Principe Borghese in container

[berkeleyluddite]

Last year I grew a few Principe Borghese both in container and in the ground. The flavor from the container were amazing while the ground grown ones were mealy and without flavor. Is this typical??? I am planning to grow a few Principe Borghese this year and all in container!

Also heard Black Krim is a good candidate for container growing. Is this true also???

[Father'sDaughter]

Thanks for sharing that. I grew them in a raised bed two years ago to use them for drying before discovering you could dry larger tomatoes and not have to deal with so many seeds. They were extremely productive, and probably would have been great roasted, but I wasn't overly impressed with them right off the vine. Maybe next year I'll give them another chance in a grow bag.

[berkeleyluddite]

This PB container phenomenon is especially surprising because I dry farmed all of my tomatoes in the ground. Which is why I was surprised they were mealy from the ground....

[Crandrew]

could it be in ground temp being lower than container temp?

[berkeleyluddite]

Yes, the ground in my area never really gets that warm. Do you think that's the reason why???

I also grew other tomatoes and they were much better in the ground. Early Girls, Sun Gold & Vistacion Valley......

[Fred Hempel]

In Berkeley, this is not a surprising result.

Cool summers often cause people to overwater tomatoes in the ground, while container plants have higher temps and may have watering conditions (drier) suited to flavorful fruit.

That said, you could probably get great tomatoes from plants in the ground if you 1) add some compost to the soil, and 2) back off on the water a bit.

[Fred Hempel]

Principe Borghese will never rival SunGold in fresh flavor, if grown in similar conditions.

I think of it as a great tomato for drying and sauces. Salads too.

Your pot results may be the exceptional ones -- and your fruit may have been stress enough to make them sweeter than they typically are.

[MrBig46]

Tomato Principe Borghese is tomato for Piennolo:
In the territory of the municipalities on the slopes of Vesuvius, cultivated on small plots between 150 and 450 meters above sea level, in the absence of irrigation, the cherry tomato Vesuvius draws maximum benefit from the volcanic soil and a sunny extremely generous. Even his color "burning" is a gift of the volcano, so that according to the old roots of the tomatoes will feed on the lava of Vesuvius. The rest is done by the caring treatment of farmers careful to keep intact the traditional techniques which provide for, among other things, the use of pillars with wooden stakes and iron wire, so as to avoid that the berries touch the ground and to make is that the fruits, receiving the sunlight uniformly, can be colored in an appropriate manner. The fruits, the weight just over 20 grams, are of rounded shape slightly plum-shaped, with a peculiar small lace at the lower end of the depressions and on the other end. The skin is thick, the flesh is firm and compact with sweet and sour taste delicious and unique due to the concentration of sugars and salts minerali.conservazione typical of these tomatoes is "piennolo" the whole cluster, called "schiocche", collected between July and August before they are fully ripe, are placed on a hemp thread, tied in a circle, coming to making a single large cluster of several kilograms that will be kept suspended from the ground in a well-ventilated and dry. This system, which, by supporting a slow maturation, lets have "red gold fresh" until the spring following the year of cultivation. The long natural conservation is due to the fact that the plants are grown „in dry conditions“ and to peel rather thick that limits dehydration if the fruit. The long natural conservation is due to the fact that the plants are grown „in dry conditions“ and to peel rather thick that limits dehydration of the fruit.
From piennolo you can "draw" picking individual tomatoes which become an essential ingredient of many typical Neapolitan dishes, give a unique touch to the pizza, the bruschetta, spaghetti, sauces, gravies to fish and many other recipes.
I tested this concept last year (picture) , but I wasn´t successfull (my tomatoes did not endure to December )- a few potassium, much water. I shall test Piennolo this year again.

[edweather]

Thanks for that MrBig46.

I grew them in the ground for a couple of years, and had pretty good luck, but the plants wilted pretty badly mid/late season and it was a race to get the tomatoes ripe. The flavor was pretty good, but I mainly grew them for drying, and we dried them in a dehydrator and used them during the winter. I never tried them in a container.

Now my situation has changed and I grow mostly in containers, but have found better tasting tomatoes for drying. Black Cherry for one. The sugar and tomato flavor really pops in the dried ones I'm eating now from last year.

[MrBig46]

Originally Posted by edweather

Thanks for that MrBig46.

I grew them in the ground for a couple of years, and had pretty good luck, but the plants wilted pretty badly mid/late season and it was a race to get the tomatoes ripe. The flavor was pretty good, but I mainly grew them for drying, and we dried them in a dehydrator and used them during the winter. I never tried them in a container.

Now my situation has changed and I grow mostly in containers, but have found better tasting tomatoes for drying. Black Cherry for one. The sugar and tomato flavor really pops in the dried ones I'm eating now from last year.

Hello Edweather,
I grew tomato Principe Borghese last year for the first time. I am fascinated by its use as Piennolo. The flavour of PB wasn´t best (for me). I shall endeavour to improve its flavour by addition of wooden ash (K, Ca and lift pH). I want to contract watering too.
Vladimír