If you found this video helpful, please "Like" it and share it to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching 😀TIMESTAMPS here: 0:00 Introduction To Growing Tomatoes 1:08 Tomato #1: Beefsteak Indeterminate Tomato 4:09 Runner Up Beefsteak Indeterminate Tomato 5:27 Tomato #2: Indeterminate Cherry Tomato 7:35 Runner Up Indeterminate Cherry Tomato 8:36 Tomato #3: Dwarf Tomato Project Tomato 11:52 Runner Up Slicer Determinate Tomato 15:32 Adventures With Dale
I will have to try some of those! They sound great. I personally love Jubilee, an heirloom. For those hesitant to grow hybrids because of not being able to save seeds from them, indeterminate tomatoes can be overwintered. They're perennials. Take one or two very generous sized cuttings, pot them up, and bring them in. Then you can take cuttings from those to start your tomatoes in spring. Figure out the process so you can maintain your favorites when maybe seeds won't be available.
As a millennial, you are not a bad kinda guy. You have a great presentation and a great delivery of content. Thanks for the information. Said the boomer from Oregon.
I'm also an older millennial, I'm in zone 10a on the West Coast, so hot and dry in summer. I have great success with early girl hybrid, produces nearly all year where I live, good flavor and very productive. They got wrecked by mildew last year after putting out an early summer crop, but I just cut them all the way back and they bounced back for a great fall and decent winter crop.
@@TheMillennialGardener😂😂😂 We're not old we're primetime 😅😅😅 Anyone older than Google is fine by me 😂😂😂 Some will never know the struggle of dial up😅 Back to the tomatoes 🍅 God bless you and yours Fellow Millennials. Hey Dale 🐶
@@jackmackerel4151Indeed. I'm in North Carolina and this is my first time growing early girls. My seedlings are still inside but they're doing well. We're not old we're primetime 😅😂 I love our generation and love that many of us are into gardening 😅 Blessings 🙏🏽
Oh Boomer, most Millennials are awesome because we love boomers. Some of our parents and grandparents are boomers. We're pretty much the remnants of two great generations ❤ Lord help the rest 🙏🏽🇺🇸
I grew Big Beef Plus and Celebrity Plus last year, here in Ontario, Canada. Definite winners here. I started them late, transplanting on July 1, with only 2.5 months left in this short season and I got plenty of delicious fruit. The family loved them!
@@TheMillennialGardenerIf you're growing in containers do you think it'd be a good idea to try wrapping the top of the planter/bag with visqueen the day of/before a big rain for moisture control or would that have adverse effects like mold/algae?
@@TheMillennialGardener I grow Celebrity every year - 7B, Maryland. FABULOUS production. I've gotten close to 50 tomatoes on one plant; one plant takes about a 4'X4' section in a raised bed; disease resistant, very tasty. I know them as semi-determinates. I do NOT pinch out suckers on Celebrities. They produce throughout the season but definitely slow down and fruit gets smaller in August. (Would probably be sooner for you because you're warmer.) My neighbors, organic farmers (they sell to restaurants and have a farm stand), plant Celebrities early.
I’ve had great luck with Rosella Purple, super sweet 100, 4th of July, and Cherokee Purple. We don’t get nearly as hot here in the NW burbs of Chicago and I have been saving my Cherokee seed for the last few years. My all time favorite paste tomato is Work Release. I am a citizen scientist with SSE and got this one in a trial of paste tomatoes and fell in love with it. Huge 1.5-2.5lb oxheart fruits, meaty, great flavor. Excellent for sauce making. I save those every year as well. Great video! I am also trying Ace 55 this season.
It's getting a little late to start beefsteak tomatoes that far south, but the cherry types will still grow and pollinate. There are just so many good varieties out there.
You are the reason I started growing dwarf tomatoes. I had my best tomato season last fall with all dwarfs. Hearing what you said about rosella purples reaction to hot and humid makes me leery of the upcoming spring. I picked 10 shorter season dwarfs to try this sprin that are already in ground now. Fingers crossed it works out. Still glad dwarfs were mentioned here again!
Glad you’re having success! If heat and humidity is your problem like with me, get yourself 40% shade cloth. The stuff I link to in my Amazon Storefront is incredible. I have 4 big shade tarps. They are lifesavers and will extend your tomato’s harvest.
You nailed it on the head about the Beefsteaks. I do them every year no questions. This year I actually branched out with some new to me varieties. So far I'm really enjoying what I see. Keep it up man! I enjoy your videos. fellow millennial gardener in Iowa
I love these kinds of videos. Im with you on the Big Beef. I even had one make it thru my North Florida winter and I just picked a huge tomato off of it yesterday.
Tomatoes were the plant that got me into gardening! I have finally decided to break down ad get the Sungold to see what all of the fuss is about after being so into my heirlooms for all of these years. I'm debating picking up a pack of the Brandyboys to test the side by side with my Brandywine pinks. (I also grow the yellow and black Brandywine!)
I live in the PNW the trick to getting your tomatoes ripe is single vine pruning like you do with some of yours, I haven't found a variety I can't grow including heirlooms that are difficult to grow in hot humid climates. I sell over over 1000 starts up to 100 varieties every year in my small town and have costumers asking why my tomatoes are ripe when there's are still green, I always ask how much sun do they get and recommend single or double vine pruning.
Wow! Just Wow! Almost didn’t watch this one - your climate is so different than the Appalachian mountains (zone 5). But sooo glad I did! Gonna have to try all your varieties. I totally agree with your cherry picks. Discovered Sun Sugar several years ago & Super Sweet 100 last year. I will grow them both til I die!
Anthony, another winner! Now I have to run and and buy more seeds-lol. I’m building your airplane cable system as a test this year. Next year I should be in my new house (it’s being built). I have been playing with my garden plan. Have you done any videos on designing a garden? I would love something like that! Thanks for all your great information!!!! Lori
To add to the sun sugar Vs sungold. I don't know if you have tried it but Honeycomb is my replacement for sungold. A slightly lighter shade of gold colour than sungold, just as sweet but perhaps without some of the more complex flavour nuances. But sungold splits too easy, so I now get a way bigger percentage of the crop on my plate than I used to with sungold.
