2024 Tomato Grow List

I'm a member of Tomato Sowing Anonymous my name is JJB and I have an addiction to sowing tomato seeds. I have a confession to make:

Notwithstanding the resolution to grow less tomatoes in 2024, which to be fair, I have stuck to so far. I have sown yet another variety, even though I had 'finished' tomato sowing.  Last year's variety count was 34 different varieties and until this morning the count was 28. Last year was 4 gh borders of 5 plants each, this year will be probably 4 borders with 4 plants each with others growing outside.  Then I found some scribbled wishlist of tomatoes from some time earlier in the year and on it was Derby Striped (Veggie seed swap). I googled it and thought it would be a good addition.  So now it's a total of 29, still less that 2023 but not as much less as I had planned. I consider I have falllen off the wagon and need forgiveness.

Your tomato growing rehab is doing ok JJB. You’re still 5 varieties less than last year. Baby steps, you’ll get there.

New

After trying but mostly failing with beefsteaks, I'm growing mostly cherry or medium size as they'll all be grown outside:

5 x Green Zebra (my favourite!)
3 x Gardener's Delight (2005 vintage)
2 x Aunt Madge's
1 x Jaune Flame
1 x Piglet Willie's French Black

The following six are new to me so just one of each to try them:

1 x Ron's Carbon Copy
1 x Derby Striped
1 x Michael Pollan
1 x Mango Lassi
1 x Gobstopper
1 x Santiam Sunrise 

I also have 2 x Tumbling Tom Yellow sown last month currently enjoying life on a south facing windowsill. 

I've had good results with submarine rootstock from Mole seeds since 2018. Germination not brilliant, 18 out of about 33 seeds this year so far but last year had 100% success with the grafts and would have been a bumper crop except that the season was cut short due to leaf mould.

Spoke too soon, 30 submarine have now germinated and only a couple look too weedy to graft onto. Last year I grafted 27/03 but will beaway for the weekend so will be 1st or 2nd of April this year.

Just been through my tomato seed box and pulled out:-
Aurora
Gardeners Ecstasy
Gardeners Sweetheart
Black Icicle
Paul Robeson
Darby Striped
Irish Gardeners Delight
Mountain Princess
Resi
Primabella
Primavera
Legend
Eva's ball
Reisetomate
Rosella
Ruby Falls
Yellow Stuffer
Tutti Frutti F1
Pertsevidnyy
Artisan Pink Tiger
Rapunzel
Reinhart's Purple Sugar
Radio (one very old seed) I lost the only seed somewhere on the work surface!!

Not sure that all of these will make the final cut but its a start!

I've had good results with submarine rootstock from Mole seeds since 2018. Germination not brilliant, 18 out of about 33 seeds this year so far but last year had 100% success with the grafts and would have been a bumper crop except that the season was cut short due to leaf mould.

Spoke too soon, 30 submarine have now germinated and only a couple look too weedy to graft onto. Last year I grafted 27/03 but will beaway for the weekend so will be 1st or 2nd of April this year.

I've got 80% germination from the Estamino so far, pretty happy with that.

I've had good results with submarine rootstock from Mole seeds since 2018. Germination not brilliant, 18 out of about 33 seeds this year so far but last year had 100% success with the grafts and would have been a bumper crop except that the season was cut short due to leaf mould.

Spoke too soon, 30 submarine have now germinated and only a couple look too weedy to graft onto. Last year I grafted 27/03 but will beaway for the weekend so will be 1st or 2nd of April this year.

I've got 80% germination from the Estamino so far, pretty happy with that.

Here are the two surviving grafting experiments. I obviously got the timing of the sowings wrong because the Estamino romped away and many of the stems were too thick to top graft with the clips I had. To be honest, I found this method of grafting quite fiddly because it was difficult to match the angle precisely and the clips weren't easy to use.

After all of the top grafts failed, I tried some cleft grafting with the remaining rootstocks. I wrapped the graft with tape and pinched it together with a clothes peg. This method was easier and seems more forgiving, and I think I will try side-grafting next time too.

