the STARLESS tomato.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by vash

okay..I am confused as F. haha.

did YOU send ne the Starless seeds? I don't remember the envelope coming from Spain. I still have it in my office desk, so I cannot peek.

it is all a blur after this last year.

No, I think Juan, who lives in Connecticut, posted about his great tomatoes and offered to send seeds to anyone who requested them. He sent some to me (and I sent half of them to my son in Massachusetts ) I’m guessing he sent some to you.
They are good, beefsteak type tomatoes. One slice out of the middle on a slice of Wonder Bread with Mayo and pepper makes an outstanding tomato sandwich. They are so prolific you can use one slice and feed the rest to the chickens.

[vash]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

No, I think Juan, who lives in Connecticut, posted about his great tomatoes and offered to send seeds to anyone who requested them. He sent some to me (and I sent half of them to my son in Massachusetts ) I’m guessing he sent some to you.
They are good, beefsteak type tomatoes. One slice out of the middle on a slice of Wonder Bread with Mayo and pepper makes an outstanding tomato sandwich. They are so prolific you can use one slice and feed the rest to the chickens.

phew. I thought I was losing it.

carry on!

[vash]

The plants at the office are ambitious. Fruiting already. should I snip the fruit off to let the plant grow more? there are not a bunch of leaves yet.

[wdfifteen]

[QUOTE=vash;11322222]phew. I thought I was losing it./QUOTE]

That’s still a possibility. I’m just taking tomatoes here.

[Seahawk]

Vash, the Eagle has landed!

Thank you!

When I saw "Starless Tomatoes", I immediately did a search and found nothing...I was pumped: Finding my Master Gardener wife plants she doesn't know about is the Holy Grail for me.

She gets more seed catalogs than Burpee's.

I did get her some heritage plants when I was out looking for the elusive Starless

Again, thank you Vash as well as Starless!

[vash]

you are welcome SIR!!

I need to google how to save tomato seeds for next year (if these things are as good as they seem)

[cabmandone]

If it's a big juicy mader I want some! I love me a good mader. Slap it on some wheat toast with some cottage cheese and a slice of avocado and yummmm.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by vash

I need to google how to save tomato seeds for next year (if these things are as good as they seem)

Harvest half a dozen or so tomatoes from different plants. Scoop out the seeds, rinse as much of the "goop" off of them as you can and dry them between pads made of paper towels. Once they are good and dry to can put them in a not-airtight container and keep them in a cool dry place.

[vash]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Harvest half a dozen or so tomatoes from different plants. Scoop out the seeds, rinse as much of the "goop" off of them as you can and dry them between pads made of paper towels. Once they are good and dry to can put them in a not-airtight container and keep them in a cool dry place.

I thought you had to put them in a bucket of water and let them get funky for a bit?

maybe I imagined that youtube channel.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Harvest half a dozen or so tomatoes from different plants. Scoop out the seeds, rinse as much of the "goop" off of them as you can and dry them between pads made of paper towels. Once they are good and dry to can put them in a not-airtight container and keep them in a cool dry place.

I did that and then stored them in an open pill bottle in my frig.

[Seahawk]

Small update.

The STARLESS seeds are somewhere in here:



My wife will do the seed thing for you. She is delighted.

Thanks again!

[vash]

GOOD!! your wife has skillz!! and yes, I will take her up on her seed processing offer.

zoom in..they will be the more rough looking plants.

[flatbutt]

Mine just refuse to grow. I have one set of true leaves above the cotyledons, that's it.

