Tracking 2012 Big Beef tomato plants

[b54red]

Originally Posted by kygreg

I am another one for whom Big Beef has been a must in my garden for a few years. And like others, it is my insuarance tomato. It is the only hybrid I grow every year. I did also grow hybrid Goliath this year and it has been an excellent one also. I planted both varieties the first week of April and have both have and still are producing well and have withstood the rather extreme heat this year and have resisted and disease or other problems.

I grew them both this year planting 3 of each right next to each other in 3 different beds to give Goliath a good comparison to BB. Two of the Goliaths didn't make it to the ripe fruit stage but one did fairly good and made a nice crop. The tomatoes from Goliath were overall smaller and I didn't find them quite as good. They definitely are not as fusaruim resistant. They might be great where the fusarium is not as bad as in my garden. I did the same thing with Bella Rosa planting one on the other side of the Big Beefs and had about the same results as with the Goliath. For dependability Big Beef is still tops in my book and the taste is at least as good as any fusarium resistant hybrid I have tried.

[Jaysan]

Grew them the first time this year and they have done great.

One thing I like too is that they seem to last long sitting on the counter after being picked.

[kygreg]

My BB has been prolific this year but the fruits are averaging about half the size of those in previous years which were from 10-16 oz usually.

[Mashman]

[QUOTE=BLTLOVER;297644]I have created a photo album with photos of my six Big Beef tomato plants that is tracking the productivity of my plants from shortly after I put them in the ground up to the most recent date and I will continue this until frost. http://www.tomatoville.com/album.php?albumid=114
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Thanks for sharing the pics BLT. Big Beef is on my grow list for 2013.

I do have a question.... wonderring how far apart the plants in the picture were spaced? They look like small Xmas trees in the picture. I want to be sure to provide enough space next season.

Thanks again all around. Enjoyed the pics over the season.

Mash

[bbjm]

Awesome pictures and plants. I too would love to know the spacing of the plants in the row and of the rows themselves. Did you feel like the spacing was about right? Also, what spray did you use, which you state you failed to get on the plants late in the season.

Thanks for sharing.

Bret

[BLTLOVER]

mashman & bbjm, I put my plants at 5' in one direction and about 6' in the other direction. The more space the better so there's good air circulation to help keep the leaves dry.

[Mashman]

It looked like 5 or 6 feet. Those are some big plants! Appreciate you getting back.

Mash

[TightenUp]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

And here's another person who tracked the timeline development of Big Beef, so you can compare.

http://www.tomatosite.com/index.php?...Truss_Timeline

Paul was very active at GW for a long time and when the new FAQ's that we worked on were finished it was Paul who uploaded them for us.

And I've linked to Paul's timeline many times here over the years, so here it is again.

i've been searching for this link all morning. i finally find it and it doesnt work anymore. anyone have this saved somewhere else?

[Irv Wiseguy]

You can see a cached version on the Wayback Machine:

http://web.archive.org/web/201012180...Truss_Timeline

[TightenUp]

awesome!!! thanks

i would say my first tomato is a tad bigger than the day 18 pic.

[TightenUp]

i'll have to go out and have a better look. its amazing how big the fruit gets over a 3-5 day span. going from day 21 to day 26 the tomato grows significantly. even the change from day 18 to 21 is significant.

[Tapout]

I have 24 Big Beef plants as back ups and I must say the plants are growing quite well. Good foliage color and stem thickness all through out the plant.