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Old July 20, 2016   #16
PureHarvest
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Thanks for the feedback guys.
For my area, I am experiencing exactly what Gerardo said.
Black, brown, GWR, and stripes sell. Doesn't matter what shape the red is if it is red (for my produce stand customer). Although, the restaurants want the non-reds too, as they feel that they can get reds from anywhere even though they are nowhere near my reds flavor. All perception. They feel that for 2-3 times the price they can get reds for, they should be getting something unique for the price.
The other factor I forgot to mention is size. Pounders are too big. I'd say the perfect size is 10-12 ounce. That size packs out correctly in a "10lb' single layer box. This is also where uniformity comes in so culling is minimal and the boxes are uniform. I know, asking for a lot coming from heirlooms/OP tomatoes.
I need to talk to my broker, perhaps the reds would work for the customer he will be supplying through me next year. That would make things easier for me if I can mix in like 50% of my selections as reds.
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Old July 20, 2016   #17
Urbanheirlooms
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One more that I would recommend is Vintage Wine. They are very pretty with pink and yellow striping, good flavor, prolific & very uniform in size. I will post pictures of it and the brown flesh jumbo tomorrow.
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Old July 20, 2016   #18
Cole_Robbie
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I am with you on the scaling down on the number of varieties. After having been past 100 varieties the past two years, it's too much to keep track of. I want one good tomato of each type, and by type I mean size and color/pattern.

For my cherry mix, Purple Bumblebee is always going to be my dark cherry. I will grow a red antho cherry just for looks, but they don't do much for me. I have two Chinese yellow pears I like. I'm sick of Sungold; they're too small. Ambrosia Red is small, but delicious and worth another shot. I have a red Russian cherry called "Sweet Cherry." It's decent, but mostly I like it because the fruit get big. Bosque Blue Bumble Bee, Esmeralda Golosina, Yamali Yellow, and Juan Flamme are earning a spot on the team as well. Maglia Rosa is another permanent member.

Sky Reacher and Sibirsky Malahit did well for me this year. AK Mark's "Mat-Su Express" is my new favorite red. I like Bradley and Cosmonaut Volkov as well. Sladkij Ponchik is my new yellow. 100 Pudov is a ruffled pink I like. KBX did well. Malachite Box and Zebra Rita were also good. Fred Hempel's Jazz tomatoes are always going to be in my garden as well.

And even though they are dwarfs, I will still always grow Tasmanian Chocolate, Mano, Sweet Sue, Qiyanai Huang, and Jade Beauty. Uluru Ocre is pretty cool, too.

I'm sure I'm forgetting a few, and I have eight or nine more months to add to that list. But I feel like even though that list is long, those are all distinctly different tomatoes, to me at least.
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Old July 21, 2016   #19
PureHarvest
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I was disappointed with purple bumble bee. Really thick skin and not as sweet as I remember sungold. Really cool looking though. Did you find the skin thick in yours Cole?
Looking forward to hopefully getting some Matsu from Mark. Hoping that I can move some reds next year and that will be the answer to production, size, uniformity and flavor for a red.
Cole, what size are your Jazz? Do you think you get 15 lbs of marketable fruit minimum per plant? Are they pretty uniform? Was thinking about doing the grow out offer for the Red.

Last edited by PureHarvest; July 21, 2016 at 01:43 PM.
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Old July 21, 2016   #20
Cole_Robbie
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Sun Chocola F1, from the Sungold line, is a good dark cherry to try. The stink bugs ate mine up, though.

The "Jazzes" make mostly large to extra fruit for me. Size does vary. Shape varies a little as well. They are extremely productive, though. Flavor is very good, and the striped look makes them good market sellers.
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Old July 21, 2016   #21
KarenO
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What about a trial of some strong heart shapes. I think people find them very appealing and they do not tend to catface. Also the big piriform shapes are gorgeous (Cuneo giant Pear as an example). maybe experiment and give them the traditional red they want in a beautiful shape they will equate with special and heirloom (and therefore worth paying more for)
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