Copia and other stripey toms

[ottawagardener]

Stripey Cavern. That sound intriguing. I take it that it's for stuffing? Is it a mid-late season tomato?

[Rebsie]

I grew Copia this year. You can't get it in the UK but I ordered it from an American company a couple of years ago. It was beautiful and prolific but none of mine reached full ripeness, even in the greenhouse. Last year I tried to grow it outdoors and it failed completely. I don't think it's really suited to the climate here, which is probably why nobody sells it in the UK.



But it was very delicious at the green-and-pink stage. I'd grow it again if I had more space.

I grew another stripey one from seeds I saved from a supermarket tomato, called Green Tiger. That one was fantastic! Deep burgundy red with dark olive green stripes, and dark red inside. Very prolific, beautiful and wonderfully tasty. Probably the best tomato I grew this year.



One day when I was bored I crossed it with Banana Legs, but whether I'll ever get round to growing the F1 is another matter.

[PatrickW]

I grew Copia this year in Amsterdam too. It was delicious, and did get ripe for me, but I only got about 3 medium sized tomatoes over the course of the season.

[Rebsie]

Only 3?!

Well I did see one of yours when you brought it to the Oxford get-together, and it was beautiful. That was the only reason I knew mine hadn't ripened, because yours was a much brighter colour!

[canadamike]

I got at least 40 pounds per plant of Copia I grew. And damn, this was a cold and wet summer without any canicule. The last 2 weeks of August and early September, we had some sun, and they ripened like crazy, although very late. I use foliar feeding with seaweed a lot, and I am convinced it preps the plants for adverse conditions. I grow everything on raised beds mind you, it sure helps drainage...

[PapaVic]

Canicule = chanook for "dog days" of summer.

Reb, which tomato blossom was the pollen donor and which the recipient? How did you prepare the blossom for the cross pollination? Did you emasculate the recipient? How many seeds did you get from the recipient fruit?

Bill

[Rebsie]

Bill, I used Banana Legs as the mother. Emasculated a couple of buds that were just starting to open and dabbed them with Green Tiger pollen. I can't be 100% sure it was a successful cross with no self-pollination but I did most of the right things.

The fruits had about the normal amount of seed for Banana Legs, though it's not a huge seed producer.

I have 30 or so seeds and I'm happy to share them.

[PapaVic]

Great! I'd love to give them a shot. Set aside a few for me and contact me at [e-mail] ... I'll get back with you and email you my mailing address as soon as I return from Florida (about a week from now). Thanks!

Bill

[PatrickW]

Michel, You're changing languages on us!

I grew my Copia in a greenhouse with the door open which you have to do in this climate otherwise, with the dampness and commercial potato growers in the area, the plants just get late blight. It was in a raised bed within the greenhouse. I guess I got less than 2 pounds total from the plant.

Perhaps the plant was a little crowded with the others, and in particular was a little in the shadow of the giant Emerald Evergreen next to it, but really the conditions weren't seriously adverse. I think the ground was reasonably good. I did give it a little fish emulsion fertilizer near the end of the season, but not as a foliar feed as to avoid the fish taste in the tomatoes.

My garden is about a meter below sea level (drained by dikes and canals), and the ground is often wet. The water table is 30cm below the garden, and I never need to water established plants. As wet as it is, it is well drained, with almost no problems of standing water. Often during warm weather the greenhouse takes on a weather system of it's own, with sun evaporating the water out of the ground, which in turn condenses on the glass and rains back down on the plants.

Many other tomatoes did well this year, especially Emerald Evergreen, Brandywine and Brown Berry. It was my first year growing most of the tomatoes I had, and the first year in a new garden, so it's a little hard to compare it with previous experiences.