Growster..Have you got more seeds ? I want to give it a go if yes
Is this supposed to be blight resistant?
100% germination this morning.... I did only sow four seeds, but looks like I could grow four plants, fingers crossed. I have their space all marked out at the plot, where every year tomatoes are decimated by late blight towards September. Last year's Crimson Crushes survived despite a few affected leaves (which I picked off)
How many are you and Whitehill growing Growster?
A bad germination record for my Crimson crush so far this year. Managed a germination of 5 from 14 sown in a heated propagator on 23 March. Since I have sown another 18 seeds in modules in a sunny cold greenhouse on 3 April, and so far only 3 have germinated. Not very good at all. Am going to do a last sowing today/tomorrow in the heated propagator in different compost to cobble together a viable outside sauce crop. Very very poor attrition rate this year, when last year virtually all seeds germinated.
At least I'm confident that these reliable monsters will provide some sort of crop that makes it through the blight to my freezer. With a bit of basil/onion, they'll be great and outshine most shop sauces. I only hope I have somewhere to plug my freezer in when the time comes. :D
I've just put out a dozen CC plants on an allotment (total 110 plots) where no one else grows tomatoes outside, due to blight.
I'll report back on how well or ill they did!
The Gen2 Penguins are succumbing to blight now, whilst the F1 Crimson Crushes are going strong with lots of large fruits... sad but true.
The Gen2 Penguins are succumbing to blight now, whilst the F1 Crimson Crushes are going strong with lots of large fruits... sad but true.
Sunny, is that down on the plots, or at home?
So far, there's no sign of blight here, but that can always change of course!
I apologise if I'm intruding on this thread, but just to say that last year I grew Crimson Crush, and was thrilled with the result. Massive crops, and although they took a touch of blight, they grew through it and continued to produce until well into October. This year, I have trialled the other blight resistant variety Mountain Magic. Once again, massive crops of smaller tomatoes than Crimson Crush, about half as big again as a cherry tom.. Good flavour and texture and very early to ripen, even a little sooner than my greenhouse toms. Having said this, they are now showing signs of blight. Just a little here and there, and not many fruits affected, but I'll see if they manage to grow through it, and I'll suspend judgement until the end of the season.
I think next year I'll grow some of each.
Thanks for the pictures there Growster. That pretty much mirrors what we found too.
Our CCs are still thriving, and ripening fruit virtually daily, so next year I shall try a couple of the other resistant varieties as well I think
Yes, Growster, the Mountain Magic are still going great guns, and producing loads of fruit. One of the plants did seem to be affected slight by a bit of blight, but I trimmed almost all of the leaves off it, and it now seems to be growing on with no ill effects. I've lost count of the pounds of tomatoes I've had from the eight plants I put in.
Next year I shall grow half Crimson Crush, and half Mountain Magic, as the tomatoes are very different from each other, in that the CC fruit tends to be quite large, and the Mountain Magic fruit is smaller - something between a cherry and a normal tomato. These two are the only tomatoes that have ever given me a crop on the plot, as everything else I tried collapsed in black, blighted heaps before I'd even seen a ripe tomato.
Crimson Crush continued.
With half the crop ripened and harvested and the other half well on the way I'm giving the thumbs up to CC, despite a few dark patches appearing on stems. I'm removing dodgy leaves as they appear. Considering almost no one else risks tomatoes on my allotments I've had my money's worth and more.
I'll certainly be growing CC next year.'Four quid for just ten seeds?', I cried
Way back in winter's gloom
'What are they made of - solid gold?'
My curses filled the room
Yet now, my baskets filled with fruit
I praise those folk at Sutton's
Four quid for all these tommies?
Four quid is just shirt buttons!
Crimson Crush, you've done me proud,
The blight holds no more fear
I'll be eating damn tomatoes
Until Boxing Day next year!
Big thumbs up to Crimson Crush from me. The blight has moved in now, but I secured 95% of the ripened crop before it hit.
Result!!