Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: Subversive_plot on July 28, 2022, 04:26
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The good news is that I've found an online catalog with a really good selection, www.reimerseeds.com (http://www.reimerseeds.com).
The bad news is that I've found an online catalog with a really good selection: Reimer Seeds has 528 different varieties of tomatoes! :ohmy: :wacko: I might have my choices down to 2 or 3 varieties by March ???
Seriously, they do provide information on characteristics of each variety they sell to help you make your selection, and you can check lists for specific characteristics, which is really good! They also ship internationally. For this year's seed order, I think I will be giving Reimer Seeds a try.
I will likely try selecting a small cherry or salad tomato that matures early and tolerates a little cold to start the season, and maybe pot up to end the season. I've read good things here about Stupice, but there is also a 42-day Tomato that sound interesting, and is determinate.
Narrowing the list to find a good beefsteak or slicing tomato will be more of a challenge.
Gardener's Delight is on their list; for a main season cherry tomato, it is hard to go wrong with that one.
Given that I'm looking for (1) a small / early tomato, and (2) a beefsteak/slicing tomato, does anyone have any suggestions?
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They certainly have a vast amount to choose from.
You are going to get many different views.
I've tried many varities of tomato and always pick a new one each year.
Generally my yearly new chosen one does not get a second chance, but this year I've grown a cherry called Bush Cherry Falls and its producing loads of tasty cherry tomatoes on very strong plants. Grew them in 9 inch pots that sit on the ground in full sun outside. Will be growing again next year.
I've tired many beefsteaks, some just ridiculously large, but prefer my many decades of growing Marmande. They grow very well outside here on the South Coast of England and each plant produces about 4 to 5 tomatoes about 8-10oz in size.
Just started picking the first few now, always one in each cluster ripens early and once picked another in the cluster ripens.
I roast mine, stuffed with their chopped insides and a few leaves of basil.
My favourite regular tomatoes are Tigrella and Golden Sunrise. Both start producing early, but do go on for many months.
Both are greenhouse tomatoes for me and very tasty. The golden Sunrise is more an Yellow Orange, but has a wonderful deep flavour.
The Golden Sunburst looks similar.
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Thank you lettice
Marmande is on Reimer's list, it will definitely be on my narrowed-down list!
Cherry falls is not at Reimer's but it __IS__ at kitchengardenseeds.com (http://kitchengardenseeds.com), where I ordered seeds from last year. I may order some seeds from them again this year, so Cherry Falls is a contender.
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I don't think I dare look at that site!!! Nicky's Nursery is bad enough with about 200. Realseed Company much smaller but unusual varieties.
Personally, Stupice didn't do for me a few years ago. Like Lettice I try several varieties each year - some that have done well and some new ones. All are grown in unheated poly tunnel in the soil in south west Scotland. 6 degrees C in there two nights ago!
For small cherry tomatoes that are early and prolific I go for Chadwick Cherry which I've found to be more flavourful and early than a Chocolate Cherry. Ildi, small/tiny yellow plum is delicious and, this year, producing hundreds of fruits. It failed last year but I had spare seed! Sungold a classic orange cherry. Slightly bigger but early and goes on and on, and very tasty - Blooming (change the 'ing' for 'dy' to avoid upsetting a sensitive algorithm!) Butcher early, goes on and on, very tasty (afraid I wouldn't touch Gardener's Delight for lack of taste!)
Beefsteak/large - True Black Brandywine (amazing colour and taste, rather ugly), Tomande, Moskvitch (early and hardy), Amish Paste (massive plum, tall, vigorous and tasty) and Ethel Watkins (vines shortish - 4 foot) are all doing well this year although only the two latter have ripened so far. Dívčí Prs (Czech Breast) proving good too - large yellow orange and quite sweet, good tomato flavour; the nearest I could find at the time to Orange Russian, a massive tasty orange ox-heart type. A bizarre year.
I'm sure that we will all have our own favourite that will simply make your choice harder. Sorry!