For the cherry’s I, too, plant the sun sugar over the sun gold for the very reasons you state. I also plant Juliet which is a fantastic all around cherry type. Cherokee Purple is my favorite beef to plant. Harvesting seeds from one or 2 of them per season reaps an abundance year after year.
Great video. I'm in my second year of gardening and tomatoes have become my favorite. I find myself in search of my favorite tomato to grow as well. I'm growing at least over 40 varieties this year, I can't wait to see how things go! Can't wait to see what other ones you might add to this list in the future!
Last year my favorites were Cherokee Purple, the Chadwick cherry, Yellow Pear, Super sweet 100. My San Marzano was eh here in CT. Maybe I’ll try the Brandy Boy. 😊. I’m a sucker for the cherry tomatoes. Oh and I stole a couple Sun gold tomatoes off my friend’s plant just for the seeds lol.
It’s really refreshing and rare to have someone explain their flavor experience and not just what will grow. Flavor is a very subjective thing of course, but since I’m growing in a challenging climate and will need to baby these plants anyway, videos like this really help me choose. I’m still in search of a tomato that tastes like the ones from my childhood (New Jersey) that will actually grow here in SW Florida. I chose Rutgers for my first try at growing tomatoes, and it was a great success, but alas the flavor was lacking. Thanks again!
I try to provide a variety since taste is so subjective. A good mix of red tomatoes, pink tomatoes, heirloom-types, hybrid types, cherry types, etc. It's tough to please everyone, but with the selection, something will please everyone. I've lived in three states: NJ, PA and NC. I grew up in the NJ pine barrens, worked on a farm in NJ, etc., and I have to tell you that my tomatoes taste the same everywhere. If your tomatoes taste off in SW Florida, it may be because of the soil. I know when you get far down, the soil gets heavy in limestone, which could raise the pH and lead to lousy taste since tomatoes like lower pH soil. What I recommend you try is to grow your tomatoes in 20 gallon grow bags filled with peat moss, then blended with some perlite and compost. That will give you an acidic pH. I bet that will fix the taste problem. I also recommend you grow your tomatoes during the dry season, October to early May, if you can, since the dry weather will produce more flavorful, less watery tomatoes.
Okay , you got me sold on brandy boy ! This is my first time with tomatoes, so far i have : pineapple tomato , black brandywine , brown suger (new from Baker Creek) , bodacious, and beefsteak Yes, i went all out, lol. They are sprouting nicely
Sunsugar is my go to cherry for about 4 years now. Always super sweet. Always produces well and always runs to the end of the growing season for me. Last year I got a couple of extra weeks by moving the plants onto my covered patio as the cold started to creep in on us. Last year I tried another tomato plant, a medium sized orange Golden Sun Ray. It was another very sweet and tasty tomato, very fleshy but didn't produce too many tomatoes. Don't know what I did wrong.
This is my first year attempting to grow vegetables (starting small with just tomatoes and peppers) which I'm doing all in grow bags and your past videos are what I used to decide which varieties I want to try first because I'm also in the same climate zone in NC. I'm really looking forward to trying Brandy Boy. I grew up eating a regional summer staple dish here of chopped cucumbers and tomatoes, salt, pepper, sugar and vinegar. For me it's the quintessential late summer early autumn snack that takes me back to my childhood. Sadly I didn't pick up any Sun Sugar because as you mentioned it seemed like you didn't favor it in your 4 cherry tomato taste test video from a year or 2 back. Maybe I'll try it next year but I am doing a few super sweet 100 and sun golds. I was really torn on which one to get so if the golds give me trouble then next year I'll know to switch. Thanks for every thing you do. Your channel has been a wealth of knowledge and inspiration and is why I decided to finally give it a shot. Best of luck to you and Dale.
Great video. Glad I found your channel...I'm in Brunswick County, too, Leland, off of Maco Rd. :) Starting my first garden in a long time..maybe 15 years... All I remember is that it was really hard to grow anything here...and every dies by mid-July from the heat. 😂 Well, I'm off to binge watch ur channel and try to come up with a game plan. Cheers!
Ooh that’s a great reminder! I almost forgot about my sun sugar tomatoes this spring. Now it might be too late to get them going but seeing as how they’ll grow all season I think I’ll start some anyway. They are awesome. I bet you could talk about tomatoes all day! You are very knowledgeable about them! Thanks for passing it on to us! 👍🏻
I grew a variety called Carolina Gold, great producer. My plant guy died, he always had a ton of varieties. I don't have much of a green thumb, I just plant them and eat them. I love my brandywines, I'll have to look for brandy boy
Great info. I have to agree with younon several of these but you have introduced me to a few new ones, thank you. Love sweet Dale, boy he looks comfy! 🐕🐾💞
Dale looks AMAZINGLY comfortable. I am growing Siletz this year; I planted a few out as early as Jan 10. They look good so far; I hope the heat doesn't get them (we've had plenty of days in the low 80's already, gah). I tried Dwarf Rosella Crimson this year too but I think I should have taken them off the heat mat as soon as they germinated; they threw up a couple of true leaves and then gave up. Ah well, next time. I'm going to get Dwarf Rosella Purple for next year too. Thank you for the other suggestions! As always, your videos are thorough and informative. Cheers from Houston.
Crimson Caramello from Renee's Garden. Fantastic resistance to disease and great balanced flavor. Big beef is always a winner. Live in union county NC 8a. Something else to try if you haven't already to help grow tomatoes you like but they have poor yield, disease resistance etc - grow root stock tomatoes and graft scions of those you want to them. It helps A LOT. The guys over at Epic Gardening go over it and sell the root stock tomato seeds out of Botanical Interests.
Dale, good stuff! I'm a couple hours away from you in Granville County, and I love the Floradade and the Homestead. I have shared your videos with some beginners who needed a little help. Keep up the good work!
