Tomato Gallery

Ambrosia Red

The Ambrosia line of tomatoes were bred from Sungold F1 by J&L Gardens. Vigorous, early and very productive but the fruit should be bigger and a more intense red. The flavour is pretty poor and nothing like what it should be (very sweet and sungoldy). Perhaps it's still an unstable strain or the seller saved seed from an off-type plant.

Galina

I've grown this the last couple of years in a greenhouse but not cared for it particularly well. Last year 2 plants @ 3.3kg (just over 7lb.) each. This year it is a bit in the shade in the greenhouse and just 1 plant. Just 650g picked so far but could probably go and get another 500g now as  they keep well on the plant. The trusses don't have many fruit on them so  Real Seeds advise letting a few side shoots develop for more trusses. I've just looked as the trusses and most flowers is 9 with about 6 being most common. I ould hope to get 4 to 5kg this year.

Rosella

Very productive cherry. Similar to Black Cherry but a bit darker/richer in colour and more of a (tropical?) fruity taste.

That sounds very interesting as i've rather fallen out of love with black cherry this year, the fruit dropping off before they ripen and was looking for an alternative.

Galina

I've grown this the last couple of years in a greenhouse but not cared for it particularly well. Last year 2 plants @ 3.3kg (just over 7lb.) each. This year it is a bit in the shade in the greenhouse and just 1 plant. Just 650g picked so far but could probably go and get another 500g now as  they keep well on the plant. The trusses don't have many fruit on them so  Real Seeds advise letting a few side shoots develop for more trusses. I've just looked as the trusses and most flowers is 9 with about 6 being most common. I ould hope to get 4 to 5kg this year.

Yeah I recall reading that on Real Seeds before, so I let it grow 3 stems. Like you say, not many fruit per truss, and I also found them to be very variable in size. Just cut it down and stripped the fruit off as it had a bit of blight on the leaves.

Cherry Tomatoes

This year I've grown (from left to right)

   

Gardener's Delight - I've always grown this, but I probably won't for the next few years as the production has been very poor with low pollination so only a small number of fruit. The two plants are on the outside edge of the open-sided roofed square frame so insect access is not a problem. Reasonable blight resistance.

Cherry Roma - first time growing this and to be honest a disappointment. The plants have been small and weak ever since their very slow germination, and as a result have been very late into production, Taste is quite unremarkable, although they look pretty on the plate. I'd hoped to be able to roast whole trusses but they ripen at too different rates. Quite blighty!

Sungold - as delicious, productive & reliable as ever, but is it worth the price? And the only F1 in the whole potager (apart from some gifted aubergines!). Very healthy plants. You pays yer money ...

Black Cherry - not so good this year, the fruit dropping before they become ripe. Slow into production. Good blight resistance.

Also grown in a pot Tiny Tim - very blighty this year, but the pot was out in the open so hardly a shock. Small fruit prone to splitting despite regular watering, but maybe not enough for the pot (there are also a couple of aubergines and a chilli plant in the same pot - all spares with nowhere else to go!). Flavour ok.

PP, it's easy to start plants from the armpit "suckers" just plant two expensive seed and propagate more from cuttings?

Absolutely! I normally do for the plums, but as I only grow one of two of each cherry variety anyway it doesn't help much

Oh, I thought you may be growing a dozen

Tomatoes now in full production for the rest of the month and well into October and beyond I hope. They are grafted and were quite a bit slower than other plants I grew. There is one gardeners delight near the door which is loaded now, then a few alicante and at the far end, in a bit of shade the galina. So far had 6lb off the gardeners delight and 3 off the galina with 5.5lb on average off each of the alicante.

   

Final tomato photo for the year  

Rosella Purple

Another Dwarf Tomato Project variety. Similar in growth habit to Tasmanian Chocolate and potentially the same problems of the foliage being too dense and being a magnet for botytris at this time of year. Very good yield and the taste is excellent.