Whats ticked alll the boxs for you, flavour, quantity and disease resistance. I grew 9 diff varieties this year and None of them are quite right. The best flavour would go toCopia and white cherry but they didnt produce very much.Quantity would go to Baxters early and Tommy Toe both cherry toms but the flavour wasnt as good as I want. considering Tommy Toe got voted best tomato by some outfit in Oz I was expecting big things from it but. NAH. I think i'll be keeping the seed from Copia, black krim, baxters early and Albenga oxheart - this last one I got from an older lady I gardened for and the flavours nice, big fruit but it is quite late, only just getting fruit off it in the last week, I reckon it would be great for sauces and relish. Any hints on how to grow great tomatos would be greatly appreciated. Ferts! sprays! old wives tales that work! best seed saving techniques! TIA
mottly,
Feb 16, 3:27am
I grew some of those little acid free torpedo looking ones that I got at the supermarket - the ones that grew from the seeds were quite a bit bigger.tasty, very fleshy.yummo.I just pick an over ripe tom, let it ripen to nearly rotting stage, squeeze the seeds out onto a handee towel, and leave it to dry.Helps if they get a week or so of 'winter' in the fridge too.
twindizzy,
Feb 16, 3:28am
Got some Roma's on the go- expecting big things!
dibble35,
Feb 16, 3:36am
I was just googling top10 tomatoes and thers some exciting sounding varieties out there,I wish i had a big garden like my poppa did, I'd grow them all. I've already got 10 I would like to try ifi can find them in NZ, and of course my 4 varieties from this year.sad aye, already looking forward to next tomato season and this ones not even finished
lythande1,
Feb 16, 6:19am
Campari.
helianthus,
Feb 16, 7:02am
Best Boy Bush. Very prolific and very tasty. We also like Tommy Toe because they have such a long season. Grow Riesentraube for garden nibbling and Mortgage Lifter (though they're quite hard work to grow) because they produce such wonderful great big tasty tomatoes. We grow about 10 regular varieties for various reasons.
And the best I'm growing. planted 6 variates. the best. the ones that have gone through my compost bins., worm filled compost then spread on my garden and dug in,and the seeds have survived to grow again. strong healthy plants. and I have no idea what they are! .
malone4,
Feb 16, 10:46am
the first time ive ever tried growing black toms and very impressed with the out come. juicy and a reasonable quantity. slow on catching up with growth than the other toms but now they are impressive plants. will give them a go next year aswell.
edenrose,
Feb 16, 11:22am
I like the Heirloom tomatoes, like Brandywine Pink, Tigerella, Speckled Roman (long Roma type, with stripes, a.k.a. Mr Stripey) Black Krim. Have bought loads of new ones to try, but alas haven't room for them all. I ended up with about 35 plants, some of them over 7' tall and hard to keep staked. Birds have found them so I'm ripening them on a sunny bench.
tomatonut,
Feb 16, 5:38pm
Speckled Roman is a fantastic tomato though often subject to blossom end rot early in the season. Mr stripey is a different tasteless tomato altogether. Best all round large heirloom in my opinion would have to be Caspian pink. What varieties are you looking for 'Dibble'. I have hundreds in my collection so may be able to help you out. Also take a look at tomatoville.com its a great site for us enthusiasts and already has a few NZ members. Regards. Rosco
dibble35,
Feb 16, 6:27pm
Hey Rosco, The ones i found on the (assume) american website that sounded good, were Alisa Craig, Cosmonaut Volkov, german red strawberry, lisa king,sophies choice, and Aunt rubys german green. I'll try that caspian pink you mentioned, next year and a few other NZ ones, Pink brandywine, dads sunset, marvel stripe, and they recommended sungold but I think thats a hybrid so will have to keep an eye out in the shops for that one. So good to get decent tasting toms fresh out of the garden.
tomatonut,
Feb 16, 7:15pm
Dibble out of those I can send you seed of Cosmonaut Volcov ( a prolific red ), German red and Sophie's choice. Probably have some older Ailsa Craig as well but would need to check. Some other interesting ones that come to mind are Variegated, Stick aka Locke, Burrackers favourite and Brazilian beauty. If you can figure out how to send me a posting address I,ll send you some to try. Cheers. Rdothewittatparadisedotnetdotn- z
mardy193,
Feb 16, 8:29pm
i have brandywine (pink and yellow), tigerella, orange roma, nygous, black krim, oxheart, delicious, san mazano. prolly a few others. i think my faves are the brandywines and the oxheart. both are prolific and taste lovely
dibble35,
Feb 16, 8:40pm
Mighty generous of you thanks Rosco, just off to work so i'll email you later today, thanks again And i should have added that if I have any varieties that you want seed of let me know, i'll post a list here after work, now gotta go or i'll be late, ta
dibble35,
Feb 17, 3:07am
After reading that you've got 100's in your collection, I probably dont have any i could offer, but if you're interested i have baxters early, berkleys tie-dye,bloody butcher, copia, tommy toe, white cherry, San marzano acid free, albenga oxheart
woody89,
Feb 17, 3:53am
Brown brandywine, Green zebra, Golden queen, NZ pink pear, all given to me as seedlings from an older garden enthusiast. All have been disease free, prolific & very tasty with minimum input from me.
edenrose,
Feb 17, 5:29am
I've bought seeds online, but couldn't plant them all this year.How long will seed stay viable! I've saved seed from Tigerella, Green Zebra and Brandywine Piink, so far, with other varieties to come still, but alas not all labelled.
tomatonut,
Feb 17, 3:25pm
Edenrose, Seed can still be viable after 10 years if stored properly. I've successfully germinated much older seed as well. If you ferment and clean the seeds you collect you will find it lasts a lot longer than just drying it. Cheers. Rosco
ntalke,
Feb 17, 4:08pm
Gave some Siberian ago this year ,planted a few out end of September(6 inches) The first few tomatoes off them were not that tasty but with the summer we have had they are doing very well and now very tasty along with the later ones I planted of this variety,will plant these again The other variety planted this year is Pomodoro Saint Pierre (Italian) and not bad either but think the usual one i grow (moneymaker) would out preform this variety
donnabeth,
Feb 18, 1:43am
None of my toms have been prolific this year compared to the last 3 since i began to grow them. Tasty Tom(grown from seed saved from last year) is tastiest with one tomato covering one slice of toast.
oh_hunnihunni,
Feb 18, 2:37am
Seeing I grow in pots, next year I'm planting the yellow plum mini again. It was prolific, and early starter, long season big grower. Well worth the effort - though yellow tomato sauce takes a bit of getting used to!
dibble35,
Feb 18, 5:57am
LOL. can just picture everyoe screwing up there noses. I'm in the process of freezing peeled tomatoes till I get enough to make a decent batch of tom relish, as i have so many diff coloured toms this year i'm wonderingwhat its gonna turn out like, hopefully not to hideous. my luck it'll be mud colour.
edenrose,
Feb 18, 8:42am
I got fed up messing around with peeling (then coring) tomatoes.I decided to core them first and not to bother cutting the cross in the bottom, before dropping into the boiling water,it made the job so much easier.Just a tip, if anyone is interest.
edenrose,
Feb 18, 8:43am
Rosco I assume you ferment the seeds by putting in water, for how long!Wouldn't they start to germinate! Thanks for the tip.:-)
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