Video idea: things you used to do in the garden that you no longer do. As someone who's followed from the beginning I still mimic a lot of what you shared years ago (ex fig fertilizer schedule in buckets). I'd be curious to know why you stopped or if you found better processes.
I have never had good luck growing any tomatoes that I have planted. I live on the Florida Panhandle and it gets really hot and humid in the summer. I will definitely check out the seeds you recommended.
LOVE the Supersweet 100 and Sunsugar. I'm going to have to try Brandyboy this year and perhaps the Big Beef. Hopefully I can find them as I didn't seed start this year. Here's my recommendation (I'm in 7B, Maryland): Juliet tomatoes. Have you tried them? They're an indeterminate SMALL plum. NO yellow shoulders, NO cracking, highly disease resistant, production is insane. And they ripen GREAT on the counter. I use them to make tomato and pizza sauce - and to roast. On their own (just like any plum), they're not juicy-sweet. Love your channel.
I will be trying my luck with 6 brandy boy plants this year. Two years ago I had a couple of Brandywine reds that did relatively well while everything else was dying from blight or the heat. You're right about the Sungold disease resistance. I will try the Supersweet 100 and Honeycomb F1 instead. My Rosella Purple did not perform well last year. This year I will try out the Dwarf Wild Fred, New Big Dwarf and the Adelaide Festival. You should also definitely try out the Mountain Magic F1.
Great info. I only just recently started, and funnily enough, chose Pink brandywines, Cherokee purples, and sungolds. Well, here's hoping I get some kind of harvest from them. Will definitely keep these in mind for next year.
I know it’s late but I just picked up a sun sugar starter and seeds for bwp and I’m excited. They are in containers so I can baby them from the elements to extend longer grows about to get them going now!
Thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge. And glad to know I’m not the only one that had issues with Cherokee purples. My new favorite for past 3 years has been Cherry Chocolate Cherry tomatoes. Deep earthy taste is only way to describe 😋
Awesome video! I always love hearing your favorite fruits & veggies to grow and the reasons why. I also found the Dwarf Tomato project several years ago and love them! If you haven’t tried Uluru Ochre, you really should. It is absolutely delicious. Very savory umami flavor I think you will love 💕
We have similar experince in the clay,l lowlands of SE MI. Many professionals grow Beef Steak varieties with success (and Roma deternimates). Although I love Brandywine tomatoes, a risk. Yellow Beefsteak in the garden was a major winner last year! I'll be planting tomato seeds in a couple weeks, right along with moving out the cold tolerant starts to make space under the indoor lights.
Tomatoes are the first plant i ever grew and i love it even though i dont actually like tomatoes. My favorite smell is tomato plants when im watering. I live in washington state and in my area we dont really have disease or pest pressure. Im growing somwthing like 30 indeterminates in several varieties and another 12 or so determinates.
I had a friend who tried the Mortgage Lifterlast year and had great results. He said they we huge and delicious. I've decided to give them a try this year. Not sure if you have tried those
Dale adorable among pillows with one ear up! Now you've got me curious now about trying out some hybrid seeds due to all of their many perks! I'm usually a devotee to using heirloom type seeds for anything I start but I'm very tempted by some of the varieties you showed!
Best substitute I have found to Cherokee purple is prudens purple it’s a indeterminate size plant that’s very productive and taste as good as Cherokee purple
I had Rosella purple 8 feet long lol I put a wire mesh on my hoop greenhouse to reinforce it against snow, bonus is the Vine type plants love it. lil rainforest in my yard full of tomatoes past year, this year will be 50/50 Peppers and tomatoes, and 10% eggplants.
Thanks for all your work. I follow you for 2 years already. Over last several years, I tried more then 100 varieties. We did not like Siletz, Sungold and Sunsugar at all. They are too acidic. We puled them out. SuperSweet100 is everyone's absolute favorite. Have you tried Bella Rosa? It is so much better then all the beefsteak varieties. Bella Rosa tomatoes somewhat smaller then beefsteak tomatoes, but they are produced it huge quantities and do not crack in our southern heat.
I've noticed in your videos that you plant different types of tomatoes next to each other. How do you prevent cross pollination of the different types. I've been told you need at least 8 feet between each variety to prevent cross pollination.
Thank you much for this video! I have watched it several times, because I, too, have a tendency (though not as strong as yours) to try different tomato varieties to discover my favorites. Recently, I have settled on Chef's Choice Pink as my favorite slicer and Sweet Treats as my favorite cherry type. Last year my Sweet Treats had green shoulders during the heat of the summer, so I tried your suggestion of Super Sweet 100 and am enjoying them. However, my memory tells me Sweet Treats tastes better and doesn't have such tough skins, so I may have to try them side-by-side next year to make my final decision about which cherry tomato I decide to grow from now on. But right now I have a question about Brandy Boy, because you've really gotten me about to order some seeds of those! But I know you've grown Chef's Choice Pink before, so would you please tell me if Brandy Boy tastes better than Chef's Choice Pink, because I'm perfectly happy with the taste, productivity and disease resistance of Chef's Choice for me here in Southern Indiana zone 6. HOWEVER an improvement in taste-if that is even possible ;)-could entice me to switch to Brandy Boy.
Great information. I have also tried the Cherokee purple many times with little success. I switched to the Black Krim, it is much better. I also grow a black cherry that is amazing and produces alot. Thank you for all your hard work.
I just wanted to say I used all the videos you suggested last year on tomato varieties to choose what I’m growing this year! I went with the celebration (celebrity variant) Bella Rosa, and super sweet 100, and sun sugar ironically! I was debating between sun gold and sugar based on your tasting cherry tomato’s but I’m glad i went the ladder. Thank you to you and dale, hope you have a great season this year!
