Member discussion regarding the methods, varieties and merits of growing tomatoes.
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#1 |
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I sliced Orange Minsk, Giant Belgium, Druzba, and Phoenix Hybrid tomatoes for dinner today. As always, I had to sample them as I sliced them and fully expected the Orange Minsk to have the best flavor. I love Orange Minsk. I was surprised to find Giant Belgium too easily have the best flavor of the four. It is a strongly flavored, acidic tomato. I grew it this year simply to see if it would attain the huge size it is famous for. Mine have only reached the average large size with nothing outstanding so it is a pleasant surprise to find Giant Belgium is worth growing for taste as well as size. It is fairly productive. If I ever get serious about growing for size, I will probably need to pinch suckers and possibly remove all but a few small tomatoes early in the growing season. Druzba turned out to be worth growing but not outstanding in flavor. Phoenix hybrid is a tomato producing machine totally loaded with large, orange to red globes. It performs very well in the high heat of Texas. It's a shame it only tastes like a commercial, hybrid, determinate, store bought tomato.
My wife preferred Orange Minsk. She thought it tasted "fruity". Ted Last edited by tedln; July 6, 2013 at 10:58 PM. |
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#2 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: SeTx
Posts: 881
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Thank you for the variety reviews, especially helpful in context of Texas!
![]() How would you compare Phoenix to Homestead or Big Beef? Or is there a better red slicer for heat out there? Tl |
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#3 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Pilot Hill, Ca.
Posts: 307
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I've got a good number of one-pound Giant Belgiums out in the garden as I write this. I agree with you on the taste.
I need to pick one of each variety I have and do a taste test/comparison like you've done here.
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-Dennis Audios, Tomatoville. Posted my final post and time to move on. |
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#4 | |
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Ted Last edited by tedln; July 6, 2013 at 11:02 PM. |
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#5 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: southeastern PA
Posts: 760
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I'm enjoying your reviews very much. Thats nice to know about Giant Belgium-
I've always thought it might be too mild to try. Darlene |
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#6 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: SoCal Inland
Posts: 2,705
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#7 |
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I'm happy some people find my observations useful or at least entertaining. Camo is really the official reviewer on this forum. Unfortunately he has cut way back on the number of varieties he grows but certainly has provided some good information over the years. I hope other gardeners on this forum also contribute their observations to the discussions. I've learned a lot from many people on the forum and hope to continue learning.
I would guess each years tomato plantings in my garden originate from my experience in the past with various varieties. At least fifty percent are planted basis comments made by other gardeners. I keep two lists going all the time. They are "Grow Every Year" and "Grow In The Future". The Grow in the Future list is made from varieties other folks have commented on. Ted |
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#8 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Posts: 707
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Ted,
I'm in agreement with you on the taste of Giant Belgium being right up there with some of my favorites. unfortunately I was never impressed with their size or production. Never got anywhere near some of my larger favorites. Orange Minsk was one of those tomatoes that never did much for me taste-wise. I prefer a tomato that tastes like a tomato...not some other fruit. I'm not impressed with colors either. Having cut back from the hundreds of varieties I used to grow each year, to only twenty total tomato plants this year...I've eliminated all the different colors and smaller cherry, grape, current tomatoes as well as paste tomatoes so I can concentrate on the best tasting slicers, which is what I prefer. Just checked the garden after last nights thunderstorms. Still have 42 tomatoes on my plants and all the cages are intact. (we had 60+ MPH go through). Still its going to be a while till I start getting ripe ones to taste. My largest Cowlick Brandywine has 9 tomatoes on it and 3 are just starting to turn color. Looks like it's going to be the first to ripen this year. Thanks for your reviews and enjoy them all! Camo |
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#9 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Alabama
Posts: 7,070
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Ted my wife and I both thought Giant Belgium was in the top three for flavor this year. My largest tomato off of it was 17 ounces but it was a very good producer. This was the first year it was productive for me because it is one that always gets fusarium and the grafting of it onto a resistant rootstock made all the difference. I always read about it being so sweet but found it to be a very balanced full flavored tomato. It has been our favorite slicer for hamburgers and BLTs this year.
This was also my first year successfully growing Virginia Sweets. Now that is a really sweet tomato but with a flavor more full and rich than most of the really sweet tomatoes I have grown in the past like Pineapple or Lucky Cross. I also found VS to be more tolerant of the foliage diseases that have run rampant so far in this very wet season. It also produced fruits that were far larger on average than Giant Belgium but not as many. Both will get multiple plantings in my garden next season. Bill |
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#10 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Pilot Hill, Ca.
Posts: 307
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Picked a few GB's today. It's hard to judge but this bowl is pretty big. The fruits fill your entire hand easily.
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-Dennis Audios, Tomatoville. Posted my final post and time to move on. |
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#11 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Brownville, Ne
Posts: 3,301
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Like a lot of tomatoes with the name giant in them, I think as Carolyn first stated several years ago, " they may be giant in name and in flavor, but not necessarily in size." Giant Belgium when I have grown it averaged around 9-11 ounces, some bigger some smaller. The flavor was very good, but maybe not in my top 20.
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there's two things money can't buy; true love and home grown tomatoes. Last edited by PaulF; July 8, 2013 at 03:30 PM. |
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#12 | |
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Looking at Tom A To's photo, it's easy to see Giant Belgium grows large and is very attractive. It's a bonus that it also tastes good. Ted |
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#13 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Posts: 707
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Ted,
I grew Delicous last year for the first time, (seeds came free with seed starter kit from Burpee). It got plenty of ripe, ping pong ball sized tomatoes on it. They were spitters, and I pulled the plant fairly early in the season. I was under the impression that it was a large slicer (suppossed to be the worlds largest tomato at 7 3/4lbs. ) Certainly wasn't this one. Hope you have better luck than i did with it. Enjoy! Camo |
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#14 | |
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Ted |
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#15 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: NC - zone 8a - heat zone 7
Posts: 4,931
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Hmm.just ordered seeds.
I am also growing ANANAS NOIRE which is crossed from GB. So I will have both mother and the daughter . lol
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