Last year I tried Martino's Roma for the first time. This is an heirloom paste tomato and it did really well! The fruit on Martino's Roma had zero blossom end rot and the yield was very high. The other 3 varieties of paste tomato I grew last year (
San Marzano
,
Amish Paste
, and Polish Linguisa) suffered pretty badly from blossom end rot and the yields just couldn't compare. I may very well forget about the other varieties and grow solely Martino's Roma next year.
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| Martino's Roma |
That said, I get nervous when I rely on a single variety to produce all my tomatoes of a certain kind (cherry, beefsteak, paste, etc.). Maybe I should try out a hybrid paste variety in 2011 and compare the flavor, yield, and disease resistance among the heirlooms and hybrids.
Any hybrid paste tomato suggestions for my 2011 seed order?
My favorite is 'Olpaka' it tastes the best to me, and produces like crazy. I've never had any blossom end rot on it -- but I don't get blossom end rot on it, but then Amish Paste doesn't for me either.
ReplyDeleteI was torn between Opalka and Polish Linguisa last year...maybe I picked the wrong one! Probably 80% of my Polish LInguisa fruit had blossom end rot over the course of the summer.
ReplyDeleteDid you make sure you had enough calcium in the soil?
ReplyDeleteI add all of my spoiled milk and egg shells to my garden to add calcium (although I'm not sure how much good that actually does). I am of the opinion that blossom end rot is not only due to calcium deficiency, but also due to interactions with temperature, sun, and precipitation.
ReplyDeleteFor example, I've grown the same varieties of tomatoes in the same soil (i.e. amended the same way I always do) and some years they're fine and other years the blossom end rot is rampant. Environmental factors must play a significant role.
At least martino's roma seems to be immune!