I grew the Brandywine for the first time last year and had a lot of luck with those. I am trying the sungold for the first time and i grow the supersweet 100. Love those. OH my. Dake looked really comfy and cozy in that bed. Made me want to snuggle up. Lol
Brandywine Pink is probably the most productive of the Brandywine varieties and does OK up north where I used to live, but Brandy Boy beats it easily. Dale already has 3 beds but wants to claim a 4th 😆
30 years ago someone asked me to water his plants while he was away. I saw a cherry tomato and ate it. It tasted like a giant raisin. I ate every one. This was before I got into gardening so I didn’t ask him where he got them. Probably at a local nursery or supermarket. That is my Holy Grail search.
Gotta try Honey Drop & Lemon Drop, my favourite cherries. There is a newer version of Sungold called "Sungold Select" which supposedly cracks less often and the seeds are savable.
I had brandywine yellow, cherokee purple, best boy, some kind of red cherry tomato, and a roma tomato. The cherry and roma produced heavily until the freeze to like 15 degrees Fahrenheit
I grew Roma and Busch girl last Oct I still have plenty of Roma tomatoes left it just full ripped 2 months ago lol. We had to harvest it when forst hit in Dec and it was only 1 plant I grew l. Each stalk has 5- 6 tomatoes. Harvested 2x times, fullly loaded and Disease free. Didn't do much only fertilizered and cut off dead leaves. Brush girl did well also. Had to pulled it out forst killed it. Just sow BIG Boy and Garpes tomatoes yesterday 3-9-2024, hope it does well....
I picked up some Rosella Purple and Siletz for this year, but forgot to get them started started early so gonna wing it and hope I get at least a few to try. Will have to check out the others as I have the same issue here in NC. I try brandywines, but its always a battle to see if I can get even a few all the way to ripe and ready before bugs or disease gets them. Its a challenge for sure!
I tried growing it in PA, but then sent me the wrong seed. I’ve since abandoned heirlooms due to disease and rainfall issues here. Things need a lot more than good disease resistance. Here, only the top 2% survive 😂
Wondering if the Rosella Purple and Siletz will be ok to plant in 5gal wicking buckets. Really enjoyed this video have already planted my tomatoes but I guess I’ll have to over plant one more time with your top 3-6. I’m in zone 9a T I A.
I’ve heard that ‘Sun Sugar’ is superior from others as well. I haven’t tried either. I love the ‘White Currant’ tomato…really complex flavor but it is a wild vine. ‘Mortgage Lifter’ was incredible for us last year in PA! ‘Paul Robeson’ made excellent sandwiches as well. Can’t wait for my daily tomato lunch. I have some seeds from tomatoes that I just don’t enjoy and I feel bad throwing them out. Maybe I’ll pitch them into the wood’s edge and keep the animals busy, away from the garden.
Hi from Florida. If you're still looking into coming down you may want to look up lubber grasshoppers. They're not into tomatoes or peppers but they are nasty. They don't really have any natural predators. They are flightless but they are armored. Insecticides not that effective. Firm mechanical grinding into concrete is about it. And when they get hit they drop their eggs. On tomatoes we have Everglades tomatoes, cherry tomato type, and they are pretty hardy. I'm also trying to grow big boy tomato.
It's really helpful when you show the name on screen in text like you do. I'm in Indonesia and searching our online stores. Can't find Sun Sugar but did find Sunsugar. Terima kasih banyak
Thanks for the video. I may try the sun sugar next year. This year I’m trying the honeycomb hybrid instead of sun gold. I’ve heard great things about it.
Great video as always. One question, have you tried grafting Brandywine tomatoes to a more hardy rootstock? From what I’ve read, it’s not perfect but I’m thinking of giving it a try here in GA 8a.
If you found this video helpful, please "Like" it and share it to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching 😀TIMESTAMPS here:
0:00 Introduction To Growing Tomatoes
1:08 Tomato #1: Beefsteak Indeterminate Tomato
4:09 Runner Up Beefsteak Indeterminate Tomato
5:27 Tomato #2: Indeterminate Cherry Tomato
7:35 Runner Up Indeterminate Cherry Tomato
8:36 Tomato #3: Dwarf Tomato Project Tomato
11:52 Runner Up Slicer Determinate Tomato
15:32 Adventures With Dale
Me too!
Your shop merch do dale calenders?
I just like hearing “what’s growing on, gardeners?”
I had huge success with early girl. It came in fast produced early and was the last tomato producing when the frost hit.
I will have to try some of those! They sound great. I personally love Jubilee, an heirloom. For those hesitant to grow hybrids because of not being able to save seeds from them, indeterminate tomatoes can be overwintered. They're perennials. Take one or two very generous sized cuttings, pot them up, and bring them in. Then you can take cuttings from those to start your tomatoes in spring. Figure out the process so you can maintain your favorites when maybe seeds won't be available.
As a millennial, you are not a bad kinda guy. You have a great presentation and a great delivery of content. Thanks for the information. Said the boomer from Oregon.
Thanks, I think? 🤔 I’m an “old millennial.” I didn’t have a computer until I was 13, and I had to dial up until I was in college 😆
I'm also an older millennial, I'm in zone 10a on the West Coast, so hot and dry in summer. I have great success with early girl hybrid, produces nearly all year where I live, good flavor and very productive. They got wrecked by mildew last year after putting out an early summer crop, but I just cut them all the way back and they bounced back for a great fall and decent winter crop.
@@TheMillennialGardener😂😂😂 We're not old we're primetime 😅😅😅 Anyone older than Google is fine by me 😂😂😂 Some will never know the struggle of dial up😅 Back to the tomatoes 🍅 God bless you and yours Fellow Millennials. Hey Dale 🐶
@@jackmackerel4151Indeed. I'm in North Carolina and this is my first time growing early girls. My seedlings are still inside but they're doing well. We're not old we're primetime 😅😂 I love our generation and love that many of us are into gardening 😅 Blessings 🙏🏽
Oh Boomer, most Millennials are awesome because we love boomers. Some of our parents and grandparents are boomers. We're pretty much the remnants of two great generations ❤ Lord help the rest 🙏🏽🇺🇸
I grew Big Beef Plus and Celebrity Plus last year, here in Ontario, Canada. Definite winners here. I started them late, transplanting on July 1, with only 2.5 months left in this short season and I got plenty of delicious fruit. The family loved them!
