I love the new dwarfs!

[COMPOSTER]

Thanks for the answer Dee! I'm really looking forward to seeing how these plants develop. Planting out this week.

Glenn

[Tracydr]

Picked a Beryl Beauty, Iditarod Red and Perths Pride today. I'll get to taste them in a day or two, can't wait, especially the Neryl Beauty.
I need to remember to save some seeds, as I'm almost completely out of dwarf seeds.
My Wild Fred's were puny and weak. The largest is one of the only ones to do poorly due to a foliage disease that I can't identify. Yukon Quest doesn't have nearly as many fruit as my other varieties.

[nctomatoman]

Here are some days from transplant data comparing some well known indeterminates with some of the new dwarfs...

2010, 2011, 2012 data

Cherokee Purple 65 days 63 days 68 days
Lucky Cross 75 days 77 days 72 days
Nepal 67 days 82 days 72 days

Summertime Green 58 days 74 days 72 days
Beryl Beauty 62 days 85 days 62 days
Perth Pride 65 days 58 days 60 days
Sweet Sue 62 days 75 days 64 days
Emerald Giant 67 days 77 days, not grown
Rosella Purple 67 days 65 days 69 days
Wild Fred 66 days 66 days 69 days


It shows a few things - that DTM for indeterminates and Dwarf varieties are essentially the same, and that the info is pretty consistent year to year; variations are probably due to the size of plants and/or location.

[eatmoreyeah]

I'd also like to think everyone involved in 'The Dwarf Project'. I look forward to being of service in the future. This year I have 2 each of Rosellla Purple and Mr. Snow. I'm also growing 2 New Big Dwarf plants. The Dwarfs are in 10 gallon grow bags and are quite happy. The Rosella Purple are ahead of the other two and I have a few blushing now. All varieties are loaded down with fruit and some are rather big, in the 10-16 oz range. My plants are a little taller than 3 feet. These were also planted out 2 weeks later than the 60 I have in the ground and the other 30+ I have in grow bags. However, they are ahead of some of the earlier varieties which is a plus. I've got seeds for a few other Dwarf varieties and plan to order some more based on recommendations in this thread for when I start my fall crop.

Charles

[kenny_j]

I'm growing Rosella Purple again this year, and have added Mr. Snow and Yukon Quest to the mix. Tried to get some Sweet Sue but they were sold out every where. Would be interested to know which ones are favorites of everybody out there. I sell a few plants each year to defray my costs. Last year I was at a market where so many said they needed container type plants. I grew a lot of the Rosellas this year, but that mkt closed down ( I had a free spot there because my son ran it), and they have been a hard sell from the driveway. So I give one away free with a purchase of a few plants, maybe next year they'll do better. I did a majority of smaller, later started plants in 4 packs and sold them for half the price I do the larger pots, not making much but I enjoy meeting people and getting heirlooms into gardens around here, Been a good response to the cheaper prices.

[Cole_Robbie]

One of the non-dwarf varieties I sold this year was Snow White. I'm thinking next year, I can sell a package deal for Snow White and 7 Dwarfs.

[ddsack]

One of the non-dwarf varieties I sold this year was Snow White. I'm thinking next year, I can sell a package deal for Snow White and 7 Dwarfs.

Good one, Robbie! I think you'll make tons of sales!

[kenny_j]

Robbie, I might have to steal....er.... borrow that idea myself!!!!!

[discrepancy]

Tasmanian Chocolate, Summer Sunrise, Dwarf Wild Fred, Rosella Purple all made it into my garden this year. Thus far everything except for the Summer Sunrise has fruit. The plants are wicked healthy!

[eatmoreyeah]

So far my 2 Rosella Purple plants are pumping out tomatoes. I've picked 10 between today and yesterday. Sizes were 10-18 oz. Very pretty tomato and the 1st fruits were rather good. With the onset of higher temperatures I look forward to the next batch of fruit. My Mr. Snow tomatoes are starting to blush and I should have some fruit in the next few days. Here is a picture of what I picked today. The purple tomatoes are Black from Tula and Rosella Purple. A little off topic, but I'm very impressed with Grub's Mystery Green. Both flavor and production is fantastic.

