June 1, 2011 - One Tomato, Two Tomatoes, Three Tomatoes, Four...



*Updated July 2, 2011
**Final notes 2012

Five tomatoes, six tomatoes, seven tomatoes, more.....

This is going to be boring and repetitious, but I need to do a tomato update for my own records. Early this year I swore I wasn't going to plant more than a dozen tomato plants this year. You knew I wouldn't be able to stick to that, didn't you? I ended up with twenty-four seedlings, of which 22 were planted. All but one were grown by me, from seed. One was purchased from a nearby nursery, but locally grown. The two plants left over are a Yellow Brandywine and a Matt's Wild Cherry, both of which were extras of those varieties. I really don't have room for the Brandywine, so it will be composted. I'm tempted to plant the Matt's WC if I can find just one more spot, but since I already have five cherry tomatoes it might just be overkill.

The tomatoes in my garden this year are as follows:


6/1 Matt's Wild Cherry, 17". Planted 3/23, transplanted 5/4. Seeds from Robin. Bottomless bucket, buds showing.

7/2 Matt's Wild Cherry 61"-Fruiting

**This variety did not perform well in my garden.  It grew huge and healthy, and fruited well, but the tomatoes were tiny and sour, never developing the sweetness they were supposed to get.  Will not grow again.

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6/1 Sun Sugar, 18". Purchased from Mac's Nursery (locally grown). Transplanted 5/4. Bottomless bucket, blossoms.

7/2 Sun Sugar 39"-Fruiting. Third to ripen fruit 7/1.

**Produced an average crop of sweet cherry tomatoes.  Worth growing again, but not a "must grow".

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6/1 Unknown variety cherry tomato (from pkt. mixed seeds from Fiona) 14". Planted 3/23, transplanted 5/9. Bottomless bucket, no buds or blossoms.

7/2 Unknown variety cherry tomato 43"-Fruiting, grape shaped fruits

**This turned out to be Una Heartsock, and one of our favorite tomatoes.  The plant grew very tall and the fruits were a bit larger than cherry, like a miniature Roma, the sweetest of the red tomatoes.    Seeds were saved and grown in 2012.

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6/1 Unknown variety cherry tomato (from pkt. mixed seeds from Fiona) 14". Planted 3/23, transplanted 5/27. Bottomless bucket, no buds or blossoms.

7/2 Unknown variety cherry tomato 24"-Fruiting

**Not sure what variety this one was, but it lacked in flavor.  Seeds were not saved for 2012.

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6/1 Heatwave, 4". Planted 4/28, transplanted 5/19. Seeds from Debbie Clegg. Bottomless bucket, no buds or blossoms.

7/2 Heatwave 24"-Blossoms

**This was a tasty and pretty tomato, and I think would have been a better producer if I had started it earlier.  It was a hybrid, so seeds were not saved.  If I had more seeds, I probably would have tried this one again in 2012.


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6/1 Cherokee Purple #1 15". Planted 3/10, transplanted 5/4. Seeds from Mr. H. or Ohio Heirloom (planted two from each, plants got mixed up). Bottomless bucket, blossoms.

7/2 Cherokee Purple #1 35"-Fruiting

**Good producer, not as flavorful as some others (a bit watery and lots of gel).  This was the second year I tried this variety, grown in different areas of the garden (one year in ground, one year in buckets).  Did not plant in 2012, but had a healthy volunteer that may or may not produce since it's behind the spring peas and not getting any sunshine yet.

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6/1 Cherokee Purple #2 17". Planted 3/10, transplanted 5/4. Seeds from Mr. H. or Ohio Heirloom (planted two from each, plants got mixed up). Bottomless bucket, blossoms.

7/2 Cherokee Purple #2 40"-Fruiting

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6/1 Cherokee Purple #3 16". Planted 3/10, transplanted 5/4. Seeds from Mr. H. or Ohio Heirloom (planted two from each, plants got mixed up). Bottomless bucket, blossoms.

7/2 Cherokee Purple #3 36"-Fruiting

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6/1 Cherokee Purple #4 16". Planted 3/10, transplanted 5/4. Seeds from Mr. H. or Ohio Heirloom (planted two from each, plants got mixed up). Bottomless bucket, blossoms.

