How tall/big does Esterina F1 get?
 

I have an Esterina F1 among my backup plants (I have another planted in one of my trellised beds) and hate to get rid of it. I looked at it carefully today, and it has baby fruit on it already but otherwise looks really healthy for a rootbound backup plant.

I can squeeze it into a non-garden area of my yard. I don't really have a good support system for it, though, and was hoping I could get away with pounding a few stakes around it and tying it up frequently.

But if it's going to be a rangy giant that gets huge and wants to turn into a jungle, I might reconsider.

So far, the growth habit of the one in ground already seems neat and rather sparse. Johnny's describes it as an "open" plant habit that makes it easy to see and access fruit, but they don't mention plant size at all.

You can always trim it to keep it somehwat tidy. I understand that it can get quite large...
Mine is still smallish no blossoms yet (it was a late whim to sow it), but it looks like a healthy and vigrous one.

I am growing Esterina F2. It grows tall, branches out for ever, like Sungold. But its stems seem to be thicker that can stand upright with some support.

Well, F2 is not the real thing but it is super producer , much like multiflora. Fruits are twice as big as SG or maybe bigger. They wont split/crack and you can leave them on the vine much longer.
I just took this picture. Take the watering can as reference to size.

Wimpy plant
 

Esterina was a disappointment to me - until I tasted it. The seeds germinated into wimpy, thin seedlings. It never took off fast like most of my tomatoes. It has remained a smaller, not husky plant. Right now (mid-Sept in 6a), it is about 7 feet tall, but thin. It is the least husky of any tomato that I currently grow. I only have one plant this year, so it may not be totally typical. Next year, I will grow more because of the great taste, but I will plant them closer together than normal.

We also had wimpy seedlings compared to other things we were growing this year. But, we also found that the plants were hearty and caught up to other varieties. The flavor was very good.

It was a similar story for Toronjina, but the Toronjina fruits were EXCELLENT. We definitely liked Toronjina over Esterina.

How large are Toronjina fruits? Pics are frequently deceiving, but they look to be less than an inch. Quite a bit smaller than Esterina?

They are similar in size.

[QUOTE=Greatgardens;665122]How large are Toronjina fruits? Pics are frequently deceiving, but they look to be less than an inch. Quite a bit smaller than Esterina?[/QUOTE]

I have been keeping an eye out for an Esterina F1 transplant in the garden centers but haven't seen any this year. Just as well, as I will be patiently waiting for my replacement to grow if the sun makes an appearance between the severe storms.

Does anyone have a photo of an Esterina F1 or F2 seedling up to 2 feet that they could post. I'm trying to identify some of the plants from my dropped tray. My replacement plant is a mini version of Gardeneer's giant plant which to me looks like a highly serrated RL. I've seen some internet photos that look somewhat PL. Does anyone prune the suckers off this one?

Thank you.
- Lisa