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.

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

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.

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"

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

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