Best outdoor tomato

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mrsparkle

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Best outdoor tomato
« on: January 21, 2011, 22:11 »
I'm not sure if this clashes with super tomato thread above.

I'm hoping to grow time outdoors as I have no greenhouse or coldframe or polytunnel. Am I wasting my time?

If not which variety should I try? I will start the on my windows to give them a fighting chance.

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DD.

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Re: Best outdoor tomato
« Reply #1 on: January 21, 2011, 22:20 »
I grow one of my favourites inside and out - Shirley, never let me down.

Apologies for repeating this piccie. This is "Brandywine", grown outside 2 years ago.



The cherry tomato "Gardener's Delight" is good for outdoors also. In fact most will with the weather we've had the past few years. The main problem is blight.
Did it really tell you to do THAT on the packet?

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paintedlady

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Re: Best outdoor tomato
« Reply #2 on: January 22, 2011, 06:20 »
It might help to know whereabouts you are.  I grow tomatoes for cooking/making passata so I need to grow lots and don't have enough greenhouse space (already competing with the chillies and peppers)  Also, I'm happy to wait until ready & ripened and do batches, but if you are after salad toms then you might be a bit disappointed the further north you are to find they are not ready in time.  Maybe something like Gardener's Delight or Tumbling Tom?  A lot depends on the weather too.

Also, outdoor tomatoes are more at risk of blight if we have a wet summer ... out of 9 years of growing toms, I think I've only had 2 totally blight free ones.  Last year I grew blight resistant varieties Ferline and Legend - even they succumbed in the end after a wet August but not before I was able to get most of the crop off and ripen any green ones indoors. 

To answer your question, it depends on the weather but generally I don't think it's a waste a time.  For outdoor toms, you don't want to sow them too early as you'll need a period over spring to harden them off gradually and plants can be a bit fragile if they get too big to handle (nothing worse than seeing the stem snap in half because it was a bit top heavy just before being planted out)
Failure is only a temporary change in direction to set you straight for your next success.
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arugula

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Re: Best outdoor tomato
« Reply #3 on: January 22, 2011, 06:49 »
We grew Gartenperle very successfully outdoors last year. :)
"They say a snow year's a good year" -- Rutherford.

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DD.

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Re: Best outdoor tomato
« Reply #4 on: January 22, 2011, 08:01 »
It might help to know whereabouts you are. 

From his intro post, I know that mrsparkle (I assume it's Mr Sparkle, not Mrs Parkle!) is in Sheffield, bjut yes it would be useful if it was in the profile as my memory will not hold up for that long.

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shokkyy

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Re: Best outdoor tomato
« Reply #5 on: January 22, 2011, 08:58 »
I never grow tomatoes anywhere else but outdoors, and I've grown a lot of different varieties successfully, in pots, hanging baskets or in garden beds. The smaller tomatoes will always ripen faster and give you a bigger crop than beefsteaks. I do think the blight issue depends on where you live, because I've only ever had blight once in 15 years of growing tomatoes at my current house, and I'm pretty sure that came in on a plant I bought from a garden centre.

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DD.

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Re: Best outdoor tomato
« Reply #6 on: January 22, 2011, 09:08 »
The smaller tomatoes will always ripen faster and give you a bigger crop than beefsteaks.

More tomatoes maybe, but weightwise?

Brandywine were giving me about 6 per truss, weighing up to 1lb or over per tomato.

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Kristen

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Re: Best outdoor tomato
« Reply #7 on: January 22, 2011, 09:58 »
Apologies for repeating this piccie. This is "Brandywine", grown outside 2 years ago.

I love the way Google works, try a Google search for images

"The cherry tomato Gardener's Delight"

(leave the quotes in - here's a direct link)

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DD.

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Re: Best outdoor tomato
« Reply #8 on: January 22, 2011, 10:13 »
 :ohmy: :ohmy: :ohmy: :ohmy:

Must try some of those!

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shokkyy

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Re: Best outdoor tomato
« Reply #9 on: January 22, 2011, 13:47 »
More tomatoes maybe, but weightwise?

Brandywine were giving me about 6 per truss, weighing up to 1lb or over per tomato.

Yes, of course. I think when you're just growing a few plants at home, it's really nice to be able to go out every day and pick more ripe tomatoes, and with little cherries like Gartenperle I was picking a bowlful every day from just 3 plants last year. At that time of year, they're great to throw into a salad, and beautifully sweet to eat straight from the plant. I also froze quite a few of them, because we couldn't possibly eat them all, and I've been chucking those into casseroles all winter. And when you can just stick them in a hanging basket and leave them to fend for themselves other than watering, it's just so easy to do.

Whenever I've grown big beefsteaks, I've felt kind of cheated because I've had to wait all year just to pick a few ripe tomatoes per plant at the end of the season. And when they need a long season to ripen like that, in a bad year you may not get anything ripe.

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DD.

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Re: Best outdoor tomato
« Reply #10 on: January 22, 2011, 14:00 »
Despite being gown outdoor, Brandywine do not seem to take that long to ripen. I was late sowing last year and did not get the seeds in until May. Still managed to crop them.

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bigben

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Re: Best outdoor tomato
« Reply #11 on: January 22, 2011, 15:57 »
If Mrsparkle is in Sheffield I can add that gardeners delight and garden pearl did very well outside on my allotment last year in Sheffield. However the year before I had a lot of blight and my tumbling toms did badly.

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mrsparkle

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Re: Best outdoor tomato
« Reply #12 on: January 22, 2011, 19:34 »
It might help to know whereabouts you are.  

From his intro post, I know that mrsparkle (I assume it's Mr Sparkle, not Mrs Parkle!) is in Sheffield, bjut yes it would be useful if it was in the profile as my memory will not hold up for that long.

Bang on! :)

(ive also editted profile)

I'm  Mr Sparkle (like homer is in the simpsons episode where they find the mysterious soap powder box)

and i'm in Sheffield.. brilliant city!
« Last Edit: January 22, 2011, 19:37 by mrsparkle »

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DD.

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Re: Best outdoor tomato
« Reply #13 on: January 22, 2011, 19:35 »
Why not own up to it by putting it in your profile!

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mrsparkle

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Re: Best outdoor tomato
« Reply #14 on: January 22, 2011, 19:38 »
Why not own up to it by putting it in your profile!

Just done it :)



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