Saturday 23 May 2015

Just when I thought I was winning...

I thought I had potted-up my last tomato plant for this year... Well, two actually.

Maskotka

Including those two, I now have 18 plants potted-up. After giving away a few I still have 8 spares (just in case...).


Correction: I have 19, because in the post on Thursday arrived two samples of a new tomato variety called "Crimson Crush".


I had signed-up to receive these some weeks ago, and to be honest I had completely forgotten about them. Dobies very kindly sent me two little plug-plants like this:

Crimson Crush

Crimson Crush is a newly developed variety, alleged to be completely resistant to Late Blight. If this is true, it is going to be a very popular variety, because lots of gardeners here in the UK (and presumably elsewhere too) had all but given up growing outdoor tomatoes since blight has become almost inevitable.

Following this year's policy of growing only one of each tomato variety (the Maskotka is a special case!), I have potted-up one of the Crimson Crush ones and I will give away the other once I see that the first one has established OK.

Crimson Crush
You will notice that I used the new cane-support system I described yesterday. I hope it works well.

8 comments:

  1. We are trialling this too so it will be interesting too see how it deals with blight.

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  2. That would be a really useful tomato. Late blight didn't used to be much of a problem here. It used to get to us by about September and didn't over winter. But things have changed. We often get it earlier now. Not that I have to worry about it but I have a neighbor that grows lots of tomatoes right near my rock wall garden. I see them go down early occasionally.

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  3. That should be a useful tomato for you, I'm correct in saying you've or rather your plants have been affected by blight before aren't I?

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    1. Yes Jo, I have had my fair share of blight - though it has never been devastating in my garden. I have always managed to get at least SOME harvest. Last year's compost contamination was much more of a problem.

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  4. I'm guilty of thinking that it will really be useful if it's blight resistant and tasty too. Oh well, that's the pessimist in me. All your plants look so nice and healthy, it's hard to imagine them being struck down by blight.

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    1. Yes, Michelle, in a way I ought really to be hoping for blight to come, so that this tomato can be put to the test! I have several other varieties that are also claimed to be blight-resistant - i.e Ferline, Clou, Primavera and Primabella, so I think I have all bases covered!

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  5. I like a DIY clever solution!

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  6. I tried two varieties of tomatoes last year (Mountain Magic & Mountain Merit) that claim to be both early and late blight resistant. Our cool, wet summer resulted in rampant blight by September and these two varieties did indeed resist it until quite a bit later than the heirlooms I grew. But like Michelle said, it really is all about taste - Magic had great taste but Merit was only OK. Having said that, I'd rather have an ok homegrown tomato than a store bought one any old day!

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