Hi, We now have three ripening clusters of Stupice tomatoes, which
appear
like cherry tomatoes about 1 1/4" diameter, even though they are not
classified as such. Also a ripening Beam's Yellow Pear tomato which
appears
¾" long. How long should they remain ripe-on-the-vine for optimum
size and taste? Is the best time to pick after a full day of sun?
Regards, Phil

wrote:
Hi, We now have three ripening clusters of Stupice tomatoes, which
appear
like cherry tomatoes about 1 1/4" diameter, even though they are not
classified as such. Also a ripening Beam's Yellow Pear tomato which
appears
¾" long. How long should they remain ripe-on-the-vine for optimum
size and taste? Is the best time to pick after a full day of sun?
Regards, Phil

You will have to taste them to find out. The taste depends on pH,
manuring, sunshine. I have both your varieties, and this year the YP
are sweeter than in the past. Mixed in with a sharper Stupice, they
make better yellow-red salads than in years past. Stupice is the
workhorse of the upper midwest tomato garden, great little tomato.

Color is a good indicator. When the Yellow Pear turn completely yellow, that is

probably the optimum time. If you leave them on too long, they will start to
develop
a brownish cast, which is a sign of over ripeness. The red tomatoes behave
differently depending on variety. Some will turn completely red or purple,
while others stubbornly won't change color, close to the stem. I will give
these later tomatoes a few days of sun to completely color up, but if they start
showing signs of
over softness, I pick them anyways. The longer you can keep them on the vine
without spoiling, the sweeter they become. Once you sample taste them, you can
associate color with amount of ripeness.

Sherwin D.



wrote:

Hi, We now have three ripening clusters of Stupice tomatoes, which
appear
like cherry tomatoes about 1 1/4" diameter, even though they are not
classified as such. Also a ripening Beam's Yellow Pear tomato which
appears
¾" long. How long should they remain ripe-on-the-vine for optimum
size and taste? Is the best time to pick after a full day of sun?
Regards, Phil

simy1 wrote:
wrote:
Hi, We now have three ripening clusters of Stupice tomatoes, which
appear like cherry tomatoes about 1 1/4" diameter, even though they are not

You will have to taste them to find out. The taste depends on pH,
manuring, sunshine. I have both your varieties, and this year the YP
are sweeter than in the past. Mixed in with a sharper Stupice, they
make better yellow-red salads than in years past. Stupice is the
workhorse of the upper midwest tomato garden, great little tomato.

We made our first harvest last weekend. We had two Yellow Pears that
have
normal 3" size which were hibachi'd and tasted fine and were meaty. We
had about 20 Stupice that still only about 1 1/4" diameter. The
Brandywines are still all green but many fruits will be 3+ inch size
and
larger. Planted seedling 3rd week in June, about 3 wks after Memorial
Day last frost date. Our vines are quite tall, over 6 feet and
climbing! So far no disease or bugs; our first trial.

Why are our Brandywines taking so long? Why is there such a fruit size
difference between Stupice and Brandywines? Only one Brandywine showed
blossom end rot; bought some hydrated lime but not applied. They are
planted in same plot. Our first frost date is October 1st. Regards,
Phil

wrote:
simy1 wrote:

Why are our Brandywines taking so long? Why is there such a fruit size
difference between Stupice and Brandywines? Only one Brandywine showed
blossom end rot; bought some hydrated lime but not applied. They are
planted in same plot. Our first frost date is October 1st. Regards,
Phil

Brandywine are late season. Stupice are ultra early, and yellow pear
are early.
I use wood ash to lime my tomatoes (and everything else). If you were
to get San Marzano and Early Girl, you would be growing every tomato I
am growing.

simy1 wrote:
wrote:
simy1 wrote:

Why are our Brandywines taking so long? Why is there such a fruit size
difference between Stupice and Brandywines? Only one Brandywine showed
blossom end rot; bought some hydrated lime but not applied. They are
planted in same plot. Our first frost date is October 1st. Regards,
Phil

Brandywine are late season. Stupice are ultra early, and yellow pear
are early.
I use wood ash to lime my tomatoes (and everything else). If you were
to get San Marzano and Early Girl, you would be growing every tomato I
am growing.

Since Minneapolis, Twin Cities, Minn end of tomato growing season is
possibly 5 weeks away should we be doing any pruning to enhance fruit
ripening? The vines are growing prolifically right now, 6 ft going on 7
ft, with lots of blossoms and setting. We have stopped fertilizing
about 2 weeks ago.

On the Stupice, will reducing fruit load mean the fruit will be larger?
Right now they seem to be OK fresh and maybe bagged for the freezer.
Certainly not for canning!

