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What's a good n00b tomato?

Uncle Eckley

Uncle Eckley

Extreme Member
I know I'm a little late, but I'm furloughed and G-d, I'm bored. 
 
What's a good variety for a tomato n00b to grow in a 10G fabric pot, please?  I'd like to make my own salsa. 
 
I'm mostly growing meaty varieties (as I don't like the paste or gelly like texture much, except for cherry type) and there are several varieties that would be good for salsa IMO. Black Krim are among my personnal best for taste but are not producing as much as some other strains. Stupice are a bit small but they are quite tasty; they produce very early, all season long and gives a huge load of fruit overall. I think I'd lean toward any of the heavy producer beefsteak type. They usually grow quite fast, big and gives a generous yield. There's so many strains out there, just choose one that correspond to what your looking for tastewise.
 
Although they are no beefsteak, I've made one off my all-time best salsa last year using Brad's atomic grape, which are really good, heavy producer but takes like forever to ripen! Good luck!
 
Here's what we're growing:  
Black Cherry
Brandywine, Cowlicks
Brandywine, Yellow Platfoot
Captain Lucky
Cherokee Purple PL
Don Camillo
Druzba
Goldkrone
Indian Stripe PL
Iva's Red Berry
Kumato growout (4 different seed sources)
Nefertiti
Polish C
Prairie Star (this is a Dangler original, listed at SSE)
Purple Dog Creek
Stump of the World
Zwerg Israel
 
There are many thousands of varieties out there.  We've grown many of them over the years ..... The ones that Bou listed are all great and we recommend all of them.  
Look up Druzba and Purple Dog Creek both are fabulous varieties.    
 
There's a gazillion tomatoes out there, and you can make salsa outta any of them lol. Here's just a few I grew last year that we really liked, and we're growing them again this year. Let me know if any interest you :whistle:.
 
Matt's Wild Cherry
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Moneymaker
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Moonglow
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Beauty King
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Valley Paste
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Bummer about the furlough - unless it's paid ;)  Plenty of time to pepper and read though!
 
I grow Roma types for salsa for reasons hogleg mentioned and because they're meaty, lacking the watery center of many of the bigger "slicing" types" - they don't seem to disappear as much into juice when processed.  My go-to to is the San Marzano Lungo No. 2 from Baker Creek - https://www.rareseeds.com/store/vegetables/tomatoes/red/san-marzano-lungo-no-2-tomato.  I've tried lots of different Roma types and they simply do the best in for me in my climate. 
 
My take on tomatoes is they can be finicky in terms of what performs well in my climate might not do well in yours, so maybe advice from someone similarly situated would be good.
 
CaneDog said:
Bummer about the furlough - unless it's paid ;)  Plenty of time to pepper and read though!  I'm not being paid by my employer, but with the various government programs available to me I'll actually do a little better on furlough. 
 
My take on tomatoes is they can be finicky in terms of what performs well in my climate might not do well in yours, so maybe advice from someone similarly situated would be good. Thanks for the link! I figure DR's climate would be the most similar to mine of the respondents so far, but maybe somebody closer will chime in. 
Click to expand...
 
CaneDog said:
Glad to hear that.  This has been a kick in the   shins for a lot of people.
 
I was really intrigued by DR's Valley Paste.  Never tried it myself.  @DownRiver (wish that worked) any more info on that one?
Click to expand...
 
Valley Paste is something of my doing over the past 10 years or so. Finally gave it a name last year, instead of a reference number. I was working on size (wanting larger) and meatiness. I'm kinda pleased with it. Plus, it has some San Marzano genes, so what's not to like!
 
I like Amish Paste for sauces. I made a whole bunch of marinara for the freezer out of these last year and it was great. Methinks at this late date you're behind the 8-Ball for starting by seed and should look in the nurseries for something like roma. Get your seeds for a fall crop.
 
DWB said:
I like Amish Paste for sauces. I made a whole bunch of marinara for the freezer out of these last year and it was great. Methinks at this late date you're behind the 8-Ball for starting by seed and should look in the nurseries for something like roma. Get your seeds for a fall crop.
Click to expand...
 
+1 on the Amish Paste. Usually if I only grow one type, it'll be Amish Paste.
 
In zone 3 April 15 is the usual suggested "sew" date. One way or another, you aren't late somewhere... :party: 
 
stettoman said:
 
+1 on the Amish Paste. Usually if I only grow one type, it'll be Amish Paste.
 
In zone 3 April 15 is the usual suggested "sew" date. One way or another, you aren't late somewhere... :party: 
Click to expand...
Yep, it's always 5 o'clock somewhere :)
 
The seeds I use always say something like "start indoors 6-10 weeks before last frost". My simple mind reads that as "forget about it for now."
 
DWB said:
Yep, it's always 5 o'clock somewhere :)
 
The seeds I use always say something like "start indoors 6-10 weeks before last frost". My simple mind reads that as "forget about it for now."
Click to expand...
 
Last frost where I am, believe it or not, is very close to the end of May, and it is NOT abnormal to get a killing freeze in the first week of June. Yes, that stoopud...
 
DownRiver said:
Valley Paste is something of my doing over the past 10 years or so. Finally gave it a name last year, instead of a reference number. I was working on size (wanting larger) and meatiness. I'm kinda pleased with it. Plus, it has some San Marzano genes, so what's not to like!
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for sharing.  Really amazing looking.  Has an almost pear shape and looks very meaty :)
 
stettoman said:
 
Last frost where I am, believe it or not, is very close to the end of May, and it is NOT abnormal to get a killing freeze in the first week of June. Yes, that stoopud...
Click to expand...
 
I share your pain Stettoman... are we neighbours?!
 
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