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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jun 23, 2015 12:05:55 GMT -5
So, I am wondering who besides me has grown Gary'O Sena? (Yes, I know the name looks weird, but that is the correct way to spell it; the apostrophe goes between Gary and O.) I will post my review of it later this week, but I want to see if anyone else has a review of it before I do.
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Post by paulf on Jun 23, 2015 16:03:18 GMT -5
First tried in 2011 and I had a hard time getting it to grow. Not a very vigorous plant and it only produced eight tomatoes averaging 6 ounces per. Flavor was average considering its parentage. Seeds were from Keith Mueller so they had to be right. Just a bad, hot, hot year.
Tried again in 2012 with much better luck. 49 tomatoes, 18 lbs, still a 6 ounce average, but discounting the smaller late season fruit an 8 ounce average. Flavor was very good but I like each parent, Brandywine and Cherokee Purple better by themselves. If you like black tomatoes this is one you can add just for variety. Keith is a good guy with some interesting crosses.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jun 23, 2015 19:35:42 GMT -5
I grew this for 2 seasons, but stopped, as it was not heat resistant, and dropped its blossoms. Not being a very early tomato, I couldn't get another crop out of it, like with things like cherry tomatoes. Mine were fairly large - maybe 10-12 oz. average, with a few over a pound. Flavor was good, but not as good as either parent, as paulf noted. One thing good about it: one of those seasons I grew it was that really bad year we had with late blight, yet it remained totally free of it, or any other disease of the leaves. All 3 plants in different loacations each season remained disease free.
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Post by paquebot on Jun 23, 2015 22:05:53 GMT -5
Grew it in 2010 so not long after its release. Real good producer for me with fruit to a pound or so. Did have it in some of my best soil which was probably a plus. I think that there was some top cracking but that was also a very wet year. I'd grow it again.
Martin
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jul 5, 2015 10:31:56 GMT -5
Ah, I totally forgot to follow up with my own review. For me, Gary'O Sena had moderately good production of mostly 8-10 oz fruit, but the later fruit were smaller. That could have been due to the heat, but was more was likely because of water and disease stress (the later fruits were sizing up while I was sick and my garden was terribly neglected). Some top cracking, but not too bad. Unfortunately, it was not disease-free here in Florida. (A.k.a. tomato leaf disease capital of the world!) But it was pretty tolerant of disease, and continued growing and producing for a longer time than most of my other tomatoes. It set fruit a little later into the season than the average tomato I grow, but it did stop setting fruit when it got really hot and sticky. The reason for me to grow again (and I will!) was its flavor. The first impression on the tongue is sweet, followed by a richness that is hard to describe. Leaves a great tomato aftertaste. Definitely one of the best tomatoes I have ever tasted - not quite as good as Rebel Yell, but close.
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