Member discussion regarding the methods, varieties and merits of growing tomatoes.
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November 20, 2010 | #16 | |
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a
Posts: 21,169
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Quote:
I looked in my Pinetree catalog and looked at the info for Moreton Hybrid given there and starting shaking my head. The blurb from the website reads: (To our knowledge this was the first hybrid tomato sold, developed at Rucker's ( this appears as Rutgers in the catalog, CJM) and first appearing in the Harris Seed catalog in 1953. For about a dozen years it was the foremost variety grown in New Jersey where it was also known as the 4th of July tomato. But it is a soft tomato - poor shipper and so, as with other heirloom varieties, it was replaced by inferior tasting varieties with Pik or Pak in their names. Then it nearly disappeared - in fact between 1991 and 1994 one of the parent strains was lost. Fortunately an employee had purchased a bunch of seed at the auction that resulted from the Harris Moran merger and discovered that seed in his collection. It truly possessed the (Jersey tomato flavor). Plants are huge, and require support. Fruits are bright red, over a pound and terrific. 15 seeds They said it was bred by Rutgers. And it wasn't the first hybrid sold anyway. Both Big Boy ( intorduced by Buroee in 1948) and I think Better Boy ( just a couple of years later as bred by John Peto of Petoseeds in CA after he left Burpee and took Teddy Jones, the one parent, with him)preceded it. I linked to a history of Harris above and they named their farm Moreton Farm in 1863 so I would think that that it was bred by Harris and named for Moreton Farm as would seem reasonable. I will check that out some more, but I know that I had various chats with Mark Willets, I think his name is, at Harris , especially when Moreton Hybrid disappeared and he said something to the effect that I didn't have to worry about Supersonic and Jet Star b'c those two along with Moreton were the three best sellers above and beyond the more recent F1's they sell. I was pretty sure that Mark told me that Harris bred all three, but of course I could be wrong. If Rutgers U had bred it they probably would have called it Rutgers, ahem, but that name was taken, or they could have named it Ramapo, for the mountains that go from N Jersey into southern NYS. But then why would Rutgers have resurrected both Ramapo F1 and Moreton Hybrid at the same time if they hadn't bred it first, but then why name it for Moreton Farm where Harris was headquartered in NYS at Rochester. See, I do let issues like this bother me. It's better worrying about something like this than wondering how much fuel is in the tank that feeds my Monitor or if one of the more aggressive deer hunters will put some bullets thru my all glass windows that are on the exterior of the front 2/3 of the hexagon that comprises my LV and DR, b'c rifle season started today. Oh well, just some musings after looking at the weather forcast for next week ala snow on T-day and the next, but the good news is that I'll be hunkered down in my recliner chair watching the ATP tennis finals from London starting tomorrow. Well, after I pay some bills and pack up some seeds to go out Monday.
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Carolyn |
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November 21, 2010 | #17 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Alabama
Posts: 2,250
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Ramapo is outstanding here in North Alabama. I've grown it for the last 2 years for plant sales and for my own use and have had excellent results. Please note that I would rate Big Beef as a more productive tomato, but for canning, and general purpose use, Ramapo does the job and then some.
If you can't find seed at a reasonable price elsewhere, send me a msg saying how many seed you want and I'll work something out. I still have 1000 or so seed and only need 500 for 2011 growouts. I'll get fresh seed before 2012. DarJones |
November 22, 2010 | #18 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: NE Kingdom, VT - Zone 3b
Posts: 1,439
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You can order Ramapo and Moreton directly from Rutgers. Print out this order form and mail it in:
http://njfarmfresh.rutgers.edu/docum...sorderform.pdf I ordered from them just a month ago and there is still plenty left - even the nice t-shirts. |
January 25, 2011 | #19 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: North West Wyoming
Posts: 466
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The Natural Gardening Company lists Ramapo
http://www.naturalgardening.com/vege...tomatoseeds/20 I got my seeds today from NJAES and it only took about 2 weeks. Last edited by barbamWY; January 27, 2011 at 10:15 PM. Reason: Natural not National |
January 30, 2011 | #20 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Posts: 707
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Having grown up in New Jersey with the Ramapo river just about in my backyard, Of course I grew both Rutgers and Ramapo tomatoes. I'm sure I grew more Rutgers as they were around longer. Introduced in 1934 it gained wide acceptance as a quality tomato.
In 1964 Rutgers hybrid F was introduced, with resistance to fusarium wilt. This was soon followed with Rutgers hybrid VF which had resistance to both fusarium and verticillium. Dr. Bernard Pollack who introduced Rutgers hybrid F is the originator of Ramapo, which is a Rutgers type with both fusarium and verticillium resistance. Both are thick-skinned, medium sized (8-9 oz) bright crimson fruits having strong growing vigorous vines. They are resistant to cracking and "BER". about 80 days to maturity. Personally I think there are better tomatoes to grow but these are favored by many that like a medium-sized tomato. I believe Rutgers is now considered an heirloom tomato, not sure if Ramapo is. Enjoy! Camo |
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