My dad ALWAYS GROWS Celebrity!!
I’m growing them both this year. We will see how they handle my heat and 12 inches of rainfall each month in summer.
Yes on Celebrity, very reliable. Very heavy production south of Seattle where finding just the right variety is important.
@@TheMillennialGardenerIf you're growing in containers do you think it'd be a good idea to try wrapping the top of the planter/bag with visqueen the day of/before a big rain for moisture control or would that have adverse effects like mold/algae?
@@TheMillennialGardener I grow Celebrity every year - 7B, Maryland. FABULOUS production. I've gotten close to 50 tomatoes on one plant; one plant takes about a 4'X4' section in a raised bed; disease resistant, very tasty. I know them as semi-determinates. I do NOT pinch out suckers on Celebrities. They produce throughout the season but definitely slow down and fruit gets smaller in August. (Would probably be sooner for you because you're warmer.) My neighbors, organic farmers (they sell to restaurants and have a farm stand), plant Celebrities early.
I’ve had great luck with Rosella Purple, super sweet 100, 4th of July, and Cherokee Purple. We don’t get nearly as hot here in the NW burbs of Chicago and I have been saving my Cherokee seed for the last few years. My all time favorite paste tomato is Work Release. I am a citizen scientist with SSE and got this one in a trial of paste tomatoes and fell in love with it. Huge 1.5-2.5lb oxheart fruits, meaty, great flavor. Excellent for sauce making. I save those every year as well. Great video! I am also trying Ace 55 this season.
How would a person get some Work Release seeds? Would love to try. Thanks!
Anthony...you are killing me. I just started seeds and none are the ones you mentioned! Now I gotta buy more seeds. Zone 8a or b in Georgia. 😂
It's getting a little late to start beefsteak tomatoes that far south, but the cherry types will still grow and pollinate. There are just so many good varieties out there.
You are the reason I started growing dwarf tomatoes. I had my best tomato season last fall with all dwarfs.
Hearing what you said about rosella purples reaction to hot and humid makes me leery of the upcoming spring.
I picked 10 shorter season dwarfs to try this sprin that are already in ground now. Fingers crossed it works out.
Still glad dwarfs were mentioned here again!
Glad you’re having success! If heat and humidity is your problem like with me, get yourself 40% shade cloth. The stuff I link to in my Amazon Storefront is incredible. I have 4 big shade tarps. They are lifesavers and will extend your tomato’s harvest.
Aww, be still my heart, Dale! He's so adorable. What a sweet cuddly boy.
Our Redbone Hound “Bert” loves it when we forget to place the baby gate in the doorway of my elderly mother’s room. He’s on her bed for the day!
Cute!
Thank you! Dale is so sweet and loving that cozy bed. 😂
You're welcome!
I love the dwarf tomato project tomatoes! So interesting!
You nailed it on the head about the Beefsteaks. I do them every year no questions. This year I actually branched out with some new to me varieties. So far I'm really enjoying what I see. Keep it up man! I enjoy your videos. fellow millennial gardener in Iowa
Finally a Video on Big beef plus.
I love these kinds of videos. Im with you on the Big Beef. I even had one make it thru my North Florida winter and I just picked a huge tomato off of it yesterday.
Wow. I know Florida had a mild winter, but that’s pretty cool.
Parks Whooper is awesome. Size and production are great. Zero disease.😊
Tomatoes were the plant that got me into gardening! I have finally decided to break down ad get the Sungold to see what all of the fuss is about after being so into my heirlooms for all of these years. I'm debating picking up a pack of the Brandyboys to test the side by side with my Brandywine pinks. (I also grow the yellow and black Brandywine!)
I got sungold also. I am thinking about getting Celebrity and brandywine
Dale is so precious! 🥰 Thanks for all the great info!
I live in the PNW the trick to getting your tomatoes ripe is single vine pruning like you do with some of yours, I haven't found a variety I can't grow including heirlooms that are difficult to grow in hot humid climates. I sell over over 1000 starts up to 100 varieties every year in my small town and have costumers asking why my tomatoes are ripe when there's are still green, I always ask how much sun do they get and recommend single or double vine pruning.
Wow! Just Wow! Almost didn’t watch this one - your climate is so different than the Appalachian mountains (zone 5). But sooo glad I did! Gonna have to try all your varieties.
I totally agree with your cherry picks. Discovered Sun Sugar several years ago & Super Sweet 100 last year. I will grow them both til I die!
Anthony, another winner! Now I have to run and and buy more seeds-lol.
I’m building your airplane cable system as a test this year. Next year I should be in my new house (it’s being built). I have been playing with my garden plan. Have you done any videos on designing a garden? I would love something like that!
Thanks for all your great information!!!!
Lori
To add to the sun sugar Vs sungold. I don't know if you have tried it but Honeycomb is my replacement for sungold. A slightly lighter shade of gold colour than sungold, just as sweet but perhaps without some of the more complex flavour nuances. But sungold splits too easy, so I now get a way bigger percentage of the crop on my plate than I used to with sungold.
For the cherry’s I, too, plant the sun sugar over the sun gold for the very reasons you state. I also plant Juliet which is a fantastic all around cherry type. Cherokee Purple is my favorite beef to plant. Harvesting seeds from one or 2 of them per season reaps an abundance year after year.
Great video. I'm in my second year of gardening and tomatoes have become my favorite. I find myself in search of my favorite tomato to grow as well. I'm growing at least over 40 varieties this year, I can't wait to see how things go! Can't wait to see what other ones you might add to this list in the future!
Last year my favorites were Cherokee Purple, the Chadwick cherry, Yellow Pear, Super sweet 100. My San Marzano was eh here in CT. Maybe I’ll try the Brandy Boy. 😊. I’m a sucker for the cherry tomatoes. Oh and I stole a couple Sun gold tomatoes off my friend’s plant just for the seeds lol.