[vash]

i ATE one!!


well, two to be exact. i cut two up for a salad. just to taste it i put some good flake salt on and tasted it. KAPOW! so good. sprinkled on some more salt so my wife could taste one.

before we knew it we just ate all of it off the cutting board.

the plant is damn near 7 feet tall and i bet it has 40 tomatoes on it. i had to trim a few rogue branches that really left the confines of the cage. (rolled up concrete driveway wire mat)

[Starless]

Hey. hey, I'm baaaaack! Been a bit busy. Wife had surgery, been trying to clean out the basement and garage, moved a shed, working on the garden. Which brings me to the tomatoes. Glad your tomatoes are doing well. Mine are a mess! Here we are in August and not one ripe tomato. To make matters worse, the plants look like sh#t. We had a month or more of rain. Then more rain. Then wicked humidity. Then more rain. My plants are about 5 feet tall and barely any leaves. Last time this year they were loaded. The origin of the tomatoes is unknown to me. My father always had a garden and the tomatoes were his pride and joy. I know he didn't bring them from Spain, in fact one summer he brought some seeds to Spain and all his friends were amazed. I sent my cousin some seeds and he has been picking 1 kilo tomatoes for a while now. He works for Plymag so that may have something to do with his success. Anyway, I'm glad Vash and WD enjoy them and are spreading them around. I guess it;s sort of my dad's legacy if you will.
Thanks for the kind words.

[wdfifteen]

Hi Juan!

I'm growing 5 different kinds of tomato this year. None of them are Juan's STARLESS because I messed up and didn't save any seeds. Based on the trouble people have been having with them I suspect that it is a hybrid that is breeding out. You never know what genetics you are going to get from one generation to the next.
I know people are big on heirloom varieties, but there are some great disease resistance hybrids out there. I've been growing Jersey Giants and San Marzanos for canning, both are open pollenated (heirloom). I decided to get away from the Jersey Giants and try a hybrid that is bred from it. I like the way it is performing so far. The San Marzanos are already showing some verticillium wilt, which is a reason to get away from them maybe in the future.



The little tomatoes are "4th of July" and they are early. They were ready by maybe July 10. The flavor is fantastic, with nice acidity and sweetness. They are small, about 1 1/2" in diameter and have a lot of seeds, so they aren't good for much other than quartering and eating with a bit of salt, and they are tasty that way. They are shown here with a 3" Garden Treasure for scale.





I tried a variety called "Garden Treasure" for slicing tomatoes and they are fantastic. Meaty, 3 to 4" diameter, with good flavor. Great for sandwiches.



I'm growing two varieties of roma style tomatoes this year. The smaller ones on the right are San Marzanos and the others are some highly touted hybrid that I thought I'd try. Both have small seed chambers and a lot of meat.



I dropped Jersey Giants from the lineup and tried these "Big Mama" hybrid from Burpees. So far so good. They are smaller than the Jersey Giants but ripen more evenly and the plants are more healthy. They have the same small seed chambers which make them good for canning. Shown here with a San Marzano to show size.

[stevej37]

^^^ Which variety makes the best 'Bloody Mary'?

[Starless]

WD. you may be right. I have seeds from as far back as 2016, but used seeds from last year. But, a few friends of mine that also have been planting the tomatoes and save their own seeds are having similar issues, so not sure if it's the seeds, or the weather. I'm also thinking it may be some fungal infection like Fasarium wilt. Either way, not a good year, really bummed after all the work. My cukes are doing great as are just about everything else except the tomatoes. Come to think of it i also have other tomatoes growing ( no idea what kind they are or where i got the seeds) and although they're doing a bit better, they also have the same problem. If you need more seeds i can send you some from previous years in case the 2020 ones are breeding out as you say. Not sure yet as to what I'm going to do for next year as my wife will be talking to Human Resources in a week or two to find out if she can retire next summer. If that happens we'll be in Spain for the later part of the summer through the spring and will have no need for a garden. Your tomatoes look fantastic! Great job, I'm envious. Well, at least I won't be spending hours on end canning this year.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Starless

Mine are a mess! Here we are in August and not one ripe tomato. To make matters worse, the plants look like sh#t. W

same here but my weather is likely similar to yours. The raspberries did great and the apple tree is HEAVY with fruit but alas ...yes we have no tomatoes, we have no tomatoes today.

[thor66]

San Marzano - that's what you want