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| BUSH GOLIATH |
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| HUSKER CHERRY RED |
We have been watching our 'Tomato Showcase' in the Vegetable Garden to see which plants are stand out performers and which are lacking in luster. To date, about 50 pounds of tomatoes have been donated to the Eastern North Carolina Food Bank. As a whole, they are producing well and we are quite proud of that.
Our Vegetable Garden Curator, Dan, submitted the following report on the individual types:
Currently, Husky Cherry Reds and Juliet Romas are doing the best. They are fast growers and provide the most tomatoes. About the size of golf balls, the Husky Cherry Red’s are providing many bright red tomatoes in small clusters of 6 to 8 tomatoes. The Juliet Romas are also bright red long oval sized tomatoes ranging 3 to 4 inches in length.
The Tami Grape and Parker’s Whoopers are the most disappointing. Given the same care and feeding as the other 9 plants, these varieties appear to be struggling. It’s hard to determine the exact reason for poor performance, but it could have been over fertilization or poor quality plants to start with.
The Beef Master, Big Beef, German Johnson and German Queen are plants showing good growth of dark green leaves but very little produce. The plants appear healthy so perhaps they will yield more tomatoes later in the summer.
Despite its name, the Bush Goliath is currently the smallest plant in the showcase. It appears to be growing more slowing, and is very healthy yielding some fruit each week.
The Better Boy, Cherokee Purple plants are currently average performers. They are healthy plants producing a few tomatoes each week.
If you are having problems with your tomatoes, check out this article for help: TOMATO PROBLEMS. Need more help, call the Master Gardener HotLine at 902-1705.