Eg, cut off new blossoms, top the leader, prune off the suckers, other
ideas?

Regards, Phil

On 24 Aug 2006 14:57:43 -0700, wrote:


Why are our Brandywines taking so long? Why is there such a fruit size
difference between Stupice and Brandywines?

They're different varieties, that's why. Brandywines have been
selected to produce fewer but larger tomatoes, and it takes longer
for them to grow. Stupice have been selected to produce lots of
tomatoes quickly in cooler temperatures, thus the size of the tomatoes
is smaller.

This fall, get some gardening catalogues or peruse the web for
heirloom tomatoes. Read up on the different varieties, find out which
ones do well in your area. Most catalog descriptions tell you how
large the fruit is, and an approximate number of days from
transplanting to ripe fruit. Think about what you want to do with the
tomato; some are better for eating fresh, some make better tomato
paste, and some are recommended for canning. Do you want large,
slicing tomatoes, tomatoes for salad, ect. And then try not to get
carried away by all the luscious sounding tomatoes, and order ten
times more than you could ever plant!

I grow a mix. I like Stupice for my early tomatoes. In my zone 8 yard,
I can sometimes get ripe tomatoes the first week of May with Stupice.
But I like large slicing tomatoes, too, so I grow a few Brandywines. I
tried a new tomato this year, Tropic, and I was very pleased with its
performance. I also gave Ozark Pinks a try, and they did ok. I bought
a tomato that started with a "z" at the Spring Flower Festival from a
man with an heirloom tomato booth that did well, but I lost the
blasted tag! I hope he comes back next year.


Penelope

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

wrote:

Since Minneapolis, Twin Cities, Minn end of tomato growing season is
possibly 5 weeks away should we be doing any pruning to enhance fruit
ripening? The vines are growing prolifically right now, 6 ft going on 7
ft, with lots of blossoms and setting. We have stopped fertilizing
about 2 weeks ago.

On the Stupice, will reducing fruit load mean the fruit will be larger?
Right now they seem to be OK fresh and maybe bagged for the freezer.
Certainly not for canning!

Eg, cut off new blossoms, top the leader, prune off the suckers, other
ideas?

Regards, Phil

don't know how to advise you on this one. I never do anything of the
sort, though I do get earlier and poorer fruiting from stressed plants.
In another post someone has suggested driving a spade in the ground
near the plant to cut part of the roots.

Penelope Periwinkle wrote:
On 24 Aug 2006 14:57:43 -0700, wrote:

Why are our Brandywines taking so long? Why is there such a fruit size
difference between Stupice and Brandywines?

They're different varieties, that's why. Brandywines have been
selected to produce fewer but larger tomatoes, and it takes longer
for them to grow. Stupice have been selected to produce lots of
tomatoes quickly in cooler temperatures, thus the size of the tomatoes
is smaller.

This fall, get some gardening catalogues or peruse the web for
heirloom tomatoes. Read up on the different varieties, find out which
ones do well in your area.

We bought Stupice seedlings from Seed Savers.org in Decorah, Iowa.
Their description in catalog is:

"One of the four original Czechoslovakian varieties sent to the U. S.
by Milan Sodomka. Potato-leaf 4' plants loaded with 2½" by 2" diameter
fruits borne in clusters. Extremely early, great flavor. Heavy yields
all season. Produces well in northern climates. Indeterminate, 55-70
days from transplant."

Our Stupice fruit is 1" too small. It seems that the Brandywines are
more typical,

"Our best selling tomato and one of the best tasting tomatoes available
to gardeners today. Large pink beefsteak fruits to 2 pounds. Incredibly
rich, delightfully intense tomato flavor. Indeterminate, 90 days from
transplant."

We will harvest our first Brandywine tomorrow and tell you our opinion.



I grow a mix. I like Stupice for my early tomatoes. In my zone 8 yard,
I can sometimes get ripe tomatoes the first week of May with Stupice.
But I like large slicing tomatoes, too, so I grow a few Brandywines.

wrote:
Penelope Periwinkle wrote:
On 24 Aug 2006 14:57:43 -0700, wrote:

Why are our Brandywines taking so long? Why is there such a fruit size
difference between Stupice and Brandywines?

They're different varieties, that's why. Brandywines have been
selected to produce fewer but larger tomatoes, and it takes longer

We will harvest our first Brandywine tomorrow and tell you our opinion.

