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Tomato

Have any of you grown the Tomato "San Mazano"? It is an Italian Plumb variety which grows to about 6 inches in length (top to bottom) and 3-4 inches wide. My neighbours are growing them this year, they are still green but appear to be about full size and.they have promised me a couple when they ripen. If you have grown them, what is the flavour like (I know this is a very subjective subject). Are they thick or thin skinned and have there been any problems with them?

My own Toms, Gourmet, which I have grown for the past 4 years have had good flavour through the seasons each year but this year the flavour has been a bit disappointing. From late May to mid June the flavour was poor but it improved dramatically with the heat in late June through to the present.

I grow in the GH with heat from early March to late May when the temperature reaches about 60 degrees (15C in modern English!) it is then turned off. They cropped with ripe fruit this year in mid June and are now at 7 trusses and `pinched out`.

Any help would be appreciated.

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  • ItalophileItalophile Posts: 1,731

    The plum varieties - including San Marzano - are more prone to Blossom End Rot than other shapes. No one quite knows why. Something in their genes. The last time I grew San Marzano the plant was riddled with BER while other varieties, planted three feet away, in identical conditions, were BER-free.

    bigolob, San Marzano are the classic sauce tomato. The better quality imported Italian tinned toms are San Marzano. Skin on the thick side, lots of flesh, not a lot of juice, not many seeds. They're not the ideal tom to grow as a straight eating tom.

  • bigolobbigolob Posts: 127

    Many thanks, I will not bother with them. Of all those mentioned, which would you consider the best for flavour and size, I prefer the mid sized Tom, eg. Ailsa Craig or Moneymaker, although I do grow a couple of Gardeners Delight each year for salads.

    Italophile (as I am, been going there since 1956) what varieties do you grow and what are their flavours like.

     

  • ItalophileItalophile Posts: 1,731

    bigolob, I grow heirlooms from a seed collection I've accumulated over the years. The US is the home of heirloom tomatoes in terms of the number of enthusastic - some would say obsessive - growers. One fella I know there grows hundreds of plants a season, dozens of different varieties. Needless to say, he has lots of space.

    I've had long-term contact with a number of them and they've very generously helped me out with seeds and advice. I've returned the compliment with seeds, too.

    There are some I grow every season: Marianna's Peace, Soldaki, Camp Joy, Pink Gaetano, Cherokee Chocolate, Cherokee Purple, Brandywine OTV, Anna Russian, and Jaune Negib (purely to make sweet tomato pickles).

    Others I grow every couple of seasons: Golden Queen, Dr Neal, Jaune Flammée, Kellogg's Breakfast, etc.

    Marianna's Peace, Cherokee Purple and Soldaki are my favourites. Marianna's Peace, I think, rivals the famous Brandywine Sudduth, claimed to be the King (or Queen) of tomatoes. Soldaki, a Polish variety, isn't far behind it. Rich complex flavours, like a glass of fine red wine.

    Cherokee Purple has an extraordinary, unique flavour. Rich, without the complexity of those above. Just a delicious tom. Its sister variety Cherokee Chocolate - CC arose as the result of a spontaneous mutuation of a colour gene in a CP fruit - isn't far behind it either.

  • bigolobbigolob Posts: 127

    Thanks Italophile, I have heard of Brandywine Sudduth and fancy the idea of Soldaki, perhaps the taste of a good glass of Chianti Gallo Negro while sitting in the evening in Piazza della Signora in Firenze watching the people walk past! Heaven on Earth.

    Others I will look up on the Internet. Again, many thanks.

  • ItalophileItalophile Posts: 1,731

    We're only an hour south of Florence by train so we pop up there quite a lot. One of my favourite spots in Florence is the brass plaque on the ground in Piazza della Signora marking the spot where they burned Savonarola alive in 1498. But then I'm strange.

    You'll find info on most of those varieties on the 'net though some aren't commercially available. They're mainly beefsteaks. CP and CC are medium oblates, as are Golden Queen and Jaune Negib. Anna Russian is a heart-shaped variety, Camp Joy is a cherry, Jaune Flamée is golf ball-sized.

  • BluebootsBlueboots Posts: 100

    This year I'm growing Tumbler and Tumbling Tiger - both of which are taking an age to ripen. Both taste nice but are nothing to write home about. The Tiger though, looks amazing, plum shaped and red with green stripes.

    I never heard of preserving tomatoes in oil. How do you do that?

  • BluebootsBlueboots Posts: 100

    Oh boy that sounds good! I'm going to try it.

  • bigolobbigolob Posts: 127

    Italophile, I am not quite that gruesome inspite of being a retired surgeon! My unbelievable gallery is the Academia and the unfinished sculptures of Michalangelo - a leg coming out of a solid block of marble - a memorable piece of work This mornings Daily Telegraph mentions the American idiot who some time ago cut a finger off the statue of David, he apparently was a collector!!

    Thanks again for the help, it will give me something to do during our endless winter.

  • Here's a few pic's of my San Marzanos,the ones in the greenhouse are turning red but there's not many of them,the ones grown outside are still green but lot's of em.My first year so not bad still got a lot to learn,will try different varieties nxt year

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  • ItalophileItalophile Posts: 1,731

    mias, they look terrific! Congrats. Looks like you escaped Blossom End Rot, too, unless you've already ditched those. I've never known BER not to affect at least one San Marzano on a plant.

    Definitely try some other varieties next season. San Marzano make wonderful sauce but there are better straight eating varieties around.

    bigolob, I think our favourite is the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo. It doesn't get the exposure in the tourist guides so it's rarely crowded. Ghiberti's original baptistry doors, della Robbia's wonderful "choir", and I never tire of Donatello's extraordinary Magdalene Penitent in wood. It's so utterly timeless.

    image

    I think that's about as Off Topic as could possibly be on a tomato thread. Sorry, folks.

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