Guido

[macmex]

So is this tomato determinate or indeterminate?

George

[pugs]

It is ind.

Here is the description from G & G's list:

Very vigorous and productive, plants to 6+ ft. Good tomato taste, More acidic than sweet, small core, seldom catfaces, few splits. Meaty enough to use as a paste tomato. To 45 lbs/plant. Slowed down by hot weather. Red, 2#+, oblate shape and regular leaf.

And Grunt & Grungy's avatar is a picture of some Guido tomatoes.

Pugs

[grunt]

If you go to our blog, the addresses for our seed lists and albums are there. Go for it!!

[macmex]

Thanks so much! I wonder if it is slowed down by heat how it would do here in Oklahoma. I know I grow a pineapple heirloom (Tuxhorn's Yellow & Red) which handles heat extremely well. But forget about fruit set until we get moderate temps.

Our mainstay here is an Illinois heirloom called Baker Family Heirloom, which I received in the mid 90s. It's a good one for both slicing and canning, a huge producer on very large indet., busy vines. But even BFH has about a 6 week hole in production, every summer.

Sioux has proven to be a super tomato for our conditions. My only mistake with Sioux, in 2008, was that I let all but one plant sprawl. It really needed support for ongoing production.

I'm always torn when I read of such great varieties as Guido. That's because I can hardly keep up with the ones I'm maintaining. This year I must grow out my own family heirloom: Tomato Rocky. Tomato Rocky (or Rocky as the SSE refers to it) is a very large indet. Italian Plum with the most intense flavor of any tomato I've ever tried. Dried, it is absolutely out of this world. Sliced it is wonderful. But it seems susceptible to blight in the humid coastal conditions of New Jersey, where my family first grew it. It's been next to impossible to grow there for some time. It flopped for me here, in Oklahoma, when I tried it. But I'm hoping I can get it in early enough that it might produce well. Tomato Rocky produces wonderfully in Illinois and Indiana. Anyway, all that said just to give you an idea of where I'm coming from. I have the same struggle with beans. Love to try new ones but struggle to maintain the ones I have.

BTW, I purchased the 2009 Farmers' Almanac and read about you folks. But I didn't know about this forum at the time and didn't recognize your names. Way to go!

George

[Alan]

Beautiful pics my friends. I look forward to growing this out greatly this year, it has a very special place in the seed closet que so that it will not be forgotten, if it is as good as you guys say then count me in for propigating this one for years to come and sending it all over the world! Thanks again guys!

[grunt]

George: Any chance of doing a swap for some Tomato Rocky? I can go through what we have and see what strikes me as heat tolerant. I am assuming that humidity is not a factor for you there. I'll also throw in some Guido and Joe's Portuguese. They slow down a bit in the heat, but will make up for it later.
Cheers
Dan

[macmex]

Sure. That's sounds great! Of course you know, you've almost "pushed me" off that precarious ledge I've been on, and back into collecting!

I don't remember, at the moment, if I have your address. But neither will I be back in the USA until Saturday evening.

George

[canadamike]

We all have that collecting/enlarging/managing dilemma here, George... Val and Dan take great care of it

I have some CREOLE seeds should you want to try them, I bought them for a friend in Guadeloupe and have some left... I would not mind trying your Rocky... I bought more than CREOLE for my friend, I can also check i=f I have any other left for heatset...

[macmex]

Mike, just send me your address and I'll mail them to you when I get home. I'll have to look up Creole. Can't say that I remember it. Roma sets fruit extremely well here. I get flack from some of my heirloom/SSE friends, because it's not a rare variety nor particularly flavorful. But it cooks up very well and deluges us with fruit when we want to can; thickens up the sauce too. I resisted growing it for some years, because I'm always struggling to put in varieties that need renewing. But the wife ASKED ME TO. So, last summer, I did. It was great.

Sioux is a great one for our climate. I think I mentioned it once, somewhere.

Okay, this thread is about Guido! I'll talk about other varieties another time

George

[canadamike]

Roma is a great filler tomato. It is truely not the most tasteful but does the job well for canning, I have to admit. I was told napoli was a reat producing one and grew it, but honestly, for canning, given the number of tomato plants I have and the canning I plan to do, I think it would be better to concentrate more on determinates for a while, Setting up to can 100 jars or 30 is much the same but for a few hours once you're well organized..

[flowerpower]

I wanted to thank Grungy & Grunt for sending me the Guido seed last yr. It was one of the extra varieties they tossed in. I just started a few seeds yesterday, along with a couple of Red Barn.

[ceara]

Wow I almost started drooling after looking at Guido. lol Looks very tasty.

[grungy]

Ceara - there's more seed available. If you would like to try it pm me with your address.
Cheers,
grungy

[ceara]

Thank you, will do!

Only need 5-10 seeds though because we already have so many tomatoes.

We have been growing mostly paste varieties, but Guido looks multi-purpose for sure.

[Alan]

Grunt and Grungy, thank you for being so generous here on our little site, you are much appreciated my friend!