7/2 Cherokee Purple #4 38"-Fruiting

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6/1 Coastal Pride Orange 12". Planted 3/11, transplanted 5/9. Seeds from Mr. H. Bottomless pot, no buds or blossoms.

7/2 Coastal Pride Orange 32"-Fruiting

**This was a pretty and tasty tomato, on a well behaved bushy vine.  It was one of Mr. Granny's favorites for flavor, and is being grown in 2012.  The only drawback is that I like it for fresh eating only, orange tomatoes are just "wrong" for sauces.  I might try making an orange salsa though.

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6/1 Bloody Butcher 17". Planted 3/11, transplanted 5/1. Seeds from Mr. H. Bottomless bucket, fruiting.

7/2 Bloody Butcher 36"- Fruiting. First to ripen fruit 6/21.

**My best, non-stop producer.  The first to set fruit and still going strong when the first freeze hit it.  Flavor was good, tomatoey rather than sweet, worked great for sauces and salsa, as well as fresh eating.  Fruits are on the small side, but definitely worth growing.  Planted in the 2012 garden, this was again the first to set fruit.

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6/1 Fruit cluster on Bloody Butcher.

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6/1 Coastal Pride Orange 12". Planted 3/11, transplanted 5/4. Seeds from Mr. H. Bottomless pot, no buds or blossoms.

7/2 Coastal Pride Orange 30"-Fruiting

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6/1 Sungold 4". Planted 3/23, transplanted 5/31. Seeds from Daphne. Bottomless pot, no buds or blossoms. This was the only seed to sprout from a pkt. of 12. It didn't even look like a tomato plant for several weeks, just recently developing recognizable leaves.

7/2 Sungold 28"-Fruiting!!

**Tasted almost identical to Sun Sugar.  Being a hybrid, no seeds were saved, so not grown in 2012.

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6/1 Bloody Butcher 17". Planted 3/11, transplanted 5/1. Seeds from Mr. H. Bottomless bucket, fruiting.

7/2 Bloody Butcher 36"-Fruiting. Second to ripen fruit 6/24.


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6/1 Russian Baby 12". Planted 3/11, transplanted 5/14. Seeds from Mr. H. In ground, no buds or blossoms.

7/2 Russian Baby 35"-Blossoms

**My least favorite, along with Matt's Wild Cherry.  Did not like the flavor at all.


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6/1 Pink Brandywine 18". Planted 3/11, transplanted 5/1. Seeds from Ohio Heirloom seeds. Bottomless bucket, blossoms.

7/2 Pink Brandywine 49"-Blossoms

**Lost all of my Brandywines, both pink and yellow, to disease.  I can't help wondering if the seeds were infected.  Not planted in 2012, as the only place I have room for them will not be used for tomatoes again for several years.  Sad, as the Brandywines are my favorites of all the tomatoes.

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6/1 Yellow Brandywine 17". Planted 3/10, transplanted 5/1. Seeds from Ohio Heirloom seeds. Bottomless bucket, blossoms.

7/2 Yellow Brandywine 47"-Blossoms

**Lost all of my Brandywines, both pink and yellow, to disease.  I can't help wondering if the seeds were infected.

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6/1 Pink Brandywine 20". Planted 3/11, transplanted 5/1. Seeds from Ohio Heirloom seeds. Bottomless bucket, blossoms, largest plant.

7/2 Pink Brandywine 46"-Fruiting

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6/1 Russian Baby 11". Planted 3/11, transplanted 5/7. Seeds from Mr. H. In ground, buds.

7/2 Russian Baby 48"-Blossoms

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6/1 Rutgers #1 12". Planted 3/11, transplanted 5/7. Seeds from Ohio Heirloom Seeds. In ground, buds.

7/2 Rutgers #1 30"-Blossoms

**So-so performers, these also began to show disease early.  By the time they were fruiting well I had pulled all but two plants.  Seeds were from the same source as the Brandywines that succumbed to disease.  Not planted in 2012.

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6/1 Rutgers #2 13". Planted 3/11, transplanted 5/7. Seeds from Ohio Heirloom Seeds. In ground, buds.

7/2 Rutgers #2 30"-Blossoms

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6/1 Rutgers 13". Planted 3/11, transplanted 5/7. Seeds from Ohio Heirloom Seeds. In ground, buds.

