Anyone growing Sunset's Red Horizon?

[tomacco]

I'm growing two Sunset's Red Horizon (aka Rostova) plants in an EarthTainer.

Does anyone else have experience with this variety?

There certainly is a lot of hype behind it. Does it live up to expectations? Does it grow well in a container?

[dice]

There seem to be a few variations around. Grunt grew some
that he got from a seed trader in Europe, and it came out a PL
with 8-12 oz heart shaped fruit (the original is an RL beefsteak
with larger fruit).

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by dice

There seem to be a few variations around. Grunt grew some
that he got from a seed trader in Europe, and it came out a PL
with 8-12 oz heart shaped fruit (the original is an RL beefsteak
with larger fruit).

Dice is quite correct in that the seed for Rostova, aka Sunset Red Horizon renamed by Gary Ibsen sold for the past few years at Tomato fest has been not correct for the variety.

I was sent seed for Rostova by someone who bought it from Tomatofest the 1st or second year it was offered and it was an RL red beefsteak as it should be and actually quite good.

The company that originally introduced Rostova knows all about this and has said for several years now that they would try to reintroduce the correct variety but nothinig has happened.

I sent the last of my true Rostova seeds from the original pack to Linda at Tomatofest this past December b'c what she is offering in the 2009 catalog/website was also the wrong heart shaped Rostova, but not a PL version and I haven't even heard of the wrong PL heart shaped version until now, whatever that might be. And I'm hoping she had good luck in germinating those seeds

[tomacco]

Bummer. So what you're saying is that I'm not growing what I think I'm growing. I did buy my seeds directly from TomatoFest.

[Mischka]

Not a fan of Gary Ibsen OR TomatoFest for many reasons; renaming varieties being one of them.

[Jimche]

I'm with you there, Tomacco. Got my seeds from TomatoFest, too, based only bought them based upon their description (had never heard of Rostova). I hope that the tomato grows out at least similar to what they describe, even if it is not the equal of the original. FWIW, the seedlings appear to be RL, as far as this newbie can tell from the first true leave that emerged a few days ago.

[tomacco]

Yeah, mine are definitely RL. These guys are around 7 weeks old now. As long as they produce something like the description on TomatoFest, I will be happy. Their specific pedigree is not so important to me.

[TZ-OH6]

The semi-heart shaped SRH from Tomatofest is a large plant and heavy producer. It came on later in the season for me than advertized but that could have been a fluke because the plant was late to come into bloom for me. The foliage is regular leaf and somewhat wispy, but not as wispy as something like Anna Russian. The flavor is pretty good, but mine suffered because of how late they ripened for me, so they might be better than what I grew. Most fruit are 10-16 ounces, but I got a few much larger than that.

[jwr6404]

TOMACCO
I,often grow this variety and am doing so again this year. I got my original seeds from tomatofest several years ago and they were good producers of many 2 lb plus Tomatoes. I sent a lot of seeds to a lady in Sooke,BC,canada and she had great success with them as well. She operates a nursery. You can view the tomatoes she grew at www.fullcircleseeds.com . Scroll down to Tomatoes and She has them listed as Red Sunset Horizon,I don't know why. I have heard from sources that tell me that the current SRH from Tomatofest are much smaller.

[carolyn137]

I have heard from sources that tell me that the current SRH from Tomatofest are much smaller.

****

Jim, since the Rostova currently being offered at Tomatofest isn 't Rostova I don't think one can say that the fruits are smaller b/c there's no direct comparison.

I did look at the website you linked to and what's shown appears to be correct for Rostova and the original seeds I spoke about above also gave fruits in the 1-2# range.

Just for kicks I looked at what background material she was giving for several other tomato varieties. For quite a few she gives only her own seed source and not much at all about where or who the variety originated from, but that's surely her decision as to what she wants to present.

[Tomatovator]

Jim, I know you are a big fan of Rostova. I'm growing one this year from seed you sent me a while back (thanks again). Can you post a pic of the leaves of this tomato plant?

[jwr6404]

I'm sorry I still don't know how to post photo's