Heritage tomato planting

[Rabidbun]

Anyone ever grown the following types of tomatoes that might have tips as to what they like/don't like compared to the more usual ones that tend to be grown?

Gold Medal tomato
Bloody Butcher tomato
Dr Wyche's Yellow tomato
White Beauty tomato
Norwegian tomato - Skok Chirok
Russian Lemon Plum tomato

Am only average at tomatoes, and am quite keen to get a decent crop this year, but am just wondering, with all these weird and wonderful varieties, if I might have bitten off a bit much this year!

Course, if they Ever arrive, will be slightly less stressed, lol. On the website 28 working days sounds such a short time but seems sooo much longer irl. I've probably got the seed bug a bit bad.

[smallblueplanet]

Have tried Bloody Butcher, can't remember too much about it...early & tasty?

IMO if you're 'average' at growing toms you should stick with some tried & tested varieties like gardeners delight, alicante... I've grown loads of heritage varieties of toms but have ditched most of them to grow more 'straightforward' varieties to ensure a decent crop from outdoor toms. But I imagine others will say different.

[Rabidbun]

I may have killed Gardeners Delight last year . Probably not a good sign. Those were outdoor though, and am worst at those.

[SarzWix]

I've grown Bloody Butcher. They were reasonably easy plants to grow and look after, happy inside or out.
Sorry I can't help with the others, but never heard of them!

My 2 fail-safe varieties are Sungold and Shirley, which are both F1's But they do crop reliably every year...

[Alison]

My favourite toms last year were the ones which PW had self saved from some French market toms, really really tasty and will be growing again this year.

Some of the heritage types can be a bit unruly so it's worth keeping an eye on their growth however the taste of some of the old varieties is so intense and I find it much better than some of the more standard varieties. I'd say, give them a go and see how you get on but maybe try something more standard also as a back up.

[Rabidbun]

Thanks guys, much appreciated. Will err on the side of caution then when planting my seeds next month then and go for a standard one or two varieties (probably will give Gardeners Delight another go and take a look at those F1s, cheers). At this rate there'll be room for nothing but tomatoes (with bizarre rigged up cover across the raised beds somehow) and beans in the garden!

Am glad that Bloody Butcher sounds like it's going to be good to grow, a couple of the others are meant to get huge (as in needing rigging to support it huge), so will make sure and stamp on em firmly, thanks Alison.

[Flummery]

To be honest I don't find heritage toms any harder to grow than any other - with the proviso that you do need to check regularly on the staking.
Good luck with thrm.

[crazii_c]

i was looking at 'plants of distinction' and they've got loads of unusual and interesting tomatoes. unfortunatly i have already bought all my tomato seeds for this year. but next year i will deff be trying to grow a couple of the more unusal kinds with some more reliable types aswell. i cant wait!

[Jillyreeves]

This year is my first year growing Heritage Tomatoes, I figure they cant be any harder than regular tomatoes to grow......... hope Im not wrong :-)

[Rabidbun]

Will keep fingers crossed for you too then *grin*.

Am currently trying to design some staking that won't fall over much, thanks for the heads up Flummery! Now, if I can only hold off on planting them till there's enough sun to keep them on the low end of leggy! *is impatient now*

Still trying to come up with a way to tell "him indoors" that I might just need a teeny tiny extra plastic greenhouse on top of all the others and that I've overbought on the seeds again this year...

*bookmarks Plants of Distinction for next year*

[Jillyreeves]

I will cross my fingers for both of us :-) Good luck.

[Flummery]

Not all heritage types need serious staking but many of them are beefsteak types and a full truss is very heavy!

[Janek]

G'Day Rabidbun!

There is nothing "weird and wonderful" about the tomato varieties you have listed. I have grown out all of them except the Norwegian one and they had good flavour. But, our growing seasons here are totally different to the UK with maximum temperatures in our growing season at or around the old century mark (37 degrees C) almost every day. The fancy-smansy, thin-walled, thin-skinned varieties don't make it here. In just two days they can go from almost ripe to a rotten, stinking mess after being cooked on the vine. So, as you can see from my comments, growing environments are the key. If all is in unison you get great results. So, my advice is be bold and grow them out and see. You have nothing to lose and if they do well for you all other gardeners will envy you!

[sarraceniac]

Grown White Beauty - once. They got me really excited as the trusses were huge. As Flum says they need good staking - and I didn't, not good enough anyway. They ended up snapping off and rotting on the greenhouse floor where I couldn't see them. The ones I did get were not really white - just a medium size yellow beefsteak. Cost me a meal out to keep Lady S. quiet about the whole fiasco.

[Janek]

G'Day Sarraceniac!

It doesn't hurt to have a romantic nite out now and again! White tomatoes are not white but primrose - a very pale yellow. As with most yellow varieties they have to be eaten as soon as they turn ripe as the longer you leave them on the vine the more bland they get.