Throughout much of the country, this is the time to plant tomatoes! Many of you are counting down to your frost-free date, and from Memorial Day weekend to early June, people will be putting little baby tomato plants in the ground. We're curious: Are you growing tomatoes this year? If so, what kinds are you growing?
There are just so many kinds of tomatoes out there (yellow ones, green ones, striped ones, even white ones!) and if you are growing heirlooms, the range of taste and color is amazing.
I was a bad baby plant momma this year and my seedlings died for want of light. So I'll be buying heirloom starts from my local market. I am probably going to plant Brandywine and a couple others, including at least one cherry tomato.
What about you? What are your tomato-growing plans this year?
Related: Growing Your Own Tomatoes
(Image: Flickr member gmnomic licensed for use under Creative Commons)
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I just have a narrow little balcony, but decided to grow tomatoes again this year. I bought a *Rose de Berne* which i planted into a big pot. It's an ancient variety.
I get a mixed 4-pack of heirlooms at my favorite plant sale. This year it was Brandywine, Purple Cherokee, Yellow Brandywine, and Aunt Ruby's German Green. I'm also growing Bloody Butcher, Garden Peach, Sungold, and Sweet 100s.
No garden for me---I live on a rocky hillside and my only porch gets scorching sun from noon 'til sunset. But the tomatoes in that photo---YUM! Someday I will garden again.
I'm growing heirloom paste tomatoes this year, started from seed (Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds). The sprouts aren't in the ground yet, but they have grown a lot and look quite strong. I chose paste tomatoes because I don't actually like tomatoes, but would like to make up a big batch of tomato sauce (and freeze it) like my parents did when I was a kid. Since no one was going to be eating them straight-up, paste seemed the way to go. We had good success last year with Early Girls (bought plants, not seeds), but thought we'd try something different this year.
I have a Cherokee Purple and a Sungold Cherry plant growing together in my earthbox. as an aside - this is my first year using the earthbox and the tomatoes seem to be loving it! I think they grow a good inch a day!
I have a patio tomato, plum, sweet 100s, baby romas...I love to grow tomatos which is really weird since I hate fresh tomatos!
I am growing "patio tomatoes" -- we had a Central Texas storm blow through the almost every night this week, and the vine kept blowing over. I rigged it this morning, so hopefully there wasn't too much trauma!
Better Boy and Mr. Stripey. The plants looked best at the hardware store garden center. Doesn't matter all that much though - the deer will eat most of them anyway :(
Black Krim. they are like candy! also currant tomatoes. i have a tomato sweet tooth.
Trying the bush version of early girl on my balcony---hoping for the best. We always plated early girl because its the fastest to fruit so I always associate it with the first tomato of the season.
We got five plants. One Oregon variety, two different cherry tomatoes, a yellow one, and san marzanos.
I grow mine on my balcony in Los Angeles. This year, I bought sungold, carmello (small, red salad tomatoes), and juliet (red grape cherry) starters. My isis candy plant survived the winter and is already producing and I just transplanted another tomato plant that I found growing amidst my spearmint--can't wait to see what variety it is.
Oh my, I have ten, no, make that eleven varieties! Romas, Brandywine, Mr. Stripey, Early Girl, Sweet Million Cherries, Beefsteak, Jet Star, one called Jellybean, and...I can't remember the rest. It's raining out now, so I really don't want to go outside to check.
Cherokee purple, sungold, and the yellow teardrops!
I had AMAZING luck with Roma's last year, but can't find them anywhere this year! I've got some hothouse this year and so far so good!
Black cherry & Ildi (yellow tear drop tinies). I bought them a week ago & have been putting them in the sun for the day & garage at night. Temps are still below 50 at night here out side of Boston, so I gotta baby those plants. Hopefully they can go in the big containers the week after Memorial Day. And fingers crossed this summer won't be a rain out & late blight kind of summer like last year....
Super Sioux, Cherokee Purple, Better Boy, Early Girl, Mortgage Lifter, Juliet, and Grape. I hope they grow better than they did last summer!
Cherokee Purple, Kellogg's Breakfast, German Johnson, Marglobe, Jersey Devil, and Vorlons are waiting under the grow lamps in my basement right now.
Mule Team (slicers) and Reisentraube (cherry). Both are supposed to do well in the Midatlantic zones.
@bicycleprincess - argh I really wanted Reisentraube! But mine died. :-(
Excited about the black cherries.
