In article ,
(Rhiannon Macfie Miller) wrote:

Tigerella (red with yellow streaks)
Ok-ish

Black Russian (purple)
Excellent!

Golden Cherry (orange) stunning although slightly unconventional
flavour.
Yellow Perfection, very bland

Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com
A useful bit of gardening software at http://www.netservs.com/garden/

Steve Harris wrote:
In article ,
(Rhiannon Macfie Miller) wrote:
Tigerella (red with yellow streaks)
Ok-ish
Black Russian (purple)
Excellent!
Golden Cherry (orange) stunning although slightly unconventional
flavour.
Yellow Perfection, very bland

Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com
A useful bit of gardening software at http://www.netservs.com/garden/

I just had a look at the Plants of Distinction veg catalogue and they
have a ridiculous number of heritage and other tomato seeds listed
(pages and pages of them, all with enticing pictures). It's difficult
to know which would be worth growing. Also, would I be right in
thinking that many of the heritage varieties that do well in the States
(including those originally brought over from Europe) might not
necessarily do well in our climate and growing season? On the other
hand, the varieties marketed as being suitable, or bred specifically
for, the UK often seem to be rather lacking on the flavour front.
Maybe I'll just stick with Gardener's Delight after all.

"Ornata" wrote in message
oups.com...

I just had a look at the Plants of Distinction veg catalogue and they
have a ridiculous number of heritage and other tomato seeds listed
(pages and pages of them, all with enticing pictures). It's difficult
to know which would be worth growing. Also, would I be right in
thinking that many of the heritage varieties that do well in the States
(including those originally brought over from Europe) might not
necessarily do well in our climate and growing season? On the other
hand, the varieties marketed as being suitable, or bred specifically
for, the UK often seem to be rather lacking on the flavour front.
Maybe I'll just stick with Gardener's Delight after all.

That would be a shame, you'd only lose (or win!) one season by
experimenting. That's what I did this year and I'm very happy that I did.

I don't grow GD at all, I find it reliable but disappointing.

This year I tried T&M Golden Sunrise. It's spectacular on the vine and in a
mixed salad with its lovely yellow colour but its flavour isn't, however,
I'll not throw away the seed. It was prolific enough to grow one under glass
and one outdoors in the next years.

The yellow tomato I shall grow for ever is T&M Ildi, the one I mentioned
before which produces huge bunches of grape sized and shaped yellow tomatoes
with a good taste. Their great benefit is that there are so many they can be
eaten like sweets by children as well as adults with no limit.

For red toms I'll choose Loveheart - again small - and Brandywine, which are
very big, going on for purple and not wonderful to eat raw but fleshy and
excellent for cooking and making puree to store.

Mary

On 24 Oct 2006 03:19:50 -0700, "Ornata"
wrote and included this (or some of this):

On the other
hand, the varieties marketed as being suitable, or bred specifically
for, the UK often seem to be rather lacking on the flavour front.
Maybe I'll just stick with Gardener's Delight after all.

For flavour you could try:-

Pineapple
Aviro
Olivade
Juliet
Dombito
Christal

I only grow in a greenhouse, mind you.

--
®óñ© © ² * ¹°°³

"®óñ© © ² * ¹°°³" wrote in message
...
On 24 Oct 2006 03:19:50 -0700, "Ornata"
wrote and included this (or some of this):

On the other
hand, the varieties marketed as being suitable, or bred specifically
for, the UK often seem to be rather lacking on the flavour front.
Maybe I'll just stick with Gardener's Delight after all.

For flavour you could try:-

Pineapple
Aviro
Olivade
Juliet
Dombito
Christal

I only grow in a greenhouse, mind you.

I find that I get a lower yield but better flavour from the same variety of
toms grown outside

Mary

On Tue, 24 Oct 2006 14:42:17 +0100, "Mary Fisher"
wrote and included this (or some of this):

Aviro
Olivade
Juliet
Dombito
Christal

I only grow in a greenhouse, mind you.

I find that I get a lower yield but better flavour from the same variety of
toms grown outside

Very true. But my weather here in South Wet Wales is unreliable for
outdoor toms. I keep the greenhouse as cool as possible and do back
up occasionally with a couple outside in pots. I've been quite happy
with flavours, especially with my favourites Pineapple and Aviro.
Going to try a new 'Santa' variant next season, which should grow like
a weed.
Stripped the remaining toms yesterday to finish ripening indoors, now
ready for clearing and sterilising

Good luck for next year! There's nothing like your own, is there?


--
®óñ© © ² * ¹°°³

"®óñ© © ² * ¹°°³" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 24 Oct 2006 14:42:17 +0100, "Mary Fisher"
wrote and included this (or some of this):

Aviro
Olivade
Juliet
Dombito
Christal

I only grow in a greenhouse, mind you.

I find that I get a lower yield but better flavour from the same variety
of
toms grown outside

Very true. But my weather here in South Wet Wales is unreliable for
outdoor toms. I keep the greenhouse as cool as possible and do back
up occasionally with a couple outside in pots. I've been quite happy
with flavours, especially with my favourites Pineapple and Aviro.
Going to try a new 'Santa' variant next season, which should grow like
a weed.
Stripped the remaining toms yesterday to finish ripening indoors, now
ready for clearing and sterilising

Good luck for next year! There's nothing like your own, is there?

No, so much so that we don't buy them for six months of the year :-)

Will you mail me, please?

Mary

On Tue, 24 Oct 2006 17:35:32 +0100, "Mary Fisher"
wrote and included this (or some of this):

Stripped the remaining toms yesterday to finish ripening indoors, now
ready for clearing and sterilising

Good luck for next year! There's nothing like your own, is there?