It’s really refreshing and rare to have someone explain their flavor experience and not just what will grow. Flavor is a very subjective thing of course, but since I’m growing in a challenging climate and will need to baby these plants anyway, videos like this really help me choose. I’m still in search of a tomato that tastes like the ones from my childhood (New Jersey) that will actually grow here in SW Florida. I chose Rutgers for my first try at growing tomatoes, and it was a great success, but alas the flavor was lacking. Thanks again!
I try to provide a variety since taste is so subjective. A good mix of red tomatoes, pink tomatoes, heirloom-types, hybrid types, cherry types, etc. It's tough to please everyone, but with the selection, something will please everyone.
I've lived in three states: NJ, PA and NC. I grew up in the NJ pine barrens, worked on a farm in NJ, etc., and I have to tell you that my tomatoes taste the same everywhere. If your tomatoes taste off in SW Florida, it may be because of the soil. I know when you get far down, the soil gets heavy in limestone, which could raise the pH and lead to lousy taste since tomatoes like lower pH soil. What I recommend you try is to grow your tomatoes in 20 gallon grow bags filled with peat moss, then blended with some perlite and compost. That will give you an acidic pH. I bet that will fix the taste problem. I also recommend you grow your tomatoes during the dry season, October to early May, if you can, since the dry weather will produce more flavorful, less watery tomatoes.
Okay , you got me sold on brandy boy ! This is my first time with tomatoes, so far i have : pineapple tomato , black brandywine , brown suger (new from Baker Creek) , bodacious, and beefsteak Yes, i went all out, lol. They are sprouting nicely
Outstanding! I scaled back to only 28 varieties this year 😂 Growing tomatoes can get out of control...
Sunsugar is my go to cherry for about 4 years now. Always super sweet. Always produces well and always runs to the end of the growing season for me. Last year I got a couple of extra weeks by moving the plants onto my covered patio as the cold started to creep in on us.
Last year I tried another tomato plant, a medium sized orange Golden Sun Ray. It was another very sweet and tasty tomato, very fleshy but didn't produce too many tomatoes. Don't know what I did wrong.
This is my first year attempting to grow vegetables (starting small with just tomatoes and peppers) which I'm doing all in grow bags and your past videos are what I used to decide which varieties I want to try first because I'm also in the same climate zone in NC. I'm really looking forward to trying Brandy Boy. I grew up eating a regional summer staple dish here of chopped cucumbers and tomatoes, salt, pepper, sugar and vinegar. For me it's the quintessential late summer early autumn snack that takes me back to my childhood. Sadly I didn't pick up any Sun Sugar because as you mentioned it seemed like you didn't favor it in your 4 cherry tomato taste test video from a year or 2 back. Maybe I'll try it next year but I am doing a few super sweet 100 and sun golds. I was really torn on which one to get so if the golds give me trouble then next year I'll know to switch. Thanks for every thing you do. Your channel has been a wealth of knowledge and inspiration and is why I decided to finally give it a shot. Best of luck to you and Dale.
Gladiator tomato has been a win for me
We are trying gladiators this year. What zone are you. We are in 7b
We are trying Gladiator this year, too, in zone 5b
Great video. Glad I found your channel...I'm in Brunswick County, too, Leland, off of Maco Rd. :) Starting my first garden in a long time..maybe 15 years... All I remember is that it was really hard to grow anything here...and every dies by mid-July from the heat. 😂 Well, I'm off to binge watch ur channel and try to come up with a game plan. Cheers!
Sun sugar has been my favorite for over 20 years!
It’s definitely good. This year, I’m trying Sun Orange. We will see how that holds up side by side.
This is great! I was just watching some of your old tomato videos yesterday! I'm trying to decide what to grow with limited space.
Ooh that’s a great reminder! I almost forgot about my sun sugar tomatoes this spring. Now it might be too late to get them going but seeing as how they’ll grow all season I think I’ll start some anyway. They are awesome. I bet you could talk about tomatoes all day! You are very knowledgeable about them! Thanks for passing it on to us! 👍🏻
I grew sun sugar last year and they are fabulous. Definitely growing again this year.
I grew a variety called Carolina Gold, great producer. My plant guy died, he always had a ton of varieties. I don't have much of a green thumb, I just plant them and eat them.
I love my brandywines, I'll have to look for brandy boy
Great info. I have to agree with younon several of these but you have introduced me to a few new ones, thank you. Love sweet Dale, boy he looks comfy! 🐕🐾💞
Dale looks AMAZINGLY comfortable.
I am growing Siletz this year; I planted a few out as early as Jan 10. They look good so far; I hope the heat doesn't get them (we've had plenty of days in the low 80's already, gah). I tried Dwarf Rosella Crimson this year too but I think I should have taken them off the heat mat as soon as they germinated; they threw up a couple of true leaves and then gave up. Ah well, next time. I'm going to get Dwarf Rosella Purple for next year too.
Thank you for the other suggestions! As always, your videos are thorough and informative.
Cheers from Houston.
Dale's a STAR now. He wants his own room. 😂😮
He already has 3 beds...😐
Crimson Caramello from Renee's Garden. Fantastic resistance to disease and great balanced flavor. Big beef is always a winner. Live in union county NC 8a. Something else to try if you haven't already to help grow tomatoes you like but they have poor yield, disease resistance etc - grow root stock tomatoes and graft scions of those you want to them. It helps A LOT. The guys over at Epic Gardening go over it and sell the root stock tomato seeds out of Botanical Interests.
Dale, good stuff! I'm a couple hours away from you in Granville County, and I love the Floradade and the Homestead. I have shared your videos with some beginners who needed a little help. Keep up the good work!
Video idea: things you used to do in the garden that you no longer do. As someone who's followed from the beginning I still mimic a lot of what you shared years ago (ex fig fertilizer schedule in buckets). I'd be curious to know why you stopped or if you found better processes.
I have never had good luck growing any tomatoes that I have planted. I live on the Florida Panhandle and it gets really hot and humid in the summer. I will definitely check out the seeds you recommended.
LOVE the Supersweet 100 and Sunsugar. I'm going to have to try Brandyboy this year and perhaps the Big Beef. Hopefully I can find them as I didn't seed start this year.