[nctomatoman]

This is turning into a really helpful and enlightening thread for the Dwarf project team. It may be a good time to think about our original goals of this project and compare non-team gardener experiences with our expectations.

Off the top of my head, here are the things we were trying to accomplish:

1. Bring the "large, tasty, colorful heirloom" experience to those who can't or don't wish to deal with the typical huge, sprawling growth of indeterminate varieties by using a method first reported on in the early 1900s for the creation of New Big Dwarf - crossing of Dwarf Champion with Ponderosa to give large tomatoes on the compact dwarf habit.

2. Greatly expand the color range, fruit size and shape of a class of tomatoes that, until our project, was very obscure and quite misunderstood (most people thought of Determinate and Indeterminate - but we've now made the Dwarf class much more prominent). Before our project, the best known Dwarf varieties were the pre-1900 Dwarf Champion (small to medium sized pink tomatoes), Golden Dwarf Champion (small to medium sized pale yellow), Dwarf Stone (medium sized red), New Big Dwarf (medium large pink - and more recent, early 1900s) and very recent (1970s, by Tom Wagner) Lime Green Salad (small to medium green).

3. Provide an option for those people who wished to use moderate (5 gallon) sized containers to grow their tomatoes, thus allowing for decks, patios and driveways to hold gardens. This would allow those who are challenged by lack of sun on their dirt areas a way to bring the plants into areas more suitable for tomatoes (more sun).

Other goals, some for the team itself and those following along, were to learn a bit about tomato genetics by doing the experiments (especially the dominance/recessive character of tomato colors aside from pink and red), and to see if a collaborative, all volunteer/amateur project could be made to succeed when there was no money involved - just the fun and joy of discovery and collaboration. Finally, we would be testing a new development/release/distribution system - doing the work, creating the seed and giving it to companies.

So when you who have not been on the project who are discovering and trying these new varieties, think about our goals and let us know if you think we've succeeded.

Essentially, history will be the decider. If, in 50 or 100 years, the SSE yearbook contains listings of many of these dwarfs - in other words, they become heirlooms themselves far in the future - that may be the best indicator of success of all!

I won't say the best is yet to come, but certainly we will have some wonderful new things - filling in some missing colors - over the next 2-3 years. Wait until you try Wherokowhai, or Dwarf Blazing Beauty, or Boronia, or Sweet Scarlet Dwarf, or Chocolate Lightning, just to name a few!

[mdvpc]

Craig is right. I have been involved in growing some of the generations of Wherokowhai, Dwarf Blazing Beauty, Bornonia and Sweet Scarlet Dwarf and they are good!

[discrepancy]

For the curious, Wherokowhai, Boronia, Dwarf Blazing Beauty, and Sweet Scarlet Dwarf.

I'm really looking forward to Wherokowhai and Boronia. Any ETA for more info on Chocolate Lightning or Fred's Tie Dye?

[nctomatoman]

They are both at the F5 - I think next year is possible, if we have good luck this season and then the SH gives them a go....stay tuned for results. Color stability, size and flavor at this point are what we are nailing down.

[NickD]

After seeing how well my dwarfs are doing, I should probably add on to this thread!

The last frost around here is toward the end of May, but I set out an Arctic Rose in a bucket during the middle of April, with the idea being that I could bring it into the garage for cool nights and hopefully get some early tomatoes. After a freak hot spell at the beginning of May, the plant took off, and is doing extremely well.

I love the growth habit on this thing, it's about 2 feet tall, and almost that wide. The best part is the number of tomatoes on it! I count 20 tomatoes that are at least grape sized, with the largest looking like it's around 3oz or so. There's also countless tiny tomatoes forming, and probably 30 open blossoms on it. It's what I imagine that a tomato bush would look like.

I also have several other dwarfs going (Mr. Snow, Beryl Beauty, Rosella Purple, Sleeping Lady, and New Big Dwarf), which were set out later so aren't loaded up with tomatoes yet, but are growing extremely well.

Last year I didn't get any ripe tomatoes until August, and this year it looks like I might get some in June! Thanks for all of the work you guys did on these!

Nick