Tomatoes

What's your best producer, and what's the best flavored one.
My self it's Rutger, like to try another one next year.

Rutgers are hard to beat, did some of the heirloom varieties and wasn't impressed.

Cherokee purple is my favorite tasting tomato. Tried Kellogg’s breakfast this year and it was good too

Cherokee purple or pink Brandywine for taste. Celebrity is a good producer.

I do mostly Celebrity with some Better Boy. I am looking into more indeterminite disease resistance varieties. I am getting some blossim end rot this year, but was able to put up 44 pints of salsa today. I like the Celbrity being moderate size, pretty good diesease resistance and flavor is good for our uses.

Bryce

Pink Brandywine hands down.

For sandwiches, sauce, Juice?

I mostly slice for BLT or plain, and make salsa.

Blossom end rot was tough on my San Marzanos this year. Thought I had that stuff beat, but it came back with a vengeance

I'm a real rookie at tomatoes, but I love Sungolds the most.

If your having problems with blossom rot cut back on the nitrogen fertilizer. A little 10-10-10 when first planted. Then when blossom start to set use some 0-0-60. Its all potassium no nitrogen. A big cause of blossom rot is to much nitrogen. It creates to much foilage. Potassium is for fruit development. What I was told. Worked for me.

San Marzanos. We make our own spaghetti sauce with them. So much better than store bought sauce.

Pink Berkeley Tye Dye for taste.
Anna’s KY for production.

Bush Early Girl is a good producer. Non-determinate. I know of one plant this summer that had produced 16 maters and still going.

Bryce try Parks Whopper improved, another name for it is OG-50.
Over here the box stores are now selling the plants in Spring.
I also like a local Amish pear tomato that I save seed from.

I'd love to try you guys Sause toms recommendation.

Cherokee Purple best tasting.

Other contenders Brandywine, suddith strain, Kelloggs Breakfast, Stump of the World

Atkinson has been a heavy producer of the medium round slicer type.

Mortgage Lifter for a beefsteak.

Opalka for a long paste type.

Blossom end rot can be caused by lack of calcium, some varieties are more susceptible than others. Lime is a slow release form of calcium, gypsum is faster. There are some sprays you can use on the foliage also.

For soups and pasta sauces, we have been pleased with Amish Paste. Fruit is larger than other paste varieties and just as good.

Yup, lack of calcium uptake.

The Opalka I mentioned will always have BER on its first set of fruit no matter what while none of the dozen or so of others will. I never have BER here other than Opalka.
My belief is they set fruit early before the roots are fully able to take all the calcium it needs. But after the first set Opalka will pump out perfect fruit continously until frost.

Thank you for the info.
Bryce try Parks Whopper improved, another name for it is OG-50.
Over here the box stores are now selling the plants in Spring.
I also like a local Amish pear tomato that I save seed from.

I read up quite a bit for a bit today. I do a lot of canning,depending upon the crop about 120-170 quarts per year of various tomato products. So to me the idea of getting a lot over a short period of time is important. I will review the maturity and disease options of several determinites and also then plant about 1/4 to 1/3rd undeterminite for a longer season, many of which will be ready during canning and then more for later.

As to blossom end rot? I have found that I get almost 75% of it from the first plants in my rows. At that end I get much more plant growth and with the shade from a couple cherry trees they stay wetter longer. Not bad for dry summers but not good as there is alot of moisture and humidity in those plants. I just started seeing some blight in some plants this week. Looks like I will get enough of a crop however.

Bryce

Blossom end rot, more often than not, is caused by inconsistent watering. Second most often is nutrient imbalance

I knew an old guy locally that told me to throw two tums in the hole when I plant my Tomatoes and Peppers. I have done this for years. I buy the big bottles of generic Tums from the dollar store. I also only use Miracle Grow that is specifically formulated for tomatoes and probably see two or three tomatoes with blossom end rot each year. I plant 50 - 60 plants each year here Central Indiana. This year they are ripening later than usual but plants are still healthy and lots of green tomatoes on the vine.

Interesting as well for me. I put the date on all my lids. Last year my first batch of salsa was August 21st. This year August 28th. We had a cooler than normal first 3 weeks of May. I did wait a bit longer but I am sure it took some time for the soil to warm up. As to fertilizer. All I am using now is composted sheep manure with straw bedding.

Bryce

Blossom end rot can be stopped with calcium nitrate as your fertilizer. Been using it for three years now and I don't have BER. That sounds bold and like bull crap but it really does work. Mix a man handful in a 5 gallon bucket and put ~4 gallons in it. Fertilize each plant with a 1 cup measuring cup full every two weeks. When it starts to set flowers add a handful of potassium nitrate. Best mater I have ever grown.

Water consistently to get 1 inch per week considering rain. Do not over water. It makes for shallow roots.

Plant disease resistant varieties. Lots more success. I planted purple and lemon boys, english breakfast, red snapper, summer pick, sun sugar, tachi and fig tomatoes. I will not plant fig tomatoes again. Split too easy.

Spray weekly with fungicide and insecticide whether they need it or not. Prevention not reaction. This works well if you want to go organic. Know when to not go organic. Adult squash bugs, adult leaf footed bugs, japanese beetles, june bugs, curculio beetles. These guys as adults require synthetic insecticides to be effective.

Good fungicides are liquid copper, baking soda and some of the other systemic synthetics. Make sure the systemics are designed for vegetable gardens. Blight SUX!!

I don't like it but a dead plant makes nothing.

I cannot say any louder how effective calcium nitrate is at preventing BER. I just plain works. Works great as a side dress also.

This year, it was Heirloom Roma, Beefsteak, and Brandywine tomatoes. I have a few hundred pounds in the freezer yet to process.