Here's my recommendation (I'm in 7B, Maryland): Juliet tomatoes. Have you tried them? They're an indeterminate SMALL plum. NO yellow shoulders, NO cracking, highly disease resistant, production is insane. And they ripen GREAT on the counter. I use them to make tomato and pizza sauce - and to roast. On their own (just like any plum), they're not juicy-sweet. Love your channel.
I totally agree with you about sugar.
I grew sun sugar last year and they are wonderful! I am in a very hot humid as well
I will be trying my luck with 6 brandy boy plants this year. Two years ago I had a couple of Brandywine reds that did relatively well while everything else was dying from blight or the heat.
You're right about the Sungold disease resistance. I will try the Supersweet 100 and Honeycomb F1 instead.
My Rosella Purple did not perform well last year. This year I will try out the Dwarf Wild Fred, New Big Dwarf and the Adelaide Festival.
You should also definitely try out the Mountain Magic F1.
Great info. I only just recently started, and funnily enough, chose Pink brandywines, Cherokee purples, and sungolds. Well, here's hoping I get some kind of harvest from them. Will definitely keep these in mind for next year.
I know it’s late but I just picked up a sun sugar starter and seeds for bwp and I’m excited. They are in containers so I can baby them from the elements to extend longer grows about to get them going now!
Thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge. And glad to know I’m not the only one that had issues with Cherokee purples. My new favorite for past 3 years has been Cherry Chocolate Cherry tomatoes. Deep earthy taste is only way to describe 😋
BEST cherry tomato ever!
Simply phenomenal tomato 🍅
Awesome video! I always love hearing your favorite fruits & veggies to grow and the reasons why. I also found the Dwarf Tomato project several years ago and love them! If you haven’t tried Uluru Ochre, you really should. It is absolutely delicious. Very savory umami flavor I think you will love 💕
great to know for next year I already bought the seeds and like 3 or 4 are heat tolerant this is my first year growing a garden 🙂🌻
We have similar experince in the clay,l lowlands of SE MI. Many professionals grow Beef Steak varieties with success (and Roma deternimates). Although I love Brandywine tomatoes, a risk. Yellow Beefsteak in the garden was a major winner last year! I'll be planting tomato seeds in a couple weeks, right along with moving out the cold tolerant starts to make space under the indoor lights.
Tomatoes are the first plant i ever grew and i love it even though i dont actually like tomatoes. My favorite smell is tomato plants when im watering. I live in washington state and in my area we dont really have disease or pest pressure. Im growing somwthing like 30 indeterminates in several varieties and another 12 or so determinates.
I had a friend who tried the Mortgage Lifterlast year and had great results. He said they we huge and delicious. I've decided to give them a try this year. Not sure if you have tried those
Dale adorable among pillows with one ear up! Now you've got me curious now about trying out some hybrid seeds due to all of their many perks! I'm usually a devotee to using heirloom type seeds for anything I start but I'm very tempted by some of the varieties you showed!
Best substitute I have found to Cherokee purple is prudens purple it’s a indeterminate size plant that’s very productive and taste as good as Cherokee purple
I had Rosella purple 8 feet long lol
I put a wire mesh on my hoop greenhouse to reinforce it against snow, bonus is the Vine type plants love it.
lil rainforest in my yard full of tomatoes past year, this year will be 50/50 Peppers and tomatoes, and 10% eggplants.
Another great video. I am looking forward to growing the tomatoes mentioned in your video. Thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching!
Thanks for all your work. I follow you for 2 years already. Over last several years, I tried more then 100 varieties. We did not like Siletz, Sungold and Sunsugar at all. They are too acidic. We puled them out. SuperSweet100 is everyone's absolute favorite. Have you tried Bella Rosa? It is so much better then all the beefsteak varieties. Bella Rosa tomatoes somewhat smaller then beefsteak tomatoes, but they are produced it huge quantities and do not crack in our southern heat.
Better boy #1
❤️❤️ Super Sweet 100‼️
Cloudy Day is really good early indeterminate. And I found Chef Choice Pink last year that you would love based on your first choice.
Thank you ! great info ! gorgeous dog !!!
You’re welcome! Dale says thank you 🐶
I've noticed in your videos that you plant different types of tomatoes next to each other. How do you prevent cross pollination of the different types. I've been told you need at least 8 feet between each variety to prevent cross pollination.
You need even more than that.
Doesn’t affect this years fruit, but if you save the seeds it may give you a cross.
I like the big tomato lying on bed in the guest room best of all. ❤Dale
He's a big tomato alright. Our vet calls him a rotten potato, because she knows how spoiled he is.
lol. Our kids tell us our 2 dogs are our favorite children. No dispute there.
Thank you much for this video! I have watched it several times, because I, too, have a tendency (though not as strong as yours) to try different tomato varieties to discover my favorites. Recently, I have settled on Chef's Choice Pink as my favorite slicer and Sweet Treats as my favorite cherry type. Last year my Sweet Treats had green shoulders during the heat of the summer, so I tried your suggestion of Super Sweet 100 and am enjoying them. However, my memory tells me Sweet Treats tastes better and doesn't have such tough skins, so I may have to try them side-by-side next year to make my final decision about which cherry tomato I decide to grow from now on. But right now I have a question about Brandy Boy, because you've really gotten me about to order some seeds of those! But I know you've grown Chef's Choice Pink before, so would you please tell me if Brandy Boy tastes better than Chef's Choice Pink, because I'm perfectly happy with the taste, productivity and disease resistance of Chef's Choice for me here in Southern Indiana zone 6. HOWEVER an improvement in taste-if that is even possible ;)-could entice me to switch to Brandy Boy.
Awesome! 😊👍👍
I appreciate it! Thanks for watching!
Excellent video!
Thank you very much!
I absolutely LOVE Sungold! I could eat my weight in those!
They’re so good. It’s really strange to even call them tomatoes. They’re more like citrusy grapes.
YAY Anthony Thank you Brother 😊❤
You’re welcome!
