Tomatoes grown in 2008

Comments are from the suppliers’ catalogues.

Alicante
Indeterminate. Cordon. An early cropper with uniform fruits of good flavour. An improvement on the well known Moneymaker. Good resistance to mildew and greenback. Organic Gardening Catalogue.

Beefsteak
Determinate. Bush. Produces a heavy crop of medium-sized orange-red fruit with some ribbing. Heritage Seed Library

Berner Rose
Indeterminate. Produces a fairly large, pink-red, beefsteak type fruit with few seeds. Heritage Seed Library.

Big Boy
Indeterminate. Cordon. Tall strong-growing plant which produces huge scarlet tomatoes up to 450gm in weight. Good for stuffing and frying. Organic Gardening Catalogue.

Black Russian
Indeterminate. Indoor. Dark, deep red to shiny black fruit with heavy green shoulders . The flesh is deep reddish-green and is sweet and tasty. Early maturing. Organic Garden Catalogue.

Broad Ripple
Indeterminate. Cordon (needs rigorous pruning). Originally discovered growing in a pavement crack in downtown Indiana polis, this variety can produce masses of sweet-tasting tiny yellow fruit right up until mid November. Noted by many as being only mildly affected by the dreaded blight and very hardy. Kids love them as they are sweetie-sized. Heritage Seed Library.

Christel’s Plum
??

Earl of Edgecombe
Indeterminate. Cordon. Cedric Baring-Gould was given this tomato by his great nephew, who had never seen it in a seed catalogue. He believes it was brought here from New Zealand by a sheep farmer, who at the time was the old Earl of Edgecombe’s nearest relative. He went on to inherit the title following the Earl’s death. Large, round fruit have brilliant orange flesh, skin and juice. A good all-purpose tomato with great flavour. Disease resistant. Donated.

Gardener’s Delight
Indeterminate. Cordon. Long trusses of small cherry-type fruit of outstanding flavour, ideal for salads. Good cropper outside or under glass. Organic Garden Catalogue.

Garden Pearl
Outdoor. Determinate. Delicious, rosey-red, cherry-sized fruits. Ideal to grow in hanging baskets. Early to crop and continues to crop all season. Suffolk Herbs.

Giant Belgian
Semi-determinate. Can be cordoned. A very early and prolific beefsteak type with fruit that can be very large (0.5 – 1kg) and resemble mini-pumpkins. Juicy, meaty and mild-flavoured, this variety is so sweet that wine can be made from the fruit. Heritage Seed Library.

Giant Tree
Indeterminate. Cordon. Vigorous 3 – 5.5 metre plants (!) produce very attractive vines with strong stems and heavy thick leaves. This variety may cross-pollinate with other beefsteak types of tomato. The large (450 – 900g ) smooth, tender and mild globe-shaped fruits have a really sweet flavour and contain few seeds. Also good for cooking. Heritage Seed Library

Golden Queen
This is being grown as part of a Gardening Which trial, comparing it with Yellow Submarine.

Harbinger
Outdoor or under plastic. Indeterminate. Thin skinned medium sized fruited which ripen well off the plant. One of the best and oldest tomatoes. Organic garden Catalogue.

Jugoslavian
Indeterminate; Cordon. A beefsteak variety producing very large, thin-skinned, red tomatoes that do well in our climate and have meaty flesh with a ‘continental’ flavour. Fruit have delicate flavour and sweet, tender flesh. The plants grow well in greenhouses, but need plenty of space because of their vigorous natre. Not really suited to outdoor cultivation. Seed Guardian Mark Moran, says, ‘Wow, what a tomato!’ and prompts everyone to grow these. Heritage Seed Library.

Kenilworth/King George
Indeterminate. Cordon. Donor George Garratt sourced this variety from the last commercial grower who used to supply local shops in Kenilworth, Warwiskshire where up until the 1960s, it was grown extensively. A classic round, red tomato with a sumptuous sweet and herby flavour. In a taste test at Ryton, one staff member commented, “an instant reaction from the taste buds”. Heritage Seed Library.

Maghalbi
No information. Donated.

Maltese Plum
Semi-Determinate. The trusses are borne on leaf spurs so should not be grown as a cordon or have the side shoots removed. Produces a heavy crop and will require staking due to the weight of the fruit. The firm, red plum type tomatoes are ideal for stuffing. Heritage Seed Library.

Matina
Indeterminate. Very early into fruit with vigorous healthy plants, bright red of outstanding flavour. Can be grown outside. Greenback free. Organic Gardening Catalogue.

Roma
No information.

Royale de Guineaux
Indeterminate. Early variety. Prolific flesh of fleshy fruit. Very disease resistant. Organic Garden Catalogue.

Saint Pierre
Indeterminate. Old traditional French variety that produces a late crop of large, tasty right red fruit over a long period. Organic Gardening Catalogue.

Saltspring Sunrise
Determinate. Eaten as a salad tomato and also delicious baked. Blight – resistant. Heritage Seed Library.

San Marzano
Indoor or outdoor. Indeterminate. A red plum variety with elongated fruits of bright red. Tall growing in habit. Ideal for bottling or paste. Organic Garden Catalogue.

Shirley
Indoor. Indeterminate. Early into production with large trusses of medium sized fruits on strong plants. Disease resistant. Organic Garden Catalogue.

Sub-artic Plenty
Determinate. Produces smallish, flavourful, red fruits that are unpalatable to some rabbits. Thompson & Morgan.

Super Marmande
Indeterminate. Cordon. Can be grown outside with support. Large irregular shaped, fleshy tomatoes ideal for slicing. Rich flavour. Bushy habit. May need pruning. Organic Gardening Catalogue.

Tigerella
Indoor and outdoor. Indeterminate. The striped medium sized fruit are attractive and different, tastes superb. Suffolk Herbs.

Tommy Toe
Indeterminate. Cordon. Seems to be disease resistant, hardy, and prolific. A strong grower with long trusses of scarlet fruits the size of a large cherry. Can be grown indoors or out. Heritage Seed Library.

Yellow Submarine
Part of a Gardening Which trial comparing it to Golden Queen.

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Tomato Classification

Tomatoes are divided into two main groups - determinate and indeterminate.

Indeterminate tomato plants, which include large salad tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, and certain cherry tomato cultivars, keep growing and producing fruit until the first frost makes them stop. They are viney and need cages and/or stakes to keep them from sprawling all over the ground

Determinate tomato plants, such as the yellow pear tomato and many other small tomatoes, are neat and bushy. They produce one large group of fruit and then stop growing for the year. Determinates rarely need to be staked or caged, but it helps for them to have something to lean against as they grow.

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