In both of my almanacs, there are ads for tomato trees that give you big fat bushels of tomatoes... Is this legit? My bf from Maine says his family gets them every year, and they're great! Something about it just seems... I dunno... ya know? Anyone have experience and/or that can recommend a vendor? I know I'm kind of dominating this forum, right now.
Mike said any garden center is alot better than mail vendors,when they come closer into season,closer to April,since you live in NY... We are not much help today huh??? Sorry
I've looked them up online and found some scary stuff about Gardner's Choice... Guess I won't be getting them there. http://www.ripoffreport.com/searchr...rchtype=0&submit2=Search!&q5=Gardner's+Choice http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/928/ http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/gardners-choice-c10092.html http://www.consumeraffairs.com/homeowners/gardeners.html The ad I saw was from a place called Harvest Farms, which I just looked up and found this: http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/harvest-farms-abingdon-va-c11671.html *le sigh* Back to the old drawing board...
I've had friends buy them from time to time, and I can't recall any of them harvesting anything off of the plants. Kind of like those ads for sea monkeys on the back of comic books.
Hey now, the sea monkeys I've done, so that doesn't count (at least not all the time, lol). I loved those little guys... I should get some again. It's the same situation here, really. My boyfriend says his family had about four trees that they got from Gardner's Choice every year and they all produced very heavily and got really tall. however, I've yet to find anything online to suggest the whole thing is anything but a con... I've done a search on the one in the back of my NEW Almanac- an ad for a "trip-l-crop climbing tomato" from Burgess Seed and Plant Co and I haven't seen anything scary about them... The ad says they send you a pack of seed and a catalog for a dollar, so what the hell? It's only a buck. If it doesn't work, I'll just buy some tomato seeds from Victory seeds. I got some great sauce tomato seeds from them last year, so I KNOW they deliver...
I think what they are marketing as "trees" is based on the fact that tomato varieties are either determinant or indeterminant. An indeterminent variety grows to an undetermined size, and they can get 7 or 8 feet high. At some point you have to prune back so the plant doesn't put all its energy into leaf production.
Its not that hard to grow large plants or large tomatoes. These tree plants are nothing special. Back in the 70's there was an ad in the TV guide for topatoe plants. A hybrid. Tomatoes on top, potatoes on bottom. But neither were that tasty. Taste always matters more than size. If you agree, try some of the old fashioned "heritage" strains. They'll rock your world. x
They still sell that plant on the Gardner's Choice site. I do have some heirloom seeds for sauce tomatoes. Last year I had rainbow heirlooms. I'm just looking for something a little different this year.
Weeeeeird... thanks for posting that! I saw something about a weird tomato tree plant that wasn't actually a tomato, but somehow didn't make the connection. They must taste the same to have fooled my boyfriend all these years...
Sea Monkeys are actually shrimp, but that doesn't stop people from buying them. http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/148/RipOff0148660.htm http://www.complaints.com/directory/2004/april/22/19.htm http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/928/ Pays to be informed. These plants are tropical or subtropical, not going to do what they advertise for most us even with greenhouses.
I've grown these in San Francisco and although I got only a few fruit it was a matter of too little sun in my particular location. Folks in another neighborhood with sun seemed to get lots of fruit. Here are a few links that look helpful and try Googling the Latin name, 'Cyphomandra betacea'. http://www.ibiblio.org/rge/archive/990218_25763.html http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/nexus/cyphomandra_betacea_nex.html http://www.tradewindsfruit.com/tree_tomato.htm http://images.google.com/images?hl=...&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title Good Luck!
I don't think these are the ones. I know it says tomato tree, but I'm really starting to think they're just really big tomato plants that grow up a trellis. My bf says they definitely looked like tomatoes, with tomato leaves and tomato seeds inside- not these funky-looking plants with weird-looking fruit. Brine shrimp if I recall,yes? I posted a lot of links like that throughout the thread. I know it's a gamble, but his family gets them every year and are never disappointed. The ones I'm trying out are only a buck. If they suck, I'll just buy some plants from the Mennonite greenhouse around the corner. Next year, I'll do heirlooms again. Maybe those pink brandywines...
if you give a tomato plants excesive waterings and build a proper support system it can grow as large as a tree, i have grown plants that were taller than me (i'm 6'4") and they grew tomatos the size of a football, just remember once a tomato plant is established and if it has enough room for its roots there is no such thing as too much water. I give my plants nearly 30 litres of water 15 in the morning 15 at night i hope this helps
Yes, thank you. The seeds never came, so I just bought some local organic ones (I'm impatient, haha). If they come, I'll give 'em a shot, but if not, well hell it was only, what? A buck? Can't remember now...