Early Girl and Brandywine...my Early Girl has 7 little greenies :)
All my "land" is in containers and I started my seeds indoors about a month ago. I'm hoping to start putting stuff outside this week-ish (which is still a tad early for Minnesota, but spring started early). Got some Black Krim, Yellow Pear, Tigerella, and Lichee tomatoes ready to go. The best part of starting seedlings is giving some away for other people to grow. That way if disaster strikes you can't say you totally blew it!
Rainbow cherry tomatoes, Speckled Romans, and a few Green Zebra plants are chillaxin' on my patio. Can't wait!
We have (2) sweet cherry's, (2) yellow, (1) pink girl, (1) beef master and (2) beefsteak! Looking forward to lots of fresh tomato slices on our sandwiches this summer!
Chocolate cherry (1), roma (3), some other hybrid I forgot, and whatever heirlooms pop up from the compost, which is happening a lot this year.
I stuffed 13 tomato plants in 13 sq ft this year, thinking that I'd lose some. Nope. 6 brandywine heirlooms, 6 romas and a sweet 100. Since it's AZ mine have been in the ground for a good 2.5 months, and the first crop should be ripening anytime now. We call my garden a jungle cause those suckers are super happy and really took over. Hopefully I can nab them before my kids do!
I'm a little obsessed. I'm growing Jet Star, Goliath, Tomande, Omar's Lebanese, Viva Italia, Black Plum Paste, Opalka, Marcellino, Sugary, Sweet Million, Chocolate, Garden Peach, Cherokee Purple, and Japanese Trifele Black.
I bought a packet of Tiny Tim seeds for a hanging basket but haven't planted them yet... hoping to avoid the white flies and aphids that so enjoyed my last tomato plants!
Ours are still inside under the lights in Seattle with some "outside time" on nicer days. They'll be going out in the next week or so.
This year we have: Brandywine, Purple Calabash, Stupice, Yellow Pear, Sweet Million, Frazier’s Gem, Japanese Trifele Black, Siletz, Bambino, Ananas Noire, Manitoba, Green Zebra, Mortgage Lifter, San Marzano and Principe Borghese.
I can't wait!
Heirlooms are Old German and Cherokee Purple and standard are Roma and Better Boy, would have loved a Beefsteak but couldn't find one.
I started several red currants a few months ago since I live in Florida. They're getting quite tall, even on my 3rd floor screened in patio!
Big Boys and Sweet 100s. Four of each kind. I've already got blooms, so now I'm just waiting for that first one.
green zebras and purple russians. don't you just love tomato names? they sound like a circus.
WAY too many heirloom Amish paste and San Marzano plants, plus a bunch of eating tomatoes. Of course I haven't tasted any of them yet, but so far my favorite is "Hillbilly Potato Leaf" which I think gets orange fruits.
Last year was my first year growing tomatoes and I grew Big Boys… deeeee-lish!
This year, I'm trying my hand at Romas, Tiny Tims, and had a special request from the family to grow Beefsteaks.
Cherry, Lollipop, Dr Carolyn, Green Grape, Orange, Pineapple Tomatilloes and Wonderberries. My fruits have started forming so I'm excited!
We're doing some container gardening this year with:
-San Marzanos
-Black from Tulas
-Yellow Gooseberries
-Brandywine (Sudduth's Strain)
It'll be interesting to see how the larger tomatoes turn out...
This is my first time trying tomatoes — I'm growing one very generically named Patio (by Bonnie) that I picked up at Lowe's. It's just that it's very small (about 2-3') and fits very well in my 6x8 balcony garden. So far it's doing really well!
We're doing several tomatoes this year: grape, beefsteak, and trying out some of those pretty yellow lemon boys! :)
This is my first time trying to grow tomatoes. I got a type called Stupice--a hardy variety from the Czech Republic. Hope they take!
I admit it, I'm an addict and I have a serious problem. This year, I've got 16 tomato plants - and as I'm in sunny LA, they are already taller than I am, bushy, and I've got the first blush of red on one fruit!
I've got- Super Marzano, Marianna's Peace, Pineapple, Green Pineapple, Paul Robeson,Moonglow, Brandywine, Great White, Stupice, Black & Brown Boar, Michael Pollan (this is an actual variety, small yellow pears w/ green stripes!), Sunsugar, Zebra cherry, Snow White, Jaune Flamme, and Japanese Black Trifele.
watch out for tomato hornworms!
Wow, overwhelming to see so many varieties that we don't have here in this part of New England - This year I'm trying Early Goliath, Juliet (grape), Pineapple, Conestoga, Cherokee Red, Litano (roma), Husky Red along with old standbys such as Rutgers, Beefsteak, Roma, Celebrity, Brandywine