Successful:
- Sun Gold (hybrid, various years)
- *Black Cherry (2019)
- Heirloom tomato: Black Cherry (Renee’s Seeds, organic, 2016, 2017)
- *Red Siberian (organic, 2016, 2017, 2019): like an English breakfast tomato
- *Siletz (organic, 2017, 2019): sized between large cherry and English breakfast
- *Stupice (2019) … may be mixed up with Siletz. One or the other is a large cherry tomato, very red, tasty and prolific
- San Marzano (organic, 2017, 2019): paste tomato
- Black Zebra (organic, from Wildcat Mountain Farm, 2018): small, dark, striped tomato, very rich flavor. Moderately small bush; prolific.
- *Gill’s All-Purpose Tomato (organic, from Wildcat Mountain Farm, 2018, 2019): Perfect round red tomatoes, medium sized. Nice tomato flavor; prolific.
- *Tidy Rose (organic, 2018, 2019): heirloom-type beefsteak, 5-7 ounces. Knobby fruit, early to ripen, very juicy and delicious. 2019 used seeds and got pinker tomatoes than the red ones from 2018 (purchased a plant).
Do not like:
- Black Krim (mealy, 2016)
- Tangerine (susceptible to blossom end rot, 2016)
- Cherokee Purple (delicious, but too large and very lumpy, 2016)
- Willamette (h)
- Black Vernissage (prolific, early, beautiful, but very thick walled and mealy; 2017)
Varieties to try:
- Orange blossom (h)
- Mortgage Lifter
- German Johnson
- Lemon Boy (h)
- Bloody Butcher (h)
- Principe Borghese (paste tomato)
Small tomatoes recommended by local Master Gardeners (2014):
- Sun Gold
- Green Gold
- Sweet 100
- Hungarian Heart
Larger tomatoes recommended by local Master Gardeners (2014):
- Moskvitch
- Trophy
- Jane Flamine
- Stupice
Notes
Tomato seed life: approx three years
How to plant tomato seedlings
1. Dig a 4- to 6-inch deep trench that is as long as your tomato seedling is tall.
2. Remove the seedling from its pot and gently massage the rootball apart.
3. Snip off the leaves on the lower portion of the stem, leaving two to four sets of leaves at the top of the stem to ensure enough leaf surface for photosynthesis.
4. Place the plant horizontally in the trench. Backfill with soil, gently bending the stem of the tomato upward so the leaves remain above ground. Don’t worry, your “Leaning Tower of Pisa” will straighten as it grows.
5. Cage or stake it immediately after planting. If you wait until later, you may disturb your tomato’s growing root system.
Trellis ideas
http://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/garden/the-most-reliable-tomato-cages-trellises