Early Toms Comparison

[Greatgardens]

Here is a closeup of the eight varieties that I started to compare growth habit. Note Sophie's Choice did not germinate. Patio is there as a control, since it is not particularly early. An interesting note -- Glacier came up as two different types, apparently. One is very short and potato-leaved, and the other is tall and regular leaved. I'm starting a second batch of comparison tomatoes today, and probably will start yet another in a couple of weeks. Cyril's Choice is very impressive at this point.
The tallest plant is Alaskan Fancy, and the label is partially obscured. The other label that is not clearly visible is Bush Early Girl (To "crow" just a little, I'm very pleased with how the closeup came out with our new camera's Macro feature.)
-GG

[Cole_Robbie]

Is that Patio f1? If so, it's the worst dwarf I have ever grown, in regard to flavor. By contrast, Cyril's Choice is one of the best red dwarfs I have had. Flavor-wise, the dwarfs out of the dwarf breeding project here on tomatoville just walk all over every hybrid dwarf I have tried.

[Catherine+twin]

Originally Posted by Greatgardens

Here is a closeup of the eight varieties that I started to compare growth habit. .... An interesting note -- Glacier came up as two different types, apparently. One is very short and potato-leaved, and the other is tall and regular leaved. I'm starting a second batch of comparison tomatoes today, and probably will start yet another in a couple of weeks.-GG

Hi Greatgardens

I have been growing "Glacier" for years, long enough that I wasn't recording where I got the seed when I started. That was probably the year I started saving my own seed, too. As I have become more of a tomato grower, I have kept track of that, and more recently whether it is supposed to be potato leaf or plain. And it turns out I have been growing NOT-Glacier for years. Yup, it was plain leaf and taller. So this spring I planted some (a lot) of my older seeds and out of nine plants that came up, three were PL. Two survived planting out. I will be saving seed from those two this fall (that is assuming their fruit are the right type, too.)

I grow potatoes from seed, too, now. Maybe that's why I now notice the tomatoes with potato leaves.

Catherine

[Greatgardens]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

Is that Patio f1? If so, it's the worst dwarf I have ever grown, in regard to flavor. By contrast, Cyril's Choice is one of the best red dwarfs I have had. Flavor-wise, the dwarfs out of the dwarf breeding project here on tomatoville just walk all over every hybrid dwarf I have tried.

I've tried eight of the Dwarfs from the program. The only one that I've really liked enough to grow a second time (so far) was Perth Pride, which I'm growing again this year. Yes, Patio F1. I've grown it off-and-on for twenty years or so. Very reliable and a good producer in EarthBox/container culture. Certainly not the best flavor I've ever found, but to me, good. I'm hoping for something better overall in terms of flavor, yield, earliness, plant growth habit, consistency, and the appearance of the tomatoes. (Appearance on my personal scale includes shapeliness, and avoiding splitting, cracking, cat-facing, and other blemishes.) Hopefully, Cyril's is "the one."

-GG

[Bipetual]

You should just have enough time to get a crop before frost. I hadn't thought of doing that...too bad I don't have more room! I have been thinking about Tatjana and Clear Pink Early...Should be interesting to see your results.

[Greatgardens]

Here is the second batch of comparison toms. There are a couple of clear winners (to me). Cyril's Choice and Orange Pixie F5. I hope to have some seeds of Mano this fall, and I also have two kinds of de-hybridized Pixie thanks to the generosity of some fellow gardeners. One question is answered: Cyril's Choice and of course Pixie are true dwarf varieties, while Sophie's Choice is a regular compact determinate. Glacier (Potato Leaf) is also quite compact, but bigger than Sophie's. Early Wonder is also a small compact bush, and a little bigger than Patio F1. So I have some good candidates for starting in mid-February next year, without overgrowing my cold frame in late April. Cyril's Choice reminds me a great deal of the German Extreme Dwarf in growth habit. Unfortunately, G.E.D. had a nearly 100% tendency to split when grown in an EarthBox. I'm definitely hoping that Cyril's does not have the same propensity.

-GG