Just been through my tomato seed box and pulled out:-
Aurora
Gardeners Ecstasy
Gardeners Sweetheart
Black Icicle
Paul Robeson
Darby Striped
Irish Gardeners Delight
Mountain Princess
Resi
Primabella
Primavera
Legend
Eva's ball
Reisetomate
Rosella
Ruby Falls
Yellow Stuffer
Tutti Frutti F1
Pertsevidnyy
Artisan Pink Tiger
Rapunzel
Reinhart's Purple Sugar
Radio (one very old seed) I lost the only seed somewhere on the work surface!!

Not sure that all of these will make the final cut but its a start!

The one in Red won places in the GH, some of the others didn't germinate so they have been binned and the rest didn't look brave enough to survive a summer in the GH.

 My final list:


Bloody Butcher - early small salad. Didn't have much success last year, giving it another go.
Honeycomb - orange/yellow cherry. Sweet. May even replace Sungold in future years
Sungold - everyone knows this one
Jaune Flamme - large cherry, dark orange. New. I might find it too thick skinned for P's liking. All the more for me 
Piglet Willie - Dark red. Salad I think.   This and Jaune Flamme courtesy of Garrett, thanks very much. New
Artisan Pink Bumblebee - Pretty pink cherry. New.
Burlesque - Beef. Red and very big. Good flavour last year.
Malachite Box - Beef. Green. Plant a bit weak but I loved the taste last year.
Purple Cherokee - Beef. Dark red. I liked the flavour last year.
Country Taste - Beef. Red. New. Supposedly disease resistant. New
Honeymoon  - Large pink fruit, supposedly blight resistant and good taste. New
Super Sauce - Large Plum sauce type. New

Last minute afterthoughts
Shirley
Rosella
Auntie Madge's new
Chadwick Cherry new
Black Cherry
Girl Girl's Weird Thing 
Red Zebra new
Garnet new


Outside - all blight resistant

Oh Happy Day - Big salad. Red. New
Crimson Crush - Salad. Red. New
Mountain Magic - Red. Did well for me last year
Primabella, Primavera - Large cherry. Red. Couldn't make my mind up which one, so decided on  both.
Crimson blush new

Outside in pots (as long as vine weevil permits)

Orangeto - Orange cherry. Semi bush. Supposedly sweet new

A lot of hybrids this year as an experiment. I was really disappointed with the greenhouse yield last year and am interested in how hybrids do indoors. The two open pollinated greenhouse varieties will be (hopefully) grafted onto Estamino F1 rootstock for some extra vigour and disease resistance. If the grafting is a success then I'll probably ditch the hybrids in the greenhouse and go back to interesting open pollinated varieties next year.

Almost all of the outdoor varieties are blight resistant, except for Orange Paruche, Sparky XSL and Super Mama. One plant each of most, except for Nagina and Super Mama which will (maybe) be 9 of each.

Greenhouse:

Big Daddy F1
Bountiful F1
Burlesque F1
Girl Girl's Weird Thing
Pink Honeymoon F1
Polaris
Rose Crush F1
Y Ddraig Goch F1

Outdoors:

Vine Cherries/Mediums:

Black Moon F1
Cocktail Crush F1
Crimson Crush F1
Crokini F1
Merrygold F1
Orange Paruche
Rubylicious F1
Sparky XSL
Toddler F1

Vine Plums:

Nagina F1
Super Mama F1

Bush Cherries:

Celano F1
Lizzano F1
Losetto F1
Orangeto F1
Romello F1

Mine is mostly the same except Cowboy has replaced Girl Girl's Weird Thing in the greenhouse. Outdoors, I added Consuelo (Crimson Cherry). The Orange Paruche aren't looking very happy, seem quite susceptible to septoria or some other early fungal disease, so I haven't planted one yet. I didn't sow Romello, and replaced Lizzano with Terenzo.