Our first pink Brandywine was 4 1/2" diameter. It had a lot of fissures
near the stem end but else was intact and had no blemished areas. After
trimming away the fissures and cutting out the extended stem-like-green
inside the tomato, we tasted it and it tasted just like all other
tomatoes. Other than the size, it wasn't much different than other
vine-ripened tomatoes or the Stupice. Is this the typical experience of
other Hierloom growers?

Lucky for us there are many other Brandywines, still green, on the two
6 ft vines.

Our largest Stupice still is about 1 1/2", now into our third partial
harvest. Any way to encourage growth to 2 1/2", the advertised size?
Regards, Phil

I'm still waiting on my Branywines but the Striped German tomatoes have
just reached maturity. I was reading "The Politics of Food" by Marion
Nestle, when my wife put the evening salad on the table. I finished a
couple of more sentences when the purfume of tomatoes wafted into my
consciousness. The tomatoes weren't overwhelming in flavor. No full body
orgasm as you might expect fom heroin but subtly, persuasivly tomato-y
(not to put too fine a point on it). I was pleased with my season's work.

I suspect that like wine tasting, the emotional component can influence
taste. Sometimes your taste buds are best in the morning, or when you
are very hungry, or when you are relaxed and having a good time.

And no I wasn't being a male sexist pig being waited on by my wife. We
were having left-overs from the previous couple of days, "giant
zucchini" lasagna, garden pesto, and smoked chicken breast salad that I
had cooked. My "liebchen" took the opportunity to promenade the garden
for the tomatoes for the tomato salad* and the pleasure of it.

- Bill

* red onion + mozzarella + basil + vinagrette

In article . com,
wrote:

wrote:
Penelope Periwinkle wrote:
On 24 Aug 2006 14:57:43 -0700, wrote:

Why are our Brandywines taking so long? Why is there such a fruit size
difference between Stupice and Brandywines?

They're different varieties, that's why. Brandywines have been
selected to produce fewer but larger tomatoes, and it takes longer

We will harvest our first Brandywine tomorrow and tell you our opinion.

Our first pink Brandywine was 4 1/2" diameter. It had a lot of fissures
near the stem end but else was intact and had no blemished areas. After
trimming away the fissures and cutting out the extended stem-like-green
inside the tomato, we tasted it and it tasted just like all other
tomatoes. Other than the size, it wasn't much different than other
vine-ripened tomatoes or the Stupice. Is this the typical experience of
other Hierloom growers?

Lucky for us there are many other Brandywines, still green, on the two
6 ft vines.

Our largest Stupice still is about 1 1/2", now into our third partial
harvest. Any way to encourage growth to 2 1/2", the advertised size?
Regards, Phil

William L. Rose wrote:
I'm still waiting on my Branywines but the Striped German tomatoes have
just reached maturity. I was reading "The Politics of Food" by Marion
Nestle, when my wife put the evening salad on the table. I finished a
couple of more sentences when the purfume of tomatoes wafted into my
consciousness. The tomatoes weren't overwhelming in flavor. No full body
orgasm as you might expect fom heroin but subtly, persuasivly tomato-y
(not to put too fine a point on it). I was pleased with my season's work.


Hi Bill and All, Have made second harvest of Brandywines, about eight
each of 4+ incher. The taste is much better. Since we have been having
2 weeks of rain and cool damp weather, mildew has appeared and attacked
the Brandywines first. We got some organic mildewcide, but probably
with the cool fall weather, it will be too late to be any use. Our
first frost, in SE Minnesota, probably will occur on schedule in a
couple weeks, Oct 1.

It appears that the Beam's Yellow Pear tomatoes is going to be far and
away the most prolific heirloom, with vines 8+ft long. They are
overtaking the Brandywines, Amish Paste, and Stupice. The Amish Paste
were the least productive. Too bad the 1 inch long Beam's tomatoes are
more trouble than they are worth!

During the cool, rainy spell, the Stupice are showing skin cracking on
the shoulder of almost every tomato. What causes this?

Should we harvest all tomatoes (ripe or not) during the eve of the
first hard frost?

Regards, Phil

-----

In article . com,
wrote:

wrote:
Penelope Periwinkle wrote:
On 24 Aug 2006 14:57:43 -0700, wrote:

Why are our Brandywines taking so long? Why is there such a fruit size
difference between Stupice and Brandywines?

They're different varieties, that's why. Brandywines have been
selected to produce fewer but larger tomatoes, and it takes longer

Our largest Stupice still is about 1 1/2", now into our third partial
harvest. Any way to encourage growth to 2 1/2", the advertised size?
Regards, Phil

Silicon,
I guess if I were you I would harvest everything and put the green
tomatoes on a window sill to ripen.

If you have the time and the energy, you may want to build a green house
(tunnel) over your tomatoes, if you think there may be more good days
ahead.