No, so much so that we don't buy them for six months of the year :-)

Will you mail me, please?

You have mail



--
®óñ© © ² * ¹°°³

sam wrote:

Green Zebra is quite a large tomato with a slightly citrus flavour
A refreshing tomato to eat in the very hot weather.Salads & sandwiches.
Black Russian is a whopper, but soft with a thin skin.
I found it best for cooking e.g.a fryup. Lovely flavour.
Both are heritage tomatoes which grow true to seed.
For best results grow organically using liquid seaweed extract feed.
They deserve it.

Both of those sound lovely. (But will they grow true to seed if they
are grown together in the same greenhouse?)

Rhiannon

On 27 Oct 2006 04:26:53 -0700, "Rhiannon Macfie Miller"
wrote and included this (or some of this):


sam wrote:

Green Zebra is quite a large tomato with a slightly citrus flavour
A refreshing tomato to eat in the very hot weather.Salads & sandwiches.
Black Russian is a whopper, but soft with a thin skin.
I found it best for cooking e.g.a fryup. Lovely flavour.
Both are heritage tomatoes which grow true to seed.
For best results grow organically using liquid seaweed extract feed.
They deserve it.

Both of those sound lovely. (But will they grow true to seed if they
are grown together in the same greenhouse?)

But of course.

Any cross-fertilisation will only be found in the seeds produced in
the current crop.

If you save some seeds for the following year, that's when they won't
grow true to type.

--
®óñ© © ² * ¹°°³

On Fri, 27 Oct 2006 12:35:42 +0100, ®óñ© © ² * ¹°°³ wrote:

On 27 Oct 2006 04:26:53 -0700, "Rhiannon Macfie Miller"
wrote and included this (or some of this):


sam wrote:

Green Zebra is quite a large tomato with a slightly citrus flavour
A refreshing tomato to eat in the very hot weather.Salads & sandwiches.
Black Russian is a whopper, but soft with a thin skin.
I found it best for cooking e.g.a fryup. Lovely flavour.
Both are heritage tomatoes which grow true to seed.
For best results grow organically using liquid seaweed extract feed.
They deserve it.

Both of those sound lovely. (But will they grow true to seed if they
are grown together in the same greenhouse?)

But of course.

Any cross-fertilisation will only be found in the seeds produced in
the current crop.

If you save some seeds for the following year, that's when they won't
grow true to type.


Some tomatoes (mostly the common ones that we grow) have an 'enclosed'
style, this means that they are already pollinated by themselves ( unless
something went wrong, always a possibility in the biological world !)
These varieties can be grown close together and their progeny (their seeds)
will mostly grow true to type.

There is another group, the potato-leaf varieties, that grow with an
exposed style that is suseptible to cross polination by other plants
nearby. To propagate these with a resonable chance of remaining true they
will need to be separated either by distance, by enclosure or by time.

I don't personally know the two varieties that you mention, but Google is
your friend there is much written upon this ;-)

"Bowman" wrote in message
...

snip interesting stuff

There is another group, the potato-leaf varieties, that grow with an
exposed style that is suseptible to cross polination by other plants
nearby. To propagate these with a resonable chance of remaining true they
will need to be separated either by distance, by enclosure or by time.

Now that's interesting because the only seed I've ever saved - from a last
year's plant - was a potato-leaved variety and it came true to type this
year although the original was grown in the greenhouse with other varieties.

As you said, Nature isn't always reliable :-)

Nevertheless I'll plant new seed next year.


Thanks,

Mary

On Sat, 28 Oct 2006 12:27:48 +0100, "Mary Fisher" wrote:
"Bowman" wrote

snip interesting stuff
There is another group, the potato-leaf varieties, that grow with an
exposed style that is suseptible to cross polination by other plants
nearby. To propagate these with a resonable chance of remaining true they
will need to be separated either by distance, by enclosure or by time.

Now that's interesting because the only seed I've ever saved - from a last
year's plant - was a potato-leaved variety and it came true to type this
year although the original was grown in the greenhouse with other varieties.
As you said, Nature isn't always reliable :-)
Nevertheless I'll plant new seed next year.

Go on, live dangerously, sow your collected seed again next year ( as
well as new, perhaps). You never know, in a few years we may all be
growing the superb new Maryfisher hybrid ! ;-)

Dont quote me on the next bit (cos its been a few years since) but I
think I remember that there is less chance of 'ordinary' enclosed
types cross pollinating a potato leaf. More risk with two potatoleafs
growing side by side.

Possibly because by the time the anthers become exposed in the
ordinary varieties the pollen is old and less viable ? I dunno.

"WaltA" wrote in message
...


Go on, live dangerously, sow your collected seed again next year ( as
well as new, perhaps). You never know, in a few years we may all be
growing the superb new Maryfisher hybrid ! ;-)

Well, since you're so forceful ... but I doubt that I'll last long enough to
have a named hybrid :-)

Dont quote me on the next bit (cos its been a few years since) but I
think I remember that there is less chance of 'ordinary' enclosed
types cross pollinating a potato leaf. More risk with two potatoleafs
growing side by side.


OK, I shan't quote you. I've forgotten already.

Possibly because by the time the anthers become exposed in the
ordinary varieties the pollen is old and less viable ? I dunno.

Well I certainly don't! Perhaps I'll look more closely next time ...

Mary

OK, thanks everybody for your advice. I'm going for Green Zebra, Ildi,
and Black Pineapple (which last I found while googling for Pineapple,
which was recommended by some here).

All excited now!

Rhiannon