plants). He grew Garden Gems in coir with slight moisture stress to improve flavor, and with nutrient solution at 1.8 to 1.9 EC (including source water) applied using drip emitters and the drain-to-waste method. I grew four Garden Gems – two as single-cordon vines that stopped growing at about 7 feet (so I do not recommend that technique); and two lightly pruned to spread out under T5 grow lights (which worked well). I grew Garden Gems with nutrient solution at 4.5 EC (including source water) which was intentionally high to improve flavor and used the recirculating deep water culture method. My vine-ripened Garden Gems had fabulous flavor, but the high EC nutrient solution resulted in noticeably smaller fruit size and much lower yield compared to what my friend enjoyed.

We both used MasterBlend’s 4-18-38 Tomato Formula per their instructions plus a little calcium chloride (to help prevent blossom end rot).

Garden Gem plants are susceptible to powdery mildew which is controllable by spraying a potassium bicarbonate solution every two weeks with spot-spraying as needed in between.

[Labradors2]

Why not grow Maglia Rosa? I start it early and enjoy it until frost. Last year, it was the best tasting tomato in my garden. According to Tania, it's semi-determinate.

Linda

[AKmark]

Originally Posted by Freeland

For 1) early; 2) excellent flavor; and 3) good yield: I nominate Garden Gem.

Garden Gem is a “semi-determinate” tomato. Seeds are available from Dr. Harry Klee’s lab at the University of Florida. According to https://hos.ifas.ufl.edu/public/klee...etytrials.html a panel of consumers ranked Garden Gem second best in taste (Maglia Rosa Cherry was top-ranked).

In 2019, my friend and I grew Garden Gems in our greenhouses north of Seattle. My friend harvested 90 pounds of incredibly flavorful vine-ripened Garden Gems per plant (270 pounds from three plants). He grew Garden Gems in coir with slight moisture stress to improve flavor, and with nutrient solution at 1.8 to 1.9 EC (including source water) applied using drip emitters and the drain-to-waste method. I grew four Garden Gems – two as single-cordon vines that stopped growing at about 7 feet (so I do not recommend that technique); and two lightly pruned to spread out under T5 grow lights (which worked well). I grew Garden Gems with nutrient solution at 4.5 EC (including source water) which was intentionally high to improve flavor and used the recirculating deep water culture method. My vine-ripened Garden Gems had fabulous flavor, but the high EC nutrient solution resulted in noticeably smaller fruit size and much lower yield compared to what my friend enjoyed.

We both used MasterBlend’s 4-18-38 Tomato Formula per their instructions plus a little calcium chloride (to help prevent blossom end rot).

Garden Gem plants are susceptible to powdery mildew which is controllable by spraying a potassium bicarbonate solution every two weeks with spot-spraying as needed in between.

I grew that and its counter part a few years ago, I am more interested in real determinates that are cold tolerate like the Saraev Collection. I have also grown Maglia Rosa but prefer a bigger tomato that taste like a canning type tomato. My favorites in this group has been Sasha's Altai, O-33, Bezassadnyi, and Mountain Fresh for a hybrid. These, I sort through and trial for customers who do not have a greenhouse, I tend to grow indeterminates for production for markets, and for my own taste buds.
Thanks for the responses, I'll check back soon, we are getting into real season at the Greenhouses now.

[clkeiper]

Originally Posted by Labradors2

Why not grow Maglia Rosa? I start it early and enjoy it until frost. Last year, it was the best tasting tomato in my garden. According to Tania, it's semi-determinate.

Linda

I had one in an unheated greenhouse. there were a few that hung on all Winter long and they were the best flavor-bombs ever.