7/2 Rutgers #3 25"-Blossoms

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Two more plants were added after 6/1


Matt's Wild Cherry. Planted 3/23, transplanted 5/31. seeds from Robin. Bottomless bucket.

7-2 Matt's Wild Cherry 27"-Fruiting

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Volunteer Minigold.

7/2 Volunteer Minigold 20"-Fruiting

**This little plant out performed all the other cherry tomatoes.  It stayed small, about 24" high, but was constantly loaded with fruits.  It gave me at least twice as many as all the other cherry tomato plants combined!  The flavor isn't fantastic, but it's good and gets better as the weather warms.  In 2012, grown indoors from seed sown in January and producing some fruits in April.

30 comments:

  1. Yep...it was repetitious all right!!! I guess that I better not do a post like this. I think that 42 would be just a bit too much!

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  2. Granny, I fully understand the urge to keep planting more and more tomatoes. Afterall, they need to be in somebody's garden - right?

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  3. Dang it Granny you have more tomato plants than I do. I have 21. Though eight of them are Heinz and if last year was any indication they will produce early and only over a few week period than die. So they won't last, but I hope for 10 lbs from each of the yummiest of paste tomatoes. I also have four Cherokee Purple plants. I was only going to have three, but I had problems with my Amish Paste tomatoes. So I only have two of those. I hope the Sungold works for you. Sometimes seed that doesn't start well, doesn't grow well later and sometimes it does. I wish I could have given you my extra plant. But I finally found a home for all my orphan tomatoes. They went to four different friends.

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  4. When I saw the title I thought "no WAY does she have tomatoes already"! LOL... This is a great post, I think I may try to do one like it, makes for great notes for next year. I plan on doing tomato fruit photos later tonight, but taking photos of the whole plant is a great idea to show growth and size.

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  5. Awww, c'mon Robin, I dare you to blog all 42, with pictures!

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    EG, you're right! At least it's only about half of what I usually plant.

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    Ha-ha, Daphne! Your peas might be blooming, but I have more tomatoes! OK, one more. Maybe two, as I didn't document the volunteer in the onion patch. I'm hoping its a Minigold, but it might turn out to be a Juliet. I didn't have any hope for that Sungold, but it put on the growth and healthy leaves in just the past week. It got extra special care, and was just planted out yesterday in potting mix with all the extra goodies blended in. The only place I had to put the pot was right under the eaves. I'm hoping a hard rain doesn't do it in now, I might have to make it a rain cap ;-)

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    Erin, I figured it was an easy blog to find and add to later, for production and taste. I'm always going to do that, but I kind of burn out before it gets done.

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  6. Wow! I don't think you have enough Cherokee Purple (my all-time favorite, but it is hard to get fruit from them here). Looking forward to follow-up posts about how well they grow and how they taste.

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  7. Alison, I grew one CP last year, and it didn't have a lot of flavor. I'm trying two different seed sources this year, and putting them in a better location, so I hope they do well.

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  8. Oh, I would like to see this post again when all of the plants are fruiting!

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  9. We've got about 20 plants this year - I've spread them around the garden, and have different varieties. This year we hope to actually get some tomatoes (unlike last year which was the year of really nice tomato plants with no nice red tomatoes). Yours make me envious. ;-)

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  10. Charmcity, I'm going to try to keep it updated occasionally, and will make note of it in future blogs.

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    Zentmers, I'm hoping I don't have quite so many tomatoes this year! I'm still trying to use up what was canned last year. Many of mine are cherry tomatoes, that I hope taste good enough to eat like candy all summer.

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  11. Well now I don't feel bad at all. I thought I was out of my mind planting so many tomatoes from seeds I saved from last year. I don't know how I'll contain myself saving seeds for next year :o) I'll have different varieties
    I'll be posting pictures as soon as this heat wave lets up and allows me outside to breathe...

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  12. Ginny, I wish we'd get just a little bit of that heat. Here it is June, and we're still stuck with April weather!

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  13. Here in the hot, humid south, tomato plants have gone wild. The spindly little things I worried about a month ago are huge, jungly, and fruiting now. If they don't all fall to the ground (and I did use cages this year -- in buckets, at your inspiration), I'm going to have way too many tomatoes.

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  14. Granny, I hate to tell you this, but you are gonna need more jars! Better start now! :)

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  15. Dianefaith, the heat we should be having by now has never come. It should be 80 degrees and sunny right now, but it's 63 and raining. We were supposed to stay in the 70s this week, it didn't happen.

