How’s everyone’s tomatoes doing

[Figgin' A]

I planted my tomatoes early in late April 2024 too. Unfortunately, a late frost after Mother’s Day killed most of them. I ended up with some store bought tomatoes as replacements, which were not very good. Now I always keep spares until one week after Mother’s Day and gave the spares away after that.

That's unfortunate. We normally don't get frosts after - EDIT APRIL 20th (not May 20th), and 2024 was no exception. Did you cover them? I cover my frost-sensitive crops with a frost blanket when needed. It works very well.

 

[mech_pa]

That's unfortunate. We normally don't get frosts after May 20th, and 2024 was no exception. Did you cover them? I cover my frost-sensitive crops with a frost blanket when needed. It works very well.

I was too dumb to trust the weather forecast saying that night low would be 38F and didn’t cover them. Another lesson learned! Now I shuffle or cover my plants if the low is 42 or lower.

 

[mech_pa]

Good luck with that one. I hope you get a better experience than I did. I never grew it, but I grew many other cold-tolerant and fast ripening types like Moskvitch, Glacier, Early Girl, and others... I was not impressed with their taste and never grew them more than one season.

They kind of remind me of the situation with something like Florea in the fig world... yes, it sets fruit and ripens super fast... but, to me, it tastes like nothing I'd ever care to grow again. I'd rather give my tomatoes a month of headstart indoors and enjoy insanely delicous late-ripening varieties.

Out of these, I grew Early Girl and didn’t like it at all! The taste wasn’t good and it’s not much earlier than my Momotaro. Quedlinburger Furhe Liebe should be much earlier and tastes better. Worth to try. I’m only going to grow 1 or two to test. Same with Cherokee purple and Chef’s yellow. I never liked the smoky flavor in black tomatoes or lack of complex flavors of yellow tomatoes, but maybe these would be better. I always have my Momotaro to make sure a good harvest of tasty tomatoes, but I’m still looking for other good varieties.

 

[Figgin' A]

Out of these, I grew Early Girl and didn’t like it at all! The taste wasn’t good and it’s not much earlier than my Momotaro. Quedlinburger Furhe Liebe should be much earlier and tastes better. Worth to try. I’m only going to grow 1 or two to test. Same with Cherokee purple and Chef’s yellow. I never liked the smoky flavor in black tomatoes or lack of complex flavors of yellow tomatoes, but maybe these would be better. I always have my Momotaro to make sure a good harvest of tasty tomatoes, but I’m still looking for other good varieties.

Tastes differ, as they say... I love the complex, smoky flavor of Cherokee Purple. It's always on the menu for me but I also grow many other varieties that I love, so I have many options when deciding what to reach for on any given day.

Never heard of Momotaro... the description piqued my interest, I will try it. Maybe even this season if I can get the seeds quick enough.

 

[Figgerlickinggood]

I went and checked on my tomatoes and ... surprise... I have a few that are near ripe.

The rest are still green...

My Brandywine tomatoes are still in the flowering-fruit formation stage. I planted them later for my second flush to ripen in late July to mid-August. Those are amazing when ripened in the heat of summer. Sweet, juicy, and amazing

A friend gave me one a couple of years ago and I was hooked on Brandy wine. It was as delicious as you described. I’m looking forward to having them. All your pictures are making me drool BTW

 

[Figgerlickinggood]

I also found that straw held a lot of moisture for me. For some that's a pro, but for me it created a perfect environment for earwigs to thrive and they like to dine on many of my plants. Now have wood chips on the paths but most of the crop plants have bare soil around them. Yes, I need to stay on top of the weeds more but I have fewer insect pest issues....

You’re clever when deciding which battles to choose.

 

[mech_pa]

Tastes differ, as they say... I love the complex, smoky flavor of Cherokee Purple. It's always on the menu for me but I also grow many other varieties that I love, so I have many options when deciding what to reach for on any given day.

Never heard of Momotaro... the description piqued my interest, I will try it. Maybe even this season if I can get the seeds quick enough.

For me, Momotaro is the top Mt Etna in the tomato world: early, tasty, disease resistant, and productive. There’s a reason it dormant the Japanese market. I will always have it in my garden.

The only black tomato I grew was Brown Sugar. It basically has smoky sweet flavor with no complexity in it. I was sticking to hybrid tomatoes for years due to my poor garden skills / brown fingers. I’m getting better now, so I trailed some heirlooms. They are more flavorful overall, and Pineapple is my favorite for flavor. It just wouldn’t stop cracking even I mulch it. I only grow Momotaro this year, because figs take over lots of my garden space. I extend my garden, so I can grow more tomatoes and peppers next year.