Has any one heard of this tomato?

[Oliver]

Burpee "Best Boy." I bought a pack of seeds on impulse a few months ago. Can't find much about this variety and wonder if anyone here has encountered it. I realize it's a hybrid but still curious.

[Gardeneer]

I think I have heard the name. But have not seen it to be sold as plant.
Currently I am growing Better Boy , Big Boy and Early Girl.



BTW, I am amazed by the vigor of EG. I bought all 3 , the same size (Bonny) but EG is three times bigger and loaded with flowers and fruits already. All 3 planted on Easter Sunday.

[RJGlew]

Originally Posted by Oliver

Burpee "Best Boy." I bought a pack of seeds on impulse a few months ago. Can't find much about this variety and wonder if anyone here has encountered it. I realize it's a hybrid but still curious.

From my records:
Variety: Best Boy F1
Date Source: 2013, Livingstone Seeds
Colour: RD
Orig: USA
Type: Slicer 1
DTM: 69
Fruit: 8 oz
Habit: Determinate
Breed: Hybrid
Leaf: Regular
Height: Med

[Oliver]

I have a bunch of Big Boys, some planted and others as spares in case of frost. My Best Boy seeds came up last week. I have a friend that plants Early Girls. Very productive for her.

Thank you very much for the information. I was wondering where it came from since people here say Burpee sells sourced seed now.

[ScottinAtlanta]

I am growing Best Boy this year - seedlings vigorous, and let's see!

[Gardeneer]

Now that the talk is about THE Boys(big, better , best) I have two of them ( big and better) both Bonny plants.
What Amazes me is that they both looks almost identical compact BUSH like. They are one third the size of EARLY GIRL. When I bought and planted them all 3 where the same size.

I suspect tag switch or something.

[Oliver]

The seeds all came up, look good so far. Planted them just to see what would happen but frost killed all but one of my tomato plants outside. Glad I started these.

[Greatgardens]

I can't plant them this year, but I bought a pack of Best Boy the other day at Menards. Hopefully, I can next year. Could you guys update this with some pics and info as to how Best Boy does for you?

[Yak54]

Sounds like all the "Boys & Girls" are still popular with some folks. I recall in the first 7 or 8 years of my tomato growing endeavors that I grew Big Boy, Better Boy, Wonder Boy, and Ultra Boy for 4 or 5 years before I discovered "Heirlooms". At that time I also stopped growing determinate and also "early maturing" varieties. Have not looked back since. My taste buds have become jaded & spoiled with SOTW, Cherokee Purple, Polish, Lucky Cross and the like that I could never go back to those early years. But this is just me and my opinion. Your experience may be different than mine and we are all one big happy tomato growing family. The fact is I'm just biased, spoiled, and jaded. But it's been a good journey.

[Greatgardens]

I wondered if someone would mention Ultra Boy/Girl. Available from Stokes, years ago. I grew lots of vegetables from Stokes back in the 70's including Ultra Girl. And it looks like they still sell Ultra Girl tomato seeds. And they also sell a "Best Boy" tomato that is different from the Burpee product.

[Oliver]

Originally Posted by Yak54

Sounds like all the "Boys & Girls" are still popular with some folks. I recall in the first 7 or 8 years of my tomato growing endeavors that I grew Big Boy, Better Boy, Wonder Boy, and Ultra Boy for 4 or 5 years before I discovered "Heirlooms". At that time I also stopped growing determinate and also "early maturing" varieties. Have not looked back since. My taste buds have become jaded & spoiled with SOTW, Cherokee Purple, Polish, Lucky Cross and the like that I could never go back to those early years. But this is just me and my opinion. Your experience may be different than mine and we are all one big happy tomato growing family. The fact is I'm just biased, spoiled, and jaded. But it's been a good journey.

This is actually my first year of growing boys and girls. I was nostalgic for my grandpa. It's funny because my neighbors won't grow anything but the boys and girls except for the occasional Roma. I don't care what they grow but I'd get bored growing the same 2-3 tomatoes every year for 30 years.

[Oliver]

Originally Posted by Greatgardens

I can't plant them this year, but I bought a pack of Best Boy the other day at Menards. Hopefully, I can next year. Could you guys update this with some pics and info as to how Best Boy does for you?

A bit late getting back to you but Best Boys did the best in my garden of the varieties I grew last year. I grew Big Boys and Rutgers as a nostalgia thing since my Grandpa and Dad grew them for many years. I bought a pack of Best Boy on impulse last spring and planted them just because.

We had a very hot and dry (near drought conditions in SD) early summer followed by heavy rains in the late summer.

Big Boys didn't do much in my garden last year and Rutgers did well until we got a few rain storms and a septoria outbreak. Two plants outproduced my five Rutgers and were unaffected by disease. Disease killed one Rutgers, the rest got blossom end rot and cracking until they were useless.

When the stores were clearing seeds last year I got another pack of Best Boy for 35 cents and am planting a few this year just in case the new ones don't work out.

[eyolf]

I grew Best Boy in 2019. It was good, but not great. Flavor good, nice-looking tomatoes.

IMO, it was bred as a home-garden variety that offers a couple of tomatoes at a time over a fairly long harvest window. Total production fair, but if comparing to old favorites like Bonny Best for canning, one will wish they had planted many more.

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[Oliver]

Pretty much.