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I see they have a variety called Purple Russian. It is called Purple Ukraine over here (always known as that). I got my seeds from Real Seeds originally.
It produces lots of red/purple very large plum shaped tomatoes. They are excellent as a salad tomato.
For a large tomato they crop very well.
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JacsH and AnneB, I will certainly give those varieties a look!
JacsH, regarding the Gardener's Delight, I think the taste may be related to climate, but also personal preference. Here, with our hot summers, the fruits are juicy, with just the right level of acidity. I do prefer a tomato with a tart flavor. My family loves them. The taste might be different if grown in a different climate though.
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I grew Purple Ukraine (plum shaped) every year while I had the polytunnel, and loved it.. I stopped growing it when the tunnel 'died' it didn't seem to do as well outside.
Black cherry is also lovely, but the skins split easily if left too long on the plant, Black Opal is very similar and it doesn't split :)
Peacevine Cherry is also nice if you like small tomatoes with a bit of acidity.
Nectar rose is a fantastic mid-sized slicing tomato, if you can find seeds in USA.
For the really bigguns I've had success with Reif Red Heart.
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MoS, I will certainly look into those varieties tonight, thank you.
Before I posted the OP, I checked Reimer seeds for Reif Red Heart, sadly, they don't have it. Ditto kitchen garden seeds.
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I still haven't made final selections for tomatoes, but found yet another tomato seed supplier www.tomatofest.com (http://www.tomatofest.com) that has choices that were not available elsewhere, like Reif Red Heart.
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Country Taste is a decent beefsteak tomato and can grow large fruit. I have had a couple this year that were over 1/2 lb. in weight. It can be grown in a greenhouse or outside.
Lizzano F1 is a good outdoor cherry tomato which is said to be blight tolerant. Its a bush tomato that gets covered in fruit. Some of mine were / are on the small side but very sweet and tasty. There have been so many fruit on them that a few of the branches snapped!
I planted both types inside the greenhouse and some outside in the garden along with some Shirley F1's. My theory being to prove if the LIzzano F1 was blight tolerant as my outdoor tomatoes always get blight. However this wasn't the case this year and all plants have done well with no blight, i guess down to the warm weather. I did limit the outdoor Country Taste and Shirley F1 plants down to the 3 trusses and they have fruited later than the indoor ones. The Lizzano F1 plants did better outside than in the greenhouse. They grew far to large in the greenhouse with less fruit on than the ones outside.
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I grew Honeycombe this year as my new variety. A yellow cherry sized fruit. Plenty of fruit, earlier than all the other varieties I grew, sweet and tasty. I'll be growing it again next year.
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My favourite for good cropping and excellent flavour is Apero, a small plum tomato. Problem is that hubby and grandchildren eat them like sweets so I have to be quick if I want to get any.
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I tried Brandywine Pink this year and it’s really impressed me as a beefsteak. Started ripening early, good sized fruits and great flavour and texture. Will definitely grow again.
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We tried one this year called Sakura which is a cherry one with a really good tomato taste although it had a bit of a thick skin.
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We tried one this year called Sakura which is a cherry one with a really good tomato taste although it had a bit of a thick skin.
Yes, I noticed that as well....
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Buy some Santini tomatoes from Marks and Spencer and save / dry the seeds.Best tasting grape tomato since Santa became unavailable.
regards Mick
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Thanks Fisherman I like the sound of Lizzano F1 just ordered some from Premier.
Hopefully they will resist the blight if it returns next year. I think this year the heat protected us!
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Mentioned elsewhere, but new to my list and definitely staying on it, is Cherry Baby. (As photo). Another permanent fixture is Scotland Yellow.
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I finally narrowed my list down to a half dozen:
Two are going to be early-season and late-season tomatoes that produce quickly and a little more tolerant of cool weather:
- 42-day Tomato, Early-producing, cold-tolerant cherry, determinate plants. Can be container-grown, so an option for a late-season tomato grown in a container or two.
- Stupice, cold-tolerant early indeterminate potato-leaf type, small to medium salad tomatoes.
