[Anton]

Hullo fellow gardeners,

I was wondering how people were faring with their blight-resistant Crimson Crush tomatoes!
My sister in England has some. She says they appear to be healthy, they have some flowers but no tomatoes as yet. Blight-free and tomato-free. How are the rest of you doing?

Anton

[surbie100]

I've got 2 trusses set and 2 more on the way on one of them. Big-ish salad toms. The other is feeble. It has one tomato set and doesn't really want to grow any bigger.

[mumofstig]

One plant is growing cordon style and has set 2 tomatoes on each of 2 trusses (hardly high yielding  at 2 toms per truss.

The second plant didn't want to grow above the first truss, and is very slowly growing a side shoot instead 

[BabbyAnn]

The second plant didn't want to grow above the first truss

I noticed both of mine seem reluctant to grow after the first truss - but there is fruit set so fingers crossed there will be something to try 

[Willow_Warren]

They are growing and have set fruit on the first truss, maybe the size of a ping pong ball so far - no signs of ripening yet.  Not sure how many trusses they've got, may have a count up this evening and get back to you.  They so not seem that tall though!

Hannah

[Kenilworth]

One plant is growing cordon style and has set 2 tomatoes on each of 2 trusses (hardly high yielding  at 2 toms per truss.

The second plant didn't want to grow above the first truss, and is very slowly growing a side shoot instead 

pretty much describes my two plants.

[sunshineband]

Mine are only about 30 cm tall and no sin of any flower buds yet ... next to the 1m tall other toms I have it is very disappointing so far 

[chillimummy]

My two plants both look healthy and have a few tomatoes on each which are decent size but not ripe yet.
They are both near the front of the greenhouse and wondered if that was why most of my other plants are a lot taller?
They do have the biggest tomatoes out of all the other plants though 

[JayG]

Up to now it sounds as if Crimson Crush avoids blight by staying so small the spores can't find it! 

Hope they all get going soon.

[jambop]

Use Bordeaux mix to save the ordinary tomatoes that taste great. I even use it down here where it is normally nice and dry. For the environmentalists the damage to the environment cause by applying this is but a drop in the ocean compared to the pollution from cars and chimney's etc . I swear by it and we had a very wet summer last year my tomatoes... fantastic in the end because they were still there when the sun arrived!

[Snoop]

Out of interest, are the Crimson Crush plants you're all growing grown from cuttings or plants grown from seed? I remember a discussion where people were suggesting the free plants they'd got looked like offshoots. Might that make a difference?

Plus, I hope you're not going to be crushed if the results are poor!

[mumofstig]

Please can we stay on topic.......................

We're discussing the trial of Crimson Crush, the new potentially blight-free tomato 


Yes, Snoop they did look like sideshoots - but it shouldn't make a difference.

[jaydig]

I had three plants of Crimson Crush and I put one in the greenhouse, one outside in the garden, and one on the allotment.  At the moment, the one in the greenhouse is about 3' tall and has two trusses of fruit, with a third set of flowers just beginning to open. Nowhere near ripening yet, but the largest fruit on the first truss is a good size. The plant outside in the garden is not as tall, about 2'6", but also has two trusses of fruit, although smaller tomatoes than the ones in the greenhouse. I have lost the largest fruit on the bottom truss due to the fact that my 2 yr old granddaughter wanted to "touch" it, and pulled it off.  The plant on the allotment is the smallest of the three, and has two trusses of fruit, but not as advanced as the ones at home. All three plants currently seem to be healthy.  The proof of the pudding will be in the flavour, as even if the plants prove to be blight resistant, I won't want to grow them if they're not worth eating. So, I can't wait to see what they taste like, and if there's a difference in flavour between outdoor grown and indoor grown ones.

[jambop]

Opps sorry ! Well it is or it isn't blight free why potentially? Is it being marketed as blight free? If it is then it is blight free if not another red herring which the nurserymen will make a killing on until the growers cotton on. Out of interest how has this resistance to blight been gained? Is it breeding or genetic modification... not that genetic modification is something that worries me ... it used to be my job

[mumofstig]

Crimson Crush has been bred to be blightfree,  it's new this year. Some people got free plants on the forum to trial, some bought them elsewhere to try.

No GM involved 

http://hub.suttons.co.uk/blog/news/crimson-crush-fully-blight-resistant-tomato#moved