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Post by Laura_in_FL on May 15, 2013 14:34:31 GMT -5
Yep, SunSugar, just like I expected. Cherries are pretty much always first. Also as expected, there will be plenty more where that came from in a little while: And just because I think it's pretty: This is Joe Lisak's Polish Heart, the first heart-shaped tomato I've ever grown.
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Post by horsea on May 15, 2013 16:23:53 GMT -5
Very nice! Now get eating. They are not just for growing in case you didn't know...
Re your Polish Heart. There is something unique about the heart shaped toms, isn't there. Firm and fleshy and all. I grew an "Annie" last year and am trying again. These seeds were given to me by the gone-missing Sorellina. Doesn't appear to be a well known variety.
Can't imagine what it is like gardening in Zone 8.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on May 15, 2013 17:49:14 GMT -5
Very nice! Now get eating. They are not just for growing in case you didn't know... Re your Polish Heart. There is something unique about the heart shaped toms, isn't there. Firm and fleshy and all. I grew an "Annie" last year and am trying again. These seeds were given to me by the gone-missing Sorellina. Doesn't appear to be a well known variety. Can't imagine what it is like gardening in Zone 8. Heh, you needn't worry that ripe maters are going to sit and rot on my plants! In addition to the SunSugar, I will be getting some other cherry-sized fruit soon. But I still have to wait a while for a big slicer. (I might have had one already, but the unseasonably cool March really slowed down the tomatoes. Usually they take off in early or mid-March, but they sulked in the cool weather until the very end of the month.) I got my Joe Lisak's Polish Heart seeds from Terry at The Tomato Depot. It seems to be another uncommon variety. They are supposed to be 1lb and pink, with excellent flavor. So they still have a good bit of growing to do before I get to taste them. I still think of myself as being in 8b, but in the 2012 USDA Hardiness Map, they moved the 9a boundary just a few miles north of me. I guess I ought to update my profile. The funny thing is, I can't imagine gardening where you live. It would definitely be an adjustment!
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Post by txdirtdog on May 15, 2013 21:30:40 GMT -5
Yay for the ripe maters! There really is something about the hearts. I've got some Brad's Black Heart plants this year simply because I like the meatiness and look of them. Flavor is not as good as some of the late large slicers, but it ain't bad neither. Of course a wispy, droopy heart plant in a Florida weave among big, stout slicer plants is another matter. I told myself last year I'd remember to put the hearts together for a weave away from the other types next time. I forgot...oops. This is my favorite pic of a BB Heart from last season: Btw, your plants look really nice and healthy!
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Post by Laura_in_FL on May 15, 2013 23:04:19 GMT -5
Thanks!
That BBH looks pretty interesting. The droopy, wispy foliage on the Joe Lisak's Polish Heart is still weird to me. Just looking at the plant, my gut reaction is that it needs water, but no - that's just the way it is. It looks really, really strange if you have a wispy plant right next to a potato leaf.
My Amish Paste plants are wispy-leafed, too. I don't remember them being wispy last year, and the seeds are from the same pack. Fruits are a lot bigger this year, too, but that is probably because this year's plants (in an EB) is a lot healthier than last year (in a raised bed, with nematodes munching on the roots).
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 16, 2013 0:20:03 GMT -5
I still think of myself as being in 8b, but in the 2012 USDA Hardiness Map, they moved the 9a boundary just a few miles north of me. I guess I ought to update my profile. I thought it was just me. I've always though I was in 7b, but when I punched in my zip code at planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/ a couple of weeks ago it said 8a, and showed the 8b line just a few miles west of me on the other side of the river. Didn't realize they did a full redraw last year... MB
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Post by stratcat on May 16, 2013 22:59:25 GMT -5
My Amish Paste plants are wispy-leafed, too. I don't remember them being wispy last year, and the seeds are from the same pack. Fruits are a lot bigger this year, too, but that is probably because this year's plants (in an EB) is a lot healthier than last year (in a raised bed, with nematodes munching on the roots). Good catch, LinFL. Took me forever to notice my Amish Paste had a "droopy" look. I first noticed some of my accidental crosses (with presumed Amish Paste in the line) had that look. First ripe fruit! That's great.
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2013 19:39:11 GMT -5
Just found my first one. (Well, ripening, anyway.) Just Sungold, but it seems like it's been forever... MB
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Post by Laura_in_FL on May 19, 2013 20:16:57 GMT -5
Hurray! I have a couple of other small-fruited tomatoes beginning to ripen their first fruit: Goose Creek Pink and Dixiewine (well, it's supposed to be Dixiewine but this plant is making cherry-sized fruit, so I guess it was a crossed seed). No slicers yet, so the bacon is still lonely.
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Post by horsea on May 20, 2013 14:20:39 GMT -5
Yes, indeed, it does seem as if it takes forever for that first tomato or two to ripen.
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