Rita,
I'm not too impressed. I don't think she'll make the garden next year.

Well, there is always another tomato variety to try out if one type doesn't cut it.

I am going to have to post pictures but I have been harvesting some really nice, nice Black Icicle Tomatoes. These are kinda Roma shaped but longer. Remind me of a torpedo shape.

Just stunning chocolate coloring on them, they are truly visually striking tomatoes. Everyone I picked has been perfect.

And to top it all off they taste really wonderful just eaten fresh. I am extra please with these.

Now on to Striped Roman. What a disaster!! It has been making ripe fruit but every single tomato has BER. Everyone!! What A dud.

Sometimes half the tomato rotten with BER. Have had to throw them all away.

I got these because I figured they would be really pretty tomatoes. And they really would be if they weren't rotten.

Now they are in line with all my other paste tomatoes and nothing else is having problems. So it is not location.

I am very dissapointed. Very dissapointed in them.

Too bad about the Striped Romans. Can't wait to see the Black Icicles, though--my first time hearing of them.

lovesblooms said:Too bad about the Striped Romans. Can't wait to see the Black Icicles, though--my first time hearing of them.

Black Icicle



They have that dark or chocolate tomato flavor.

I wanted to show off some of my San Marzano Retorta Tomatoes that I picked today. I put an Ivory Egg tomato in there as a size comparison just so you can see how big the SMR are. The Ivory Egg are about the size of a medium to large egg.




And not only are they large but the taste!! The taste is fantastic. These are great for eating fresh, for salsa or for cooking.

@billyporter, forgot to thank you for the name of your Heart of the Ox :)
My Big Mama's are just starting to ripen, but Mom gave me a couple oxhearts that my brother grew

Rita,
Black icicle are pretty. It's hard to get used to a tomato that isn't just red, lol!
What is BER? Blossom end rot?
Nice size on the San Marzanos!

Welcome Cyber :o)

I have a ton of Indigo Rose set on and they start out purple, ripening to orange. I'm ot impressed with the flavor. It might be the weather. I'll try again next year since the seed was very expensive.

billyporter said:Rita,
Black icicle are pretty. It's hard to get used to a tomato that isn't just red, lol!
What is BER? Blossom end rot?
Nice size on the San Marzanos!

Welcome Cyber :o)

I have a ton of Indigo Rose set on and they start out purple, ripening to orange. I'm ot impressed with the flavor. It might be the weather. I'll try again next year since the seed was very expensive.

I don't think flavor is Indigo Rose's strong suit. I think it is mostly grown for the color.

Yup, BER is Blossom End Rot. Can't remember when I last had this much BER if ever. Those Striped Roman tomatoes have been such a dissapoinment.

Love those San Marzano Retortas. When I grew the common San Marzanos last year I was not impressed. I knew I would never grow them again. These SMR are a completely different thing. I see why people are so impressed with them as they are marvelous.

As to tomatoes that aren't red, my garden is just full of them.

Rita:
Your enthusiasm for those SMR tomatoes prompted me to look them up. Evidently they are named after a mountain in the Alps, Pizzo Redorta. I think it's funny that their paste could be used to make Pizza! Even though it looks like none of the large seed companies offer them, S.M.Redorta are carried by several smaller sellers, so I'm putting them on the list to try out next year. Thanks!

DonShirer said:Rita:
Your enthusiasm for those SMR tomatoes prompted me to look them up. Evidently they are named after a mountain in the Alps, Pizzo Redorta. I think it's funny that their paste could be used to make Pizza! Even though it looks like none of the large seed companies offer them, S.M.Redorta are carried by several smaller sellers, so I'm putting them on the list to try out next year. Thanks!

They are fantastic. I got them because they were really recommend on here and I am so glad I did.

I bought my seed from Seeds of Italy. I guess there are other places might have them also.

I used up the last of my SMR seeds this spring, I'll have to order more. I got them on the recommendation of Horseshoe, and I'm glad I did. I haven't seen him on here in a long time. Hope all is well with him.

tveguy3 said:I used up the last of my SMR seeds this spring, I'll have to order more. I got them on the recommendation of Horseshoe, and I'm glad I did. I haven't seen him on here in a long time. Hope all is well with him.

