Has anyone tried these? The claim is that they do not need minimum
temperatures to set fruit. If this is true, it would go a long way to
justifying the seed price. Also, if you have been successful with these,
have you been able to save seed that stayed true to type?

Mike

On Mon, 12 Jun 2006 14:48:34 +1200,
(Mike) wrote:

Has anyone tried these? The claim is that they do not need minimum
temperatures to set fruit. If this is true, it would go a long way to
justifying the seed price. Also, if you have been successful with these,
have you been able to save seed that stayed true to type?

I tried them as my early tomatoes one year, and only got so so
results. The problem was not the temperatures, though, it was when I
was at the height of the spit!thrip problem in my yard, and they
rapidly succumbed to Tomato Spotted Wilt virus. I guess I should give
them another chance.

For early tomatoes, the most consistent producer that I've had is the
Polish heirloom Stupice. It's disease resistant, produces golf ball to
tennis ball-size tomatoes a good month earlier than anything else, and
keeps producing in the summer heat. Last year I cut about 10 green
tomatoes off the vine in late October when we had our first frost
warning.

They do have green shoulders, which fussy people have a problem with,
but they're very flavorful.


Penelope
--
"Maybe you'd like to ask the Wizard for a heart."
"ElissaAnn"

Yes, I tried them once, two years ago in hope of getting early season
tomatoes. While I did get some smallish fruit, my plants didn't make it
through the summer. By the time I pulled them they were not too pretty.
I didn't bother trying to save the seed. I would not plant these again,
even for late season tomatoes, as I have found that Better Boy produces
for me right up until frost and is quite disease resistant.

J.

Mike wrote:
Has anyone tried these? The claim is that they do not need minimum
temperatures to set fruit. If this is true, it would go a long way to
justifying the seed price. Also, if you have been successful with these,
have you been able to save seed that stayed true to type?

Mike

Siberian, Russian and Ukranian tomatoes are chosen because they have a short season and will set at lower temperatures. I grow Black Prince which is the most commonly grown commercial variety in Russia. It does well outside and seed runs true.