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forty years of tomato growing.

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  • forty years of tomato growing.

    Hi-all, this is the first time I have been on this forum as a member, as I usually hang about with lots of friends in the hobby on the american and european forums for several years now, and only recently discovered this home grown forum here in the UK.

    To date I have collected about 2,000 varieties of tomatoes some of them quite rare and unique , about a hundred varieties of peppers hot and cold, and about forty varieties of squashes giant and normal.

    To date many of the Russian varieties of tomatoes are proving ideal for the british climate and seem to enjoy it, rarer varieties from the USA like the many Brandywine types require more care and looking after but you are rewarded by a wonderfull tasting tomato if you are lucky.

    at the end of each season I exchange hundreds of varieties of seeds in a seed swop to anyone that is interested, the current favourite is the O.S.U. Blue, which is a rare variety from the USA developed by Oregon state University, and is of deep blue/black colour which also spreads into the stems and leaves at times.

    I live in Nottingham UK and am available for e-mail contact regarding tomato seed swaps at any time, throughout the year- currently I am mainly interested in only the rarer more unusual types from around the world. the rarer the better, also giant tomatoes over two pounds and upwards to 6lb where available in either beefsteakes or oxhearts, and currently have no less than six giant varieties on trial this season from all around the world, Russia. USA, and Europe.

    Some people in the Uk experiance great difficulty in growing tomatoes outside in their gardens and ripening a crop, my outside growing has been going on for the past fifteen years and regularly reach a height of six to eight foot in height and ripen quite well by the end of summer, if you put the right fertilizer down for them in the spring you will have no further problems growing them-Vitax Q4 is the one to beat, together with miracle grow standard or the rose one for mid season feeding,at four week intervals.
    as a growing on compost in pots for massive root growth early in the season you just cant beat the new (Westland Multipurpose + ) made from recycled and composted wood waste, wonderfull stuff benn using it for two years now.

  • #2
    Interesting stuff! Do you have a favourite tomato as far as flavour goes?
    Welcome to the Vine!

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    • #3
      Welcome to the Vine from me too Michael.

      You sound like a vertitable mine of information! First came Tattieman now Tomatoman.
      Hope you enjoy the Vine, we're a very enthusiastic bunch here.

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      • #4
        Welcome

        We love the experts on here - the OSU blue sounds fab.

        Will look forward to the advice that you can give us with gusto.

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        • #5
          Hi and welcome Michael.
          Have you discovered La Bourdaisiere in the Loire Valley in France, near Vouvray? The guy there has devoted himself to growing hundreds of heritage tomatoes organically. Well worth a visit if you are ever that way, qualifies for for free entry if you are a member of the RHS.
          Last edited by Lottieval; 24-06-2009, 11:53 PM.

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          • #6
            "Yes"- two actually, Brandywine various types and forms on a good year, and the cherry tomato Piccolo which unfortunateley is an F1 hybrid , but I believe there are now new forms that are not a hybrid, called Piccolo improved.

            Lottieval- No, I have never heard of them before and would love to find the details of the place and either visit it in person or contact them through the internet, thanks for the tip.

            Zazen999- yes the O.S.U. -Blue is a very interesting tomato, I continue to be fascinated by it again this year, I grew it for the first time last year, and it is quite a difficult tomato to grow-but spectacular in it's colour and never fails to be the main talking point from any visitors who call at your home and see them-most just can't believe that they are real.

            The reason it is a difficult tomato to grow until you become used to it's peculiar ways and habits whilst learning about it, it then becomes fairly easy from then on.

            The difficult part is reading the colour change, which fools lots of people into thinking they are ripe, as they change from green marble size tomatoes to very dark blue/black at around the same time, and remain this colour right through until they ripen to full size -which on average is about as big as medium salad tomatoes in some cases, during the growing period some of the plants -(not all) display dark blue to deep purple black main stems and some of the main leaves have this blue colour on the undersides of the leaves and tips,
            The resulting tomato is trusses of around eight or more tomatoes hanging all the way up the plant stem which are a indeterminate type and should be grown as a tall cordon plant.

            The tomato is photo sensitive to sunlight ,from which it get's it's colour from, and plants should be grown outside only, and in full sun. where they turn this deep shiny blue/black and look for all the world like giant black currents hanging on the vine-good samples of it are approx the same colour as black currents.

            On the back of each tomato on the truss is a small area about half an inch across which remains green, it is only when this small area turns a bright red that the tomato is deemed to be ripe and ready for cutting.
            Taste is very similar to a sweet cherry tomato with slight Licorice overtones, quite nice once you get used to it.

            If tomatoes are grown in a greenhouse instead, they get about a third bigger in size, but do not display the blue colour like the outside grown ones -until about two weeks before they are ripe, then all of a sudden they go blue/black followed by the little red patch at the back of the tomato-all within a two week period, they also do not display the blue colour in the stems and leaves like the outside grown ones and the foliage remains a lush green from start to finish- I grew both types last year in and out of the greenhouse.
            Last edited by SarzWix; 25-06-2009, 09:10 AM.

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            • #7
              welcome!
              do you ever get blight?

              and ... got any pics of your stunners?
              All gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb.

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              • #8
                Hi Michael,

                Château de la Bourdaisière, l'art de vivre autour des jardins - Le château hôtel du Prince Jardinier

                It's all become a lot more up market than when we first visited and he was just growing toms. I guess that like here diversifying is all the name of the game these days,

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                • #9
                  Lottieval - that place looks fab.

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                  • #10
                    Hi Michael and welcome,
                    Wow, you sound like you know what your on about, the O.S.U.Blue sounds fantastic, i would love to try them, but i don't have anything unusual to swap with you, i've only got into tomato growing the last 4 years, but i love it...

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                    • #11
                      Michael - two questions...

                      a - whereabouts in Nottingham?

                      b - do you open your garden for the NGS?

                      [I'm being cheeky - but if you do open the garden for ngs, let me know the number in the brochure and we're there - sounds absolutely wonderful]

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