The following is a discussion I had with "simy1"

James wrote:

Huh? A PVC pipe for each hoop costs $1.60. 100 feet of 12 ft poly costs
$27. The clamps will cost you another $20, and you have to have some
bricks to hold down the poly on windy days (concrete chunks will do as
well). If treated well, the poly lasts three years and the clamps and
hoops last forever. You are looking at $15 per winter harvest.

Works if you don't live in a windy area. It's easier to hold down the
poly than to keep it from tearing. Hoop tunnels 2' or 3' may work
better in windy areas.

I live in a fairly windy area. It took me a couple winters to get the
tunnels down pat. You need clamps, double clamps at the end of the
tunnels, and a smooth tunnel with some poly laying on the path, wieghed
down by bricks, so that no air can get inside. I never had a blowout
when there is deep snow, it seals the tunnels perfectly.

Yes, the tunnels are low enough that you can crawl under. The beds are
about 25 ft long, and 4ft wide, so one sheet, cut into three, covers
them all with a few feet of waste. You need the sheets to be several
feet longer than the beds to tuck the ends properly.

You buy the PVC pipes at Home Depot that are, from memory, 3/4" thick.
You also buy the 100X12 rolls of clear plastic from the Paint section.
I prefer 4mils, but 6 or even 2 will usually do (I have tried all
three). The PVC pipes are 12 ft long. You cut them at an angle at the
tips, bend them, and stick them one foot into the ground on either
side. Total hoop length: 10 feet.

You can either put a hoop every four feet, which makes it a bit
difficult to maneuver a wheelbarrow, or every 7 feet, like I do, and
them put an extra pipe on top of the hoops for extra strength, secured
to the hoops with cable ties and a screw to avoid slipping. The top
pipes are connected to one another with PVC cement and a connector,
exactly as if you were building your plumbing.

Once you have all the hoops in place, and I leave them there, summer
and winter, you garden the beds normally until it is time to cover
them. The clamps can be found at Territorial Seeds and are half
cylinder that clamp onto the pipes tigthly, grabbing the plastic. They
are excellent. The one foot of plastic on either side (12-10=2) can be
held down with bricks. The ends, too, can be held down with bricks. The
secret to keep the tunnels going in windy weather is to make sure as
little air as possible comes in. Specially the ends, I put down a
continuous line of bricks to eliminate air leaks. If there is snow on
the ground, no air comes in and the seal is perfect.

The plastic I am suggesting is not UV-treated and is not indicated for
summer use. In my case, I use it for about 3-4 years, and typically I
toss it due to various mechanical tears, like when I try to get ice off
of it. There is negligible UV degradation in the winter. I cover on the
Thanksgiving weekend and uncover on April 1.

That's the best advice I can offer but with any luck someone else in the
news group will come up with a different approach.

I'm in Northern California and my main concern is rain that can hammer
my plants into a pulp. Hopefully I'll be able to address this problem
but presently I am working 10 to 11 hours a day, 6 days a week, which
leaves me precious little time for my garden. However, Sunday my wife
and I smoked some ribs and the last of our corn. She made some potatoes
with onion and garlic and I did a tomato salade with basil and
mozzarella, and a side dish of romano beans. It was one of the best
meals we have had this year. There is nothing like cooking from the
garden.

Good luck and start planning for next year, if you haven't already.

- Bill

In article .com,
wrote:

William L. Rose wrote:
I'm still waiting on my Branywines but the Striped German tomatoes have
just reached maturity. I was reading "The Politics of Food" by Marion
Nestle, when my wife put the evening salad on the table. I finished a
couple of more sentences when the purfume of tomatoes wafted into my
consciousness. The tomatoes weren't overwhelming in flavor. No full body
orgasm as you might expect fom heroin but subtly, persuasivly tomato-y
(not to put too fine a point on it). I was pleased with my season's work.


Hi Bill and All, Have made second harvest of Brandywines, about eight
each of 4+ incher. The taste is much better. Since we have been having
2 weeks of rain and cool damp weather, mildew has appeared and attacked
the Brandywines first. We got some organic mildewcide, but probably
with the cool fall weather, it will be too late to be any use. Our
first frost, in SE Minnesota, probably will occur on schedule in a
couple weeks, Oct 1.

It appears that the Beam's Yellow Pear tomatoes is going to be far and
away the most prolific heirloom, with vines 8+ft long. They are
overtaking the Brandywines, Amish Paste, and Stupice. The Amish Paste
were the least productive. Too bad the 1 inch long Beam's tomatoes are
more trouble than they are worth!

