Where my DU name comes from....

[NRaleighLiberal]

I've sort of snuck on to DU as an occasional poster as my anger has risen to the overflowing point with regards to our current misadministration.....never properly introduced myself - which I won't here, except to say that my name - nctomatoman - is a hint to my major hobby - growing MANY varieties of tomatoes here in Raleigh NC - since collecting tomato varieties (mostly older, heirloom types in 1986, my collection is over well over 1000 - we grow over 100 types each year in our garden (140 varieties this year alone) - we also sell seedlings in Raleigh each spring, and just last weekend, held an heirloom tomato tasting (Tomatopalooza) where about 80 people gathered to sample 124 different varieties of tomatoes!

Glad to be here to have someplace to expend the incredible energy of dismay and anger that builds up these days.....

Feel free to pose any questions specific to tomato gardening my way!

[mrboba1]

1. Welcome to DU!

Fellow Raleigh denizen!

:toast: :bounce:

[On the Road]

2. Now, I COULD Have Interpreted It as an Abbreviation

for "nicotinetomato man" -- you could have been developing those addicitve tomato plants on that Simpsons episode.

A belated welcome to DU. Cheers!
:toast: :smoke:

[Maddy McCall]

3. Hey, you weren't on I-75 in Tennessee last week, were you?

Just kidding. I saw an old dude in an old red and white truck toting what must have been 100 boxes of tomatos south.

Welcome to DU. Your story gives me and many others hope that the momentum to depose bush will continue. :hi: :toast: :beer:

[DrWeird]

4. I've got a green thumb...

But spent all my adult life in apartments and have never had space to garden. As soon as I get some property I'm going to garden the bejeebus out of it. I'm particularly interested in fruits and vegetables, the more odd the better.

What are some of your more unique varieties?

[trotsky]

5. Very cool.

Tomatoes are one of my favorite foods - but I can't grow them because my garden doesn't get enough sunlight. :( Any recommendations there? (The sun it gets is the strong midday variety, from 10-3pm or thereabouts.)

Nothing beats a garden-fresh tomato.

[NRaleighLiberal]

6. A few replies here.....

We have pretty lousy soil and less than great sun in our garden - one way to fix this is move the plants to the sun! We have tomato plants in large pots on our deck and in our driveway - yes, they need lots of water in the hot summers, but really thrive.

As far as unique varieties...so many! I have tomatoes that ripen purple, chocolaty brown, white, yellow with red streaks, stay green when ripe (yet are as sweet as can be) - bright yellow, golden orange - sizes from pea sized to 2.5 pound monsters....if you ever see a tomato called Cherokee Purple on a menu or a market, that is one I named back in 1990...though I am a chemist by trade, naming that tomato is perhaps my sole claim to fame - more so than anything I did in the lab or in Pharma companies!!!

[trotsky]

10. Thanks for the advice!

The south side of our garage gets all-day sun and I was thinking about setting up some boxes or something there. The only downside is that it's not near a hose so I'd have to drag it all the way over every time I had to water.

What sites can you recommend for ordering seeds from - and what kind of advice can you give for those of us in northern climates who would need to start the seedlings indoors?

[Bertha Venation]

7. Oh, heavens! Do I have a tomato question for you!

We have better boys and beefsteaks in about 4" of topsoil (under which is red Maryland clay). I can't tell the difference between the tomatoes, but Mrs. Venation says the beefsteaks haven't ripened a single one yet.

The better boys come in red & luscious on the bottom three-quarters, but are yellow-orange at the top and have brown raised striations around the tops. They make me think of stretch marks. :shrug:

Any thoughts? Mrs. V. says next year she's getting railroad ties to build a small garden -- much deeper w/ the topsoil.

Thanks for the offer!! And I'm glad you're around.

[NRaleighLiberal]

9. Some thoughts on your questions

Better Boys will be a bit rounder (less flat), more regular in shape (less off shapes), and ripen earlier than Beefsteak, so not surprised that they are coming in first.

As far as the coloration, sounds more like sunscald (if it is very hot and sunny for your plants, the tops of the fruit could be affected by the direct sun exposure) - or, higher temps could be having an impact (tomato colors do not develop well over 90 degrees). It is also a bit symptomatic of larger fruited varieties that the top parts - shoulders - often do not color up well.

[TNDemo]

8. Recommend some heirloom varieties for me.

I love the taste but don't have great luck wth production. I know you aren't going to get the same rate you do with a hybrid but I think I ought to do better than I do. Don't even know the varieties I have tried. I think I ordered them through Seeds of Change BTW, I'm in Tennessee, if that helps.

[NRaleighLiberal]

11. So many I could recommend!

Wow....Tennessee is where my favorite tomato (Cherokee Purple) came from - Sevierville, to be exact. I got the seed in 1990, named it that year, sent it to a few seed companies and it really caught on.

If I were to make a list of must try heirlooms - Cherokee Purple, Lucky Cross, Red Brandywine, Brandywine (this one is large, pink, potato leaf shaped foliage), Aunt Ruby's Green, Lillian's Yellow, Sungold (a hybrid gold cherry tomato that is just incredible), just off the top of my head. Best companies to order from - you can Google them to get web sites - Victory Seeds in Oregon, Johnny's Selected Seeds in Maine, Tomato Growers Supply Company in Florida, just to name a very few that I trust (I send varieties to all of them to trial, and they have decided to sell quite a few of those I submitted - so I trust them as sources!)

[TNDemo]

14. Thanks!

My friend and I are trying to get better at this. I will send this info to her (but not tell her how I got it since she is a repub - we have been best friends for decades but don't agree politically :)

[redqueen]

16. I'll vouch for Johnny's

I'm always happy with their seeds. I might be growing some of yours now! The Brandywines are fantastic. :D

[NRaleighLiberal]

12. Heading to a meeting - will check this later on today to answer other ????

have a great afternoon.....must go attend a meeting.

[The Spirit of JFK]

13. Mmmmm....jubilee tomatoes.

I grew them in some large tubs in my little yard here in Boston (too much lead to plant).

They did VERY well and were VERY good.

[redqueen]

15. Oh bless you for offering to answer questions!

I have this problem with a few of my tomatoes (Rose, Cherokee Purple, Black Krim, and Brandy Boy especially) where the bottoms are darkening from the center out. I've been told it's a lack of minerals in the soil, but so far adding over the counter general supplements hasn't helped much. Any ideas?

[DS1]

17. I thought matcom had internationalized his ass-walking military forces

nctomatoman
matcom + ntoan

matcom + naton

matcom n nato

:shrug: