[AndyRVTR]

Has anyone got any experience they can share with me, re this variety of Toms please?
I can grow toms without a problem, but have never grown this variety... Normally when my plants are ready to be put into their final places, I put them in 10ltr buckets with a 6' bamboo for support, tie up as they grow and this will support the weight without any issue. The problem I forsee is the weight of the beefsteak tomatoes, is there a special way to train them or tie them up to prevent them dropping with the extra weight that they will give.

[tosca100]

The thing about beefsteak is you get less tomatoes in number, but obviously much bigger. So it evens out really. I grow them in pots.

[DD.]

Which particular variety are you growing out of interest.

Here's one of my Brandywine from a previous year, grown outdoors:

[AndyRVTR]

WOW!! that is some size tomato DD....  the ones I bought are called organically sourced beefsteak... hope that helps..

[DD.]

Weighed 1lb 3 oz.

It must surely have a name. "Beefsteak" is just the type of tomato, like "Plum" etc.

[AndyRVTR]

Sorry.... had a mental block  .... so checked my seed packet and they are Alexandros F1 variety

[DD.]

My special treatment was to plant them direct into the plot, no manure, tied to a wigwam of 4 canes, so they are self-supporting. Fruit tied up also when they got too heavy.

Watered when I remembered & never fed.

[Colin of Oxford]

In 2010 I tried some 'beef' tomatoes and the good ones were very good, particularly for slicing, and loved by the Management.
But they were more susceptible to blossom end rot than other tomatoes crown in the same conditions.  And because they are naturally distorted with deep creases this was not always apparent until they were picked.
I think that my problem was that they were grown in bags against a south facing wall and it is almost impossible to sustain a sufficient supply of water in hot weather (yes! we had some).

A good compromise variety that was more successful was 'Diplom'.  This is a big tomato but not a deeply segmented one.  A very old variety I believe, though I had not come across it until last year.

But if you have a greenhouse or similar then my recommendation would be to go for good old Shirley.  Given reasonable TLC Shirley will produce large tomatoes of excellent quality, and more than you would get from the average beefsteak plant.

[GrannieAnnie]

Oooh DD that's a big one!!    I've grown the yellow brandywine, same sort of size, around 1lb per tomato, but the first time I grew them I was worried about the bottom of the fruit.  I thought it was blossom end rot, but it wasn't, it is the actual fruit, there is a funny shaped hole in the bottom, but another member on here said that's what they look like, so I'm happy with them.  They are very 'meaty' tomatoes and make an interesting pasta sauce!!!

[DD.]

You're right GA, the scar - for want of a better word as I can't think of one - on the bottom of a beefsteak tom is often mistaken for blossom end rot.

I just left mine to get on with it, I did water them occasionally when I remembered, but there were 14 days of quite dry weather when we were away that they never saw the watering can. As they were outside in the plot and able to find their own moisture, they fared better than the Shirely in the greenhouse, left in the tender care of my daughter.

I hear what you're saying about "Shirely", Colin, but Andy has these toms and is aksing specifically about them. He's obviously familiar with other varieties. You do not need a greenhouse to grow them either, they are my staple toms & happily grow outside as well as inside. They continue producing well after the greenhouse ones have given up.

[operabunny]

Think I'll have to try Brandywine this year. I was unsure about beefsteak toms outdoors, but am now reassured. 

[Colin of Oxford]

Ouch! I must take more care in future and am appropriately contrite.  But in case it is of interest to someone out there

• I was relating my own experience last year with growing a selection of very large slice-able tomatoes. The culinary potential was the theme.
• Having had an opportunity to check on varieties, the one with blossom end rot was F1 Beefmaster from Kings ( By the way, though I am sure that there are people who get confused between rot and a scar, I am not one of them)
  This is illustrated on the packet as a large round variety and I suspect that it would have been perfectly OK if I had grown it in open ground rather than a bag.
• Diplom is in practice a 'beef' though not described as such. The toms were large and the flesh was deep red with few seeds.
  I will try it again this year.
• The Shirleys were F1 from 'Chase Organics' and described as 'greenhouse only'.  I too have grown Shirley outside.  I included the variety because the results (in terms of a good yield of large toms) were astonishing.
  The plants were so vigorous that I had trouble keeping side-shoots under control.  On finding a really sturdy one hiding among the foliage I removed it and transplanted it into a pot - giving us beautiful toms on a windowsill in late October.

:

[JayG]

Hope no-one's going to tell me that Marmande isn't a beefsteak variety because I've just bought a packet to try!   

[DD.]

No way is that a beefsteak.







Oh - OK - it is.

[JayG]

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