Goliath Bush Early, reputedly produces medium to large beefsteak tomatoes on a determinate plant 24 to 36 inches tall, also suitable for containers.
Main season:
- Purple Ukraine (recommended by some of you), large purple plum-shaped.
- Hawaiian Pineapple Large beefsteak, yellow with some pink, fruity (compared to pineapple).
- Marmande Also recommended by some of you, red beefsteak.
All of the above are recommended for their flavor. Other than container plants, I will likely grow just 2 or 3 of each of these this season. I'm also sharing some of the seeds with my sister in Indiana. I will leave enough seeds for the next season or two.
Many of your other recommendations I have saved for another year, though I can't find a few of them in the USA (such as Dívčí Prs; no luck with Orange Russian either).
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we are trying blooming Butcher and Black Opal from premiere not grown either before both will go in greenhouse??
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I’ve done Black Russians since the beginning - about 10 years. But it seems to me they are getting less flavourful. Last year I planted some Costolutto Fiorentino plantlets in pots in my yard, a I was scared of blight at the allotment, after 2021’s washout. They were great, really flavourful beefsteak style and I am going to do them again this year, in pots and in the ground.
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Did Black Opal last year. As small tomatoes go - jolly good.Going back to Tigerella this year. Not done them for a year or two.
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I see Remier stock Sungold cherry tomatoes.
It's an indeterminate & IMO superb tasting cherry tomato.
I usually get my first pickings around the second week in July (greenhouse grown) & from early August to late September get 3-4kg a week from 5 plants. Usually finished by mid October.
Alicante is a good, standard tomato, well flavoured & medium sized.
No idea on beefsteaks, as I've never grown them.
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All of the new comments are helping me build a list of varieties to grow in the future! :lol:
I'm happy to report that I received my seeds from Reimer's today. Each tomato seed packet contains at least double the 20 seeds / pkt. promised for the price. There are well over 100 seeds of Stupice in that packet! The same is true for Marmande.
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sorry should read blooming Butcher.
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sorry should read blooming Butcher.
Not to worry Steven, you aren't going mad, the Forum software alters some words that could be deemed offensive. That's what is happening to the 'Blood-y' part of your tomato name :lol: :lol:
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sorry should read blooming Butcher.
Not to worry Steven, you aren't going mad, the Forum software alters some words that could be deemed offensive. That's what is happening to the 'Blood-y' part of your tomato name :lol: :lol:
"That word" is confusing for us on this side of the pond. We really only know that it seems to be a word used for emphasis over there, and considered impolite. Over here, it is not really used, except when talking about a wound (for example), and it is generally neither considered rude or polite ???.
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Not trying to be a downer Subversive, but have you seen the reviews for Reiner seeds? - they’re not exactly stellar. Maybe you should buy some from another brand too as back up.
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Not trying to be a downer Subversive, but have you seen the reviews for Reiner seeds? - they’re not exactly stellar. Maybe you should buy some from another brand too as back up.
I hadn't looked for reviews, TBH. I did after your post, not good.:dry: I appreciate you looking at something that I probably should have checked, so thank you. I will say that their website says "under new management", maybe that will mean something?
However, I will reserve judgement until I have tried to use the seeds, which I have already received. I'm chitting a few tomato seeds for plants going into pots/container growing, we will see what happens. Watch this space!
Added later: I do have other seed sources locally, just not for things like heirloom tomatoes. I can make do with the usual ho-hum varieties, probably not placing more seed orders this year.
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Not trying to be a downer Subversive, but have you seen the reviews for Reiner seeds? - they’re not exactly stellar. Maybe you should buy some from another brand too as back up.
I hadn't looked for reviews, TBH. I did after your post, not good.:dry: I appreciate you looking at something that I probably should have checked, so thank you. I will say that their website says "under new management", maybe that will mean something?
However, I will reserve judgement until I have tried to use the seeds, which I have already received. I'm chitting a few tomato seeds for plants going into pots/container growing, we will see what happens. Watch this space!
