We have a new 2018 Veggie Gardening discussion, so why not a new Tomato thread? I'll start this off with an offer.
     While sorting my Tomato seeds to get ready for sowing, I had to face facts: I have more varieties than I have room to plant! So reluctantly I had to pick the ones to discard. Some are "free samples", some I thought were ok, just not great, and some (the patio types) I just didn't want to fuss with any more. I don't want to just trash them. Most are no more than 2 yrs old and still have good percentage germination, and quantities of 5-25 seeds.
     So, if you would like to try some or all of these, let me know (send your address in a tree mail) and I'll mail them to you. No guarantees. No returns! Please ask for at least three (or more!) to save me postage.

LARGE/MEDIUM VARIETIES
Nepal      2016
Russian 117      2016
Seattle Best      2017
Polish C              2016
Segler      2017
Pineapple      2017
Opalka      2016

CHERRY/SALADETTE
Pink Ping Pong       2014
Riesentraube      2014
Russian Currant      2018

PATIO
House      2016
Fantastico           2017
Hahms Gelbe     2017
Whippersnapper      2017
Red Robin      2017

Don, that's a very generous offer -- I already have more than I need too, so I won't be requesting any seeds from you, but I'm sure there are others out there that will be happy to have them!

Yes, some of us do accumulate an excess of seeds.
Tomorrow is Seedy Saturday in Calgary, and they always have a table where you can drop off extra seeds. Other attendees can go through those seeds, and take what they want.

Good of you to offer yours !

My 35 varieties for 2018 are all poking up out of the soilless mix and will need to be transplanted in a week or so. Off we go for another season.

       The tomato offer mentioned above is now closed. The ones that nobody wanted I donated to our local garden club. Maybe I'll have more next year.

Don S.
The TODD6 Tomato Datasheet (and instructions) can be downloaded from:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/fnl...

My old computer does not want to down load your spread sheet. So I will continue to ask questions here on tomatoes.
Last year someone grew Solar Flare, and I am going to start seeds this year. What did anyone find with Solar Flare ?

      Solar Flare: Medium-large, OP oblate red with gold (some green) stripes. Early-mid season. "Early fruit has better flavor". Meaty. Pick early, don't leave on vine. Don't confuse with Solar Fire. There is also a larger 'Solar Flare XL' 10-20oz. Most commenters on web liked it, and said taste was on the sweet side of balanced and somewhat intense.

      Caroline, if you can't download TODD from the Dropbox folder below, send me your email address on a tree-mail and I can send it directly to you.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/fnl...

     As a retired scientist, I'm obliged to report on failed experiments as well as successful ones, and this one was a massive failure!
     In November, I decided to grow five varieties of mini-sized patio or dwarf tomato plants under a 4ft LED shoplight to see if I could get some better tasting cherry tomatoes for winter salads than the ones the grocery stores offer. Everything started off fine, I transplanted the seedlings into 4" square pots and started raising the shoplight to keep up with the growth and using Miracle-Gro to fertilize. After fighting off some fruit flies that must have hatched from eggs in the planting mix, most of the varieties topped off at a little over a foot, and the others I gently bent over and supported so I would not have to raise the lights anymore.
     Unfortunately, all of the varieties produced many fewer fruit than the samples I had tried the summer before, so after all the time (and electricity) I spent, I only harvested enough for two or three salads this winter. I don't know if it was the LED light (or not enough of it), a wrong choice in fertilizer, or the insect spray for the flies (or all of them) that contributed to the poor showing, but I don't feel that it is worth repeating the experiment. I will say that the variety that did the best under these conditions was Utyonok, a dwarf yellow-orange saladette tomato with a cute point on the end.
     I am wondering, though, if anyone else ever tried a similar experiment?

That's interesting, Don -- my guess would be insufficient light, but ? I wonder if it would work better to start the plants earlier so they could start setting fruit with natural light, then bring them indoors to grow under the lights. Not sure I'm curious enough to try it, though...

