Big Zac And Goliath??

[GIZZARDFARM]

Just wondering how many have tried these two varieties and what were your opinion of each. A buddy has some seeds Im thinking about trying them... Gizzard

[dice]

I have not tried either one, but note that there are
two Goliaths, an F1 hybrid and a later ripening,
open-pollinated tomato with the same name
(three if you count the hybrid Early Goliath,
and there may be a hybrid determinate variation, too).

Here is a brief description of the open-pollinated one:

http://t-garden.homeip.net/mwiki/index.php/Goliath

I seem to recall some previous discussions on Big Zac.
The Tomatoville search form (menu item at the top
of this page) should find them.

[elkwc36]

The hybrid Goliath is one of the few hybrids I still grow. Here for most of us the best hybrid on the market tasting and production. But that can change in different areas and conditions. Have seeds but so far haven't grown the op version of it. There are several hybrid Goliath's also an Old Fashioned Goliath I grow some. Better that all the Girls, Boys, Jet Star and Beefs here for me. Jay

[feldon30]

Then there's Bush Goliath.

Generally, I think people grow Big Zac to get the largest possible tomato, not necessarily for flavor, but I have never grown nor tasted it, so I cannot judge.

[Dukerdawg]

Big Zac I can speak of. I average 2-3 tomatoes a plant, but the taste is simply divine. One of the best tasting tomatoes I have ever eaten, seriously. I grew a 2.5 pounder without even trying, so it is a biggie for sure.

Good luck!

Duane

[Tomatovator]

I grew 2 Big Zac plants last year. They were the most productive and hardiest plants I had. One yielded 31 lbs. and the other 54 lbs. of tomatoes. I picked a lot of greenies at the end of the season that ripened up pretty fast in the house. In general BZ was not our favorite for taste but it was OK. As stated so many times before everyone tastes things differently so you may have a different opinion on the flavor after you've tried it. Several of my other plants got early blight (I think) but my BZ's were not affected. They just kept growing.

[BVGardener]

I really like any of the Goliath series tomatoes. In my opinion, they represent some of the best hybrids regarding flavor. I'll be growing both Big Zac and Goliath in the spring garden this year.

Below is a photo of some green fruit from Big Zac that I picked from a single plant this past fall. I never got to ripened fruit as I lost the plant to a hard freeze and since the fruit had not ripened, who knows how large the biggest would have grown. I might add that this plant was hit hard by nematodes and still performed very well. It probably did not grow as large of a plant as it would have but still, not bad.

[barkeater]

Big Zac has been one of the best flavored, and definitely the biggest, red beefsteak I've grown. And each year, I average about 30# per plant.

Last year though, it was a cold, wet summer, and it didn't do so well. Lots of blossom drop early caused it to be very late, and smaller than previous years. It didn,t have the flavor of previous years either. However, there are very few areas in the country that will experience that kind of weather.

I am trying Original Goliath F1 from Totally Tomatoes this year for the 1st time, plus Big Zac again.

[tomatoguy]

BVGardener,

As a right-to-ripen advocate, I was aghast at your graphic pictures of examples of tomatabortion.

mater

[gssgarden]

Goliath has been in my garden for years and is in it again. BIG round toms that are non-stop!! Never did have luck with BZ. When I did, I didn't like the taste one bit. Seemed dry to me. But othwer swear by it so...

Greg

[BigdaddyJ]

Big Zac is a winner and on my 'Must Grow' list every year. I've been growing it many years now. Great taste and very good production. My largest so far, and without trying, a 3.3 pounder.

I grew a Goliath years ago and only one plant in one season. There are now maybe 10 different Goliaths out there so my review of Goliath is skewed and unreliable as I don't know which of the Goliaths I grew. Whichever, I was unimpressed. Neither large fruited nor tasty.

[GIZZARDFARM]

Hummm...I too love dead ripe maters and refuse to let any greenies go until ive had many ripe ones but oh how i love fried green tomatos.............