Great information. I have also tried the Cherokee purple many times with little success. I switched to the Black Krim, it is much better. I also grow a black cherry that is amazing and produces alot. Thank you for all your hard work.
I chose to grow Homestead tomatoes this year. I hope it goes well
Best of luck. I'm growing 28 different varieties. This helps me analyze what does best. But, I also have a tomato growing addiction.
I just wanted to say I used all the videos you suggested last year on tomato varieties to choose what I’m growing this year! I went with the celebration (celebrity variant) Bella Rosa, and super sweet 100, and sun sugar ironically! I was debating between sun gold and sugar based on your tasting cherry tomato’s but I’m glad i went the ladder. Thank you to you and dale, hope you have a great season this year!
Adorable pupper!
Big beef plus did great for me in Texas. Sunsugar does the best in the heat. I live Phoenix and Red Snapper
I have some Red Snapper plants planted right now in my garden. We'll see how they make out.
Ever run black Krim? I’m doing pineapple, black cherry, black Krim and Cherokee purple this year.
I grew the Brandywine for the first time last year and had a lot of luck with those. I am trying the sungold for the first time and i grow the supersweet 100. Love those. OH my. Dake looked really comfy and cozy in that bed. Made me want to snuggle up. Lol
Brandywine Pink is probably the most productive of the Brandywine varieties and does OK up north where I used to live, but Brandy Boy beats it easily. Dale already has 3 beds but wants to claim a 4th 😆
30 years ago someone asked me to water his plants while he was away. I saw a cherry tomato and ate it. It tasted like a giant raisin. I ate every one. This was before I got into gardening so I didn’t ask him where he got them. Probably at a local nursery or supermarket. That is my Holy Grail search.
Mr Stripey is my favorite tomato
Gotta try Honey Drop & Lemon Drop, my favourite cherries. There is a newer version of Sungold called "Sungold Select" which supposedly cracks less often and the seeds are savable.
Great video, I took notes and will try some of your suggestions.
Outstanding! Glad you enjoyed it.
My favorite Trio are Old World German, Black/Purple Brandywine, and a good Roma for sauces.
I haven't seen black brandywines, I would love to try
I had brandywine yellow, cherokee purple, best boy, some kind of red cherry tomato, and a roma tomato. The cherry and roma produced heavily until the freeze to like 15 degrees Fahrenheit
I grew Roma and Busch girl last Oct I still have plenty of Roma tomatoes left it just full ripped 2 months ago lol. We had to harvest it when forst hit in Dec and it was only 1 plant I grew l. Each stalk has 5- 6 tomatoes. Harvested 2x times, fullly loaded and Disease free. Didn't do much only fertilizered and cut off dead leaves. Brush girl did well also. Had to pulled it out forst killed it. Just sow BIG Boy and Garpes tomatoes yesterday 3-9-2024, hope it does well....
I picked up some Rosella Purple and Siletz for this year, but forgot to get them started started early so gonna wing it and hope I get at least a few to try. Will have to check out the others as I have the same issue here in NC. I try brandywines, but its always a battle to see if I can get even a few all the way to ripe and ready before bugs or disease gets them. Its a challenge for sure!
Sun Sugar is my favorite cherry!
Awe DALE is so Precious ❤😊 I would let that big baby stay in there. He's such a good boy. ❤😊
He is a very good boy. But he already has 3 other beds in the house 😆
@@TheMillennialGardener AWESOME
Have you tried Black Krim? Very complex, rich, smoky flavor. Pretty good decease resistance
I tried growing it in PA, but then sent me the wrong seed. I’ve since abandoned heirlooms due to disease and rainfall issues here. Things need a lot more than good disease resistance. Here, only the top 2% survive 😂
Wondering if the Rosella Purple and Siletz will be ok to plant in 5gal wicking buckets. Really enjoyed this video have already planted my tomatoes but I guess I’ll have to over plant one more time with your top 3-6. I’m in zone 9a T I A.
great video, good info.
Thanks for watching!
Thank you!!!!
You're welcome!
I’ve heard that ‘Sun Sugar’ is superior from others as well. I haven’t tried either. I love the ‘White Currant’ tomato…really complex flavor but it is a wild vine. ‘Mortgage Lifter’ was incredible for us last year in PA! ‘Paul Robeson’ made excellent sandwiches as well. Can’t wait for my daily tomato lunch. I have some seeds from tomatoes that I just don’t enjoy and I feel bad throwing them out. Maybe I’ll pitch them into the wood’s edge and keep the animals busy, away from the garden.
I grow that brandy boy. Last year I grew in a grow bag . It did great
It's a great tomato. It also does well in ground.
@@TheMillennialGardener Yes , I’ve grown it in the ground also.
Hi from Florida. If you're still looking into coming down you may want to look up lubber grasshoppers. They're not into tomatoes or peppers but they are nasty. They don't really have any natural predators. They are flightless but they are armored. Insecticides not that effective. Firm mechanical grinding into concrete is about it. And when they get hit they drop their eggs.
On tomatoes we have Everglades tomatoes, cherry tomato type, and they are pretty hardy. I'm also trying to grow big boy tomato.
It's really helpful when you show the name on screen in text like you do. I'm in Indonesia and searching our online stores. Can't find Sun Sugar but did find Sunsugar. Terima kasih banyak
Thanks for the video. I may try the sun sugar next year. This year I’m trying the honeycomb hybrid instead of sun gold. I’ve heard great things about it.
I haven't tried that one yet. I'm trying Sun Orange this year. Every year, there are new hybrids being released. It's a good time to grow tomatoes.
Thanks for sharing I LOVE YOUR CHANNEL. Ceep making videoes.
You’re welcome! Thank you, I appreciate it!
Great video as always. One question, have you tried grafting Brandywine tomatoes to a more hardy rootstock? From what I’ve read, it’s not perfect but I’m thinking of giving it a try here in GA 8a.
Brandy boy F1, Sun sugar yellow F1, super sweet 100 great yield, Rosella purple, Celeste