Post by tucsontomato on May 18, 2011 20:43:04 GMT -5
Alright- I haven’t tried a hybrid in a while and I tried Celebrity this year. I know- the taste and its not open-pollinated. However, based on the vigor and disease resistance as well as a lot of large tomatoes- I’m hooked. My Celebrity plants are beasts! They are outdoing everyone else and are even growing without disease in a questionable area of my garden (I'm watching them closely for any signs of disease). My l. hirsutum plants didn’t stand up to nearly as much as these plants have and the l. hirsutum tomatoes don’t taste good anyway.
Alright- so here is my question. Has anyone here grown out Celebrity several generations? If so, I would love to be involved in a breeding-out program. If not, that is fine. Does anything open-pollinated even come close? I really do wish there was an open-pollinated version of this variety!
Last Edit: May 18, 2011 20:46:04 GMT -5 by tucsontomato
I've grown Bush Celebrity for my father in law a few years. I don't believe the bush variety is available any longer though but that plant just pumped out the fruit on a short determinate plant. All of the fruit were perfectly shaped 10oz reds. Flavor was mediocre and he always insisted on picking them and keeping them in the fridge which killed even more of the flavor. To answer your question though, I know no one who has grown them out.
Tucson, in 2006 and 2007, I grew out a few Celebrity F2s and got a variety of sizes and shapes mostly elongated globes, "high rounds," some with pointed blossom ends, and one plant with small fruit. I didn't bother growing any F3s because none of the F2s were as good as Celebrity F1, which in my opinion is a very reliable, 5-foot, long season determinate that produces loads of marketable fruit and was a mainstay for local truck farmers and local Amish farmers until the Mountain Series largely has replaced it.
BTW, Big Beef has the same disease resistances, and offers more flavorful fruit on an indeterminate vine if you need those resistances and prefer indeterminate hybrid tomatoes.
Tucson, in 2006 and 2007, I grew out a few Celebrity F2s and got a variety of sizes and shapes mostly elongated globes, "high rounds," some with pointed blossom ends, and one plant with small fruit. I didn't bother growing any F3s because none of the F2s were as good as Celebrity F1, which in my opinion is a very reliable, 5-foot, long season determinate that produces loads of marketable fruit and was a mainstay for local truck farmers and local Amish farmers until the Mountain Series largely has replaced it.
BTW, Big Beef has the same disease resistances, and offers more flavorful fruit on an indeterminate vine if you need those resistances and prefer indeterminate hybrid tomatoes.
Why did the Mountain Series replace it? What qualities do tomato plants and fruit have in the mountain series that make them desirable? What are some of the tomato varieties in the mountain series?
I prefer open-pollinated varieties with a high level of disease resistance. One variety I am growing right now is Tropic VFN. It is supposed to be one of the most disease resistant open-pollinated tomatoes. Though it is one of the most heat-resistant varieties I have grown, I have had others that beat it on disease resistance. Perhaps I just have a weak strain of this cultivar- we'll see how it does over the summer- but with the marginal taste of this variety- if I don't see good performance over the summer this one may be out of my lineup for next year. I'm not too concerned about the whole determinate/indeterminate thing. Here in Tucson many people often report having better luck with determinates but if an indeterminate can live through our summer heat than it will often produce a bountiful fall crop.