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    APG, at this rate, they'll never ripen :-(

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  16. Very nice looking plants. I have extra maders and will find room somewhere for them.

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  17. Nancy/Toodie, we just got a really heavy rainstorm. I hope the small plants under the eaves of the shed survived it!

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  18. What a difference between some varieties. Ihope your Sungold makes it, that is one tomato I cant be without. I snapped a hugd stem with a dozen blossoms off my Amazon Chocolate yesterday, and I am still swearing at myself.

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  19. WOW!!
    I might start thinking of planting in containers. Never thought they would do that well. I wonder if the weather on the east coast can handle it.

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  20. How fun to see all the plants and their different stages of growth. We planted all of the tomato seeds you shared with us as well and they look great, albeit a bit sad as they want to get out of their 4" pots...hopefully this next weekend the weather will be warm enough going forward for them to get planted outside.

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  21. That's a nice looking group of tomatoes (even the little SunGold that is struggling!). Mine are all very big right now and blooming and fruiting (the Sun Golds) but they continue to have to be under cover because we have had so much continued rain. There is hope though. The forecast is calling for NORMAL temps and mostly sunny starting Friday afternoon - so I intend to yank the covers off and hopefully can leave them off for a week at least. We'll see. Some mid 70's weather (our normal this time of year) would be much appreciated though.

    Looking forward to your "I'm swimming in tomatoes" posts in the future. You know it is going to happen!

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  22. They look fantastic!! I'm still mourning the loss of most of mine. I was able to hobble outside for the first time today since the accident to take a look-see and nearly all the new transplants have withered off and died. Only a couple left and they are pretty puny looking. :(( We've had ridiculous heat temps of 95+ the past 5 days since the storm and since I'm really the only gardener here.. well the ones hanging on are REAL troopers! I got them watered so we'll see if they can make it..
    *sighhh

    Maybe NEXT year will be my year for tomatoes!!! lol This year I'll just stick to the local Farmer's Market for my 'maters. :)

    Hugs!
    ~Wendy

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  23. Kelly, I don't have much hope for poor little Sungold after last night's cloudburst. If it did make it through that pounding rain, I'll consider it a real trooper. I haven't had the heart to go out to look at it yet. It's still raining, and I'm inside with the heat on. In June! This is getting ridiculous.

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    Johanna, I don't think your temperatures are a lot different from ours in a NORMAL year. This is not a NORMAL year :-(

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    Mr. H., I'm not going to hold my breath. I think this is a good day for me to just sit and complain about the weather. Never before have we had to run our furnace in June! We usually turn it off the beginning of May.

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    Kitsap, I wish I'd covered some of mine yesterday. I wasn't expecting a cloudburst for a dinner guest.

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    Wendy, your poor plants! At least your head is healing. Next time don't get hurt right at the beginning of gardening season! You should know better ;-)

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  24. The tomatoes look great! I wish I had room for this many tomatoes. I had to cut myself off at 8. Why do you use the bucket at all if it is bottomless?

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  25. Vanessa, look at my sidebar, towards the top (right under the Wonderfund logo), for a link to Bottomless Tomato Buckets. It's all explained there.

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  26. Your plants are very depressing. We have had a terrible time with tomatoes, this year and in years past. I don't know what it is, leaf curl, blight, slow growth, to much watering. My only consolation is that for as ugly as our tomato plants are, they always produce fruit. We're hoping for a day when ours look as healthy as yours.

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  27. Great post, Granny! I think I may do one like it, too. I think you're right, it would make a good reference for next year.

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  28. LOL, Jody, I've seen some that make me depressed, too! Mine are a bit behind previous years, but I can almost see them growing in today's 77 degree weather!

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    Thanks, Deb. I thought so too, and I hope I remember to update it every couple of weeks.

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  29. That is a lot of tomatoes! They all look exceptional too. I just planted all my tomatoes out last Friday. They are all quite small, about the size of your Heatwave.

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  30. Dan, I'm going to add one more tomato, Matt's Wild Cherry, tomorrow. I just couldn't bear to throw it away! I did toss a Brandywine. It was looking pitiful and I just couldn't fine room for it. The final number is 23, but last year I had 40!

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