2015 early tomato test result

[Odsox]

I've been trialling early tomatoes for a few years now, which has been interesting.
All the seeds were sown as close as possible to the 1st of January in a heated propagator and after hardening off, grown on in 8" pots in my unheated conservatory and stopped at 4 trusses.
This year the 2 varieties are Stupice and Sub Arctic Plenty, and I picked the first ripe fruit yesterday from the Stupice, but while the Sub Artic Plenty has a lot of fully grown fruit there is no sign of any colouring yet.
Results for Stupice, first truss in full bloom 11 weeks, first fruit visible 14 weeks, first ripe fruit 18 weeks.

Latah still holds the record of ripe fruit in 15 weeks from sowing on 24th of April

[Green Aura]

Our tomatoes are quite bizarre this year. We've got Brandywine with first trusses and the Latah with nothing!

Enjoy your tomatoes - we're expecting our first ripe ones somewhere round July!

[diggernotdreamer]

I have to say, the Latah are always really early for me, except when the frost hits them . My friend took one of my windowsill tomato plants and they are now fruiting and will ripen soon, unlike mine which are now dead, I need a conservatory badly, working on the Wizard at the moment

[Odsox]

I need a conservatory badly, working on the Wizard at the moment

It is always about 7 degrees warmer overnight in my unheated conservatory than in my big greenhouse. I think it's mainly due to the double glazed windows, as the other side of the house wall it's attached to is also unheated during winter.
The big greenhouse on the other hand is sunk into the soil by about 4 feet and has a lean to chicken house against the back wall.

So yeah, well worth having.

[Odsox]

Just a quick update, I did the same test again this year, sowing Bloody Butcher and Silver Fir tree tomatoes (seeds courtesy of GA) on 1st of January.
I picked the first ripe Bloody Butcher yesterday, which is extremely late compared to other varieties in other years, and the Silver Fir has a load of fruit, but still very green.
Not sure how much the weather played in the lateness, probably not much as the temperatures this spring were more or less the same as other years.

So Latah is still the champion by miles (or days anyway (actually months))

[Brewtrog]

It seems to have been a late year for everything, or certainly it has been here.

[Green Aura]

More importantly, how did it taste, Tony? We were quite disappointed with it, if memory serves.

[Odsox]

I was going to wait until the ones in the greenhouse started ripening before judging Maggie.
But it had that very nice sweet/acid taste that I like, but no real tomato flavour, which could be through lack of sunshine of course.
I'll let you know what later ones are like.

[Odsox]

The second trial tomato plant has ripe fruit now. The Silver Fir Tree was also sown on January 1st and is a failure for early ripening as I already have ripe fruit on plants that were sown a couple of months later.
It is a pretty plant though, but not recommended for growing in a pot, it needs watering several times a day even on cloudy days.
I haven't tasted it yet.

Silver fir tree.jpg (158.25 KiB) Viewed 6629 times

[Green Aura]

We grew ours in a large tub - takes a full gro-bag to give you some idea of the volume. It grew well and, as you said, is very pretty but I'm even more certain we didn't get any tomatoes from it, seeing these.

I think they'd make lovely outdoor plants, in amongst a mixed border. Not necessarily what I'd expect to find in Canada though (I know my geographical knowledge is zilch - is it warm enough to grow outdoor tomatoes over there?). That's where the seeds came from. We thought they probably have similar light levels/short growing season and so we'd find more suitable for our growing conditions here. Apparently we were wrong!

[Odsox]

Oh drat, I was sort of hoping that the Silver Fir Tree tomato would have a so-so taste, especially as I'm not fond of bush plants. Well we did a taste test this evening and they taste fantastic, high acid with full on tomato taste, plus you can easily peel them as they have a very loose skin.
Now I shall have to save some seed.

[Green Aura]

You'd better get that mixed bed organised.

OH says we can have another go next year!

[diggernotdreamer]

I am very excited by this, I have about 5 silvery fir watsits in the tunnel, only small ones at the moment of course

[Odsox]

Would anyone like some Silver Fir Tree tomato seed ?
I've got about 50 drying at the moment, and I could easily do some more. Not too late to grow this year either, but next year is probably better.
PM me if you do.