During the cool, rainy spell, the Stupice are showing skin cracking on
the shoulder of almost every tomato. What causes this?

Should we harvest all tomatoes (ripe or not) during the eve of the
first hard frost?

Regards, Phil

-----

In article . com,
wrote:

wrote:
Penelope Periwinkle wrote:
On 24 Aug 2006 14:57:43 -0700, wrote:

Why are our Brandywines taking so long? Why is there such a fruit
size
difference between Stupice and Brandywines?

They're different varieties, that's why. Brandywines have been
selected to produce fewer but larger tomatoes, and it takes longer

Our largest Stupice still is about 1 1/2", now into our third partial
harvest. Any way to encourage growth to 2 1/2", the advertised size?
Regards, Phil

William L. Rose wrote:
Silicon,
I guess if I were you I would harvest everything and put the green
tomatoes on a window sill to ripen.

If you have the time and the energy, you may want to build a green house
(tunnel) over your tomatoes, if you think there may be more good days
ahead.

Hi William and All,

As the snow and ice drop into Minnesota today, 10/11, from the North
Pole, we have harvested all the red (reddish) tomatoes and green
peppers. Our top bearing heirloom tomatoes were Brandywine, Stupice,
Beam's Yellow Pear and least Amish Paste.

We did experience mildew disease late in the season. But decided not to
use the copper mildewcide so late in the season; just killed watering,
and let our sandy soil stop it spread. The vines are held up with many
6ft bamboo poles.

The Beam's Yellow Pears were the most prolific bearing, but most are
still green and the snow is gonna cover the still blooming flowers. The
Beam's were least favored, as the tomatoes are too small, about 1 1/4"
long and the flesh tastes meally and tasteless. However, the cluster
bunches are attractive looking. Regards, Phil


During the cool, rainy spell, the Stupice are showing skin cracking on
the shoulder of almost every tomato. What causes this?

Should we harvest all tomatoes (ripe or not) during the eve of the
first hard frost?

Regards, Phil

Phil,
the Summer was disappointing here in Northern California. The season got
off to a late start, for us, with heavy rains through April. Normally we
are in the ground by the first of April. I haven't grown heirloom
tomatoes before but they have given a good accounting of themselves.
They even ripened before my "Early Girls". Right now, I am where we
normally are by the first of August. But of course the mildew has
arrived, killing off the squash, except for the lemon cucumber, and is
starting to move on to the tomatoes. This must sound wonderful to you,
but it is not what the locals expect here.

The Brandywines have been great, large, meaty, with good acid to give
them that tang. The Striped Germans where large and meaty but with
decidedly less tang (acidity). Both were good and both give lots of
liquids if left over night. I'm glad that I planted some Juliets for my
salsa sauce. The Early Girls, First Lady, and the Juliets are still
producing unblemished fruit, whereas the Brandywines and the Striped
Germans are showing considerable cosmetic damage.

I am surprised how quickly the Brandywine and Striped German deteriorate
once they are picked. But they are large and delicious.

Next year, I hope to try more types of tomatoes but I know that the
Early Girls, First Lady, Juliets, Brandywine and Striped Germans will
figure into my plantings.

My biggest failure this year has been my peppers. The jalapenos and the
habaneros have done just fine but the milder Italian and Hungarian
haven't had the heat or time that they needed.

This was my first year to try to grow from seed and these and the
medicinal herbs were among my disasters. Wait till next year.

Mean while I have been working the grape harvest for the last six weeks.
We have brought in half of the winery's harvest and plan to finish this
Friday! Lordy, Lordy. Overtime is not all that one could hope for.

Down with Bush.

Peace.

- Bill

Hi William and All,

As the snow and ice drop into Minnesota today, 10/11, from the North
Pole, we have harvested all the red (reddish) tomatoes and green
peppers. Our top bearing heirloom tomatoes were Brandywine, Stupice,
Beam's Yellow Pear and least Amish Paste.

We did experience mildew disease late in the season. But decided not to
use the copper mildewcide so late in the season; just killed watering,
and let our sandy soil stop it spread. The vines are held up with many
6ft bamboo poles.

The Beam's Yellow Pears were the most prolific bearing, but most are
still green and the snow is gonna cover the still blooming flowers. The
Beam's were least favored, as the tomatoes are too small, about 1 1/4"
long and the flesh tastes meally and tasteless. However, the cluster
bunches are attractive looking. Regards, Phil


During the cool, rainy spell, the Stupice are showing skin cracking on
the shoulder of almost every tomato. What causes this?

Should we harvest all tomatoes (ripe or not) during the eve of the
first hard frost?

Regards, Phil