Well, I got seeds of SMR on the recommendation of you!!

It is what started my grow my own tomatoes from seed as I really wanted SMR and knew there was no other way for me to get them but to grow my own.

And look what that's turned into. My tomato garden is bigger than ever.

Here is my first picking of Yellow Icicle. This year I tried the Black Icicle and the Yellow Icicle. I am sure the yellow would make a nice unusual colored sauce. Impress ones family with yellow tomato sauce!!

Otherwise (so other than the color) nothing too outstanding about it. I am not making yellow sauce so I will not be planting these next season.






I also picked a few more Black Icicle. Now these I really like. I find the tomatoes to be just so pretty and visually appealing. Plus I love that dark tomato taste that they have. Yes, these I will be growing again next year.

Newyorkrita said:

Well, I got seeds of SMR on the recommendation of you!!

It is what started my grow my own tomatoes from seed as I really wanted SMR and knew there was no other way for me to get them but to grow my own.

And look what that's turned into. My tomato garden is bigger than ever.

Glad I am such a good enabler! I'm sure glad you like them. Not everyone has the same tastes in tomato flavor. I think the later ones of this variety taste better then the first ones for some reason, maybe it's just my imagination, but I think they get better as the season progresses. I wonder if anyone else has found that to be true.

tveguy3 said:

Glad I am such a good enabler! I'm sure glad you like them. Not everyone has the same tastes in tomato flavor. I think the later ones of this variety taste better then the first ones for some reason, maybe it's just my imagination, but I think they get better as the season progresses. I wonder if anyone else has found that to be true.

I guess I will find out. Next year will have to plant more plants as everyone wants the SMR.

The first year I planted them we had that horrible hot summer with many days in a row of 100 degrees +. That year they didn't start setting fruit until later in the summer when the temps got down lower and I only got a few tomatoes that year. Had great nice tall plants as I watered every day, but it was just too hot to set fruit. So I decided I'd give them one more chance as I liked the flavor, and I'm glad I did. After that I had a nice crop and I canned many quarts of them whole, and made lots of sauce. This year it was mid June before I got them planted and I was worried I wouldn't get much fruit, but they are setting lots of fruit and looking good even though they had a late start.

tveguy3 said:The first year I planted them we had that horrible hot summer with many days in a row of 100 degrees +. That year they didn't start setting fruit until later in the summer when the temps got down lower and I only got a few tomatoes that year. Had great nice tall plants as I watered every day, but it was just too hot to set fruit. So I decided I'd give them one more chance as I liked the flavor, and I'm glad I did. After that I had a nice crop and I canned many quarts of them whole, and made lots of sauce. This year it was mid June before I got them planted and I was worried I wouldn't get much fruit, but they are setting lots of fruit and looking good even though they had a late start.

tveguy3 said:

Glad I am such a good enabler! I'm sure glad you like them. Not everyone has the same tastes in tomato flavor. I think the later ones of this variety taste better then the first ones for some reason, maybe it's just my imagination, but I think they get better as the season progresses. I wonder if anyone else has found that to be true.

You were the reason that I first tried them last year, Tom -- and I agree, the later ones seemed a LOT better to me than the earlier ones. Which sort of makes me wonder if I was just impatient and picked the first ones too soon? I'm growing them again this year, so we'll see what happens.

I'm starting to pick Viva Italias from my hoophouse now, and they are considerably larger than the ones I've gotten in the past from "outside plants." (this is starting to remind me of having "house cats" and "barn cats" or something... ). Plus, and this is a HUGE plus, the plants in the hoophouse are showing no sign of disease yet, whereas my Viva plants would normally be pretty sad by now, due to the "blight" or "wilt" or whatever it is they get every year. (and, of course, my outside plants DO have disease starting to progress from the bottom up.) Seriously making me want a big HH to grow all my tomatoes in...