While I will enjoy reading about your seed-starting adventures, I continue to just let my local nursery do that part and will buy potted plants later in the spring. Hoping to find ones I've ear-marked, here's my short list in no particular order:

Rose de Berne, Kellogg's Breakfast, Russian Queen, Amazon Chocolate, Bloody Butcher, Lemon Drop, Old German, Pineapple, Sun Sugar, Sweet Baby Girl, Sweet Mojo, Sweed Million, Trucker's Favorite

My goal is to have one red cherry, one orange cherry, one yellow cherry, one red salad, and one of those weird dark ones (I keep trying, but haven't yet found one that appeals to me either visually or tastefully). I mostly just eat them out of hand or in salads and sandwiches.

I'll have to wait and see what my nursery has to offer. Meanwhile, have fun with your seedlings!

Last year I did not have any Country Taste, year before that I did.

So this year again I have the Country Taste. I started a seed tray of 6 but only 5 came up so today I planted my 5 County Taste plants.

Thank the sun and moon and stars. I am at last finished with my tomato planting. I finished up today. Started on May 2nd and finished today May 14th.

So all in all not that bad as it only took two weeks. Just seems like such a big deal this year because April was so cold and I could not start my planting in April as I have been doing these past few years.

And I am sure it would have gone faster without rainy day rain delays. And plant other veggies instead of tomato delays.

Oh well. happy day it is done, done, done.

Plants look good. Of course some of them have been in for a spell and already dot a good chance to start growing.

     Congrats on finishing your planting, Rita. Now take a break before you have to start tying them up.
     Rain keeps interrupting my tomato activities, but I began hardening mine off. Hopefully they will finally go out later this week.

Rita, I looked up Country Taste. Does it ever sound good!

Saltflower said:Rita, I looked up Country Taste. Does it ever sound good!

It is good. Never cracks or splits either and a nice steady supply of tomatoes.

DonShirer said:     Congrats on finishing your planting, Rita. Now take a break before you have to start tying them up.
     Rain keeps interrupting my tomato activities, but I began hardening mine off. Hopefully they will finally go out later this week.

My plants are all in cages so no tying will be necessary. I have done the Florida weave method when I didn't have enough cages.

Well best laid plans are best ignored.
I lost two tomatoes in a black four-pack.
I searched for two days every place I would normally put them, not found.
Today I looked over on top of the air-condtioning unit and poof, there they were.
Never put things where you think they wlll be obvious because obviously that is the one place you will not look.

Hi tomato growers, thought I'd catch the wave on this new thread and maybe chat along.

Typically I start and grow all my tomatoes from seed, mostly heirlooms but a few OP hybrids every now and then.

This year I'm "Trying" to grow a tomato in a pot (usually they're all in the ground), it's a dwarf variety called Rosella Crimson. I say "Trying" because it started out pretty rough since something kept eating the leaves! At one point the plant was a little skeleton! I dug all around in the soil thinking there must be a cut worm in there somewhere but never could find one!!!

But I didn't give up! Put some of the chicken's oyster shell grit all over the top of the soil about an inch thick and now my little plant has new leaves. It's a slow start but we'll see what happens!!

Pictures

wildflowers said:Hi tomato growers, thought I'd catch the wave on this new thread and maybe chat along.

Typically I start and grow all my tomatoes from seed, mostly heirlooms but a few OP hybrids every now and then.

This year I'm "Trying" to grow a tomato in a pot (usually they're all in the ground), it's a dwarf variety called Rosella Crimson. I say "Trying" because it started out pretty rough since something kept eating the leaves! At one point the plant was a little skeleton! I dug all around in the soil thinking there must be a cut worm in there somewhere but never could find one!!!

But I didn't give up! Put some of the chicken's oyster shell grit all over the top of the soil about an inch thick and now my little plant has new leaves. It's a slow start but we'll see what happens!!

Pictures

@Wildflowers
     Welcome to the Tomato Chat thread, Christine. Good save on your Rosella Crimson. That's a Dwarf Tomato Project variety well suited to containers. Lots of us also have trouble with critters eating our tomato plants. My betes noire are mostly chipmunks, but birds and rabbits get their bites in as well. I've taken to placing a paper cup with the bottom cut out over the newly planted seedlings and putting bags over the fruit just before it turns ripe.