Well, I chitted four seeds each of Stupice, Goliath Bush, and 42-day on January 18th. So far, I have four seeds of 42-day that have germinated, three of Goliath Bush, but none of the Stupice yet (but it is still early). So, not a complete flop in terms of germination. Possibly the high number of Stupice seeds sent reflects a lower expected germination rate?
Since my sister really wants some of the Marmande and Hawaiian Pineapple, I am chitting some of those before I mail any seeds to her. In exchange, I'm getting some Coeur de Boeuf and Gargamel seeds from her! :)
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Good news, I have had good germination on all of the tomato seeds that I purchased. Some varieties (Stupice, Marmande) chitted slowly, but germinated well. Purple Ukraine and Hawaiian Pineapple chitted very quickly; all seeds of Purple Ukraine chitted within two days! I also chitted some Biquinho peppers, and all of the seeds I tried, except one, also chitted within 3 days.
Whatever problems Reimer Seeds had before, the "New Management" may have solved them. I will likely leave a positive comment on the Better Business Bureau website to improve their reputation.
Added later: Sadly, BBB does not take positive comments, only complaints. Maybe I will leave a review elsewhere.
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That’s good news. It was Trustpilot I looked at and which had all the negative reviews.
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That’s good news. It was Trustpilot I looked at and which had all the negative reviews.
Thank you, I just posted a review on Trustpilot https://www.trustpilot.com/review/reimerseeds.com (https://www.trustpilot.com/review/reimerseeds.com). I appreciated your initial comment about their complaint history. I also feel it is a good thing to publicly recognize that they have implemented some better business practices.
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How are your seedlings doing Subversive? After discovering Ferline has been discontinued >:( , I went to Real Seeds and bought: Stupice, Costolutto Genovese, Estate and Dr Carolyn. So far have only planted the Costolutto and 5 out of 7 seeds have germinated, #exciting.
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I like sweet millions nice sweet cherry beefsteak costoloto Florentino
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How are your seedlings doing Subversive? After discovering Ferline has been discontinued >:( , I went to Real Seeds and bought: Stupice, Costolutto Genovese, Estate and Dr Carolyn. So far have only planted the Costolutto and 5 out of 7 seeds have germinated, #exciting.
I'm happy to report that all of the tomato varieties from Reimer Seeds(Stupice, Marmande, 42-Day, Hawaiian Pineapple, Purple Ukrainian (=Purple Russian), Goliath Bush) have germinated, roughly 90% germination rate. Other seeds that I purchased from Reimer and have tried (Biquinho peppers, French corn salad, Pak Choi, Michihli Chinese Cabbage) have also germinated well.
Updated the post with a photo.
I'm just now chitting some of the tomato seeds my sister sent to me (Coeur de Boeuf, Gargamel, Abe Lincoln). I'm just trying to get one of each for now, to save some of my own seeds. I have at least one of each variety so far.
Real Seeds looks like a good vendor for heirloom choices. They have some varieties that were recommended to me earlier in this thread, but that are unavailable in the USA.
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They’re looking great. It’s going to be Tomato-tastic down your way in a few months.
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Given that I'm looking for (1) a small / early tomato, and (2) a beefsteak/slicing tomato, does anyone have any suggestions?
So what did you choose for this year? Interested because I've seen these Black seeds mentioned in Gardeners World yesterday. Thanks.
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They’re looking great. It’s going to be Tomato-tastic down your way in a few months.
Thanks - BTW, I'm not growing all of those plants to maturity myself! I will pick the best one or two of each variety, and grow those on, but will share the remaining plants with friends and family.
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Given that I'm looking for (1) a small / early tomato, and (2) a beefsteak/slicing tomato, does anyone have any suggestions?
So what did you choose for this year? Interested because I've seen these Black seeds mentioned in Gardeners World yesterday. Thanks.
Hello omits
See my post from January 9. It lists the varieties that I started in February. My sister sent me some additional seeds of Coeur de Boeuf, Gargamel, and Abe Lincoln, the seeds germinated recently. This year will be a trial (just a few plants each) to see which varieties I like and will grow again in future years.