longkeeper tomatoes

[5rod]

hi all
this year im growing 3 different tomatoes.
im looking for a date to plant the seeds of
my longkeepers so i can have nice toms for next
christmas, anybody grown them.
                        5 rod ??? ???

[5rod]

[grannyjanny]

I think Chriscross has just eaten the last of his tomatoes.

[saddad]

When I've grown them I've sown with the rest... but a couple of weeks later wouldn't hurt...  :)

[lottie lou]

What are longkeeper tomatoes

[tim]

Our green tomatoes, harvested late October, ripen progressively until Christmas.

[5rod]

hi lottie lou
longkeepers tomatoes are just another  tomatoe.
if you start them later and pick you can store them for up to 3 months to ripen.
All information you can get off google except when to plant , that was my question?

[lottie lou]

Mmm, that's a good idea but how do you store them.  I wrapped up mine in newspaper against TeeGee's advice and they rotted and went mouldy.  Won't do that again.

[tim]

I think it unlikely that the method caused the rot. More likely too long in store &/or damage or disease at the outset?

[lottie lou]

I have heard about "hanging" them.  Will have to find out more.

[realfood]

I just put any green ones, when the plants are no longer growing, on the windowsill and let them ripen naturally. Still have a few left.

[lottie lou]

Lucky you having windowsill space.  Mine were, and still are, piled high with pumpkins and squashes.  At least they survived the winter which is more thatn I can say for my oca,ulluco etc left in the greenhouse. 

[saddad]

There are some varieties that were specifically bred for long keeping. Popular at the start of the 20th C when we couldn't fly them in... Garden Peach (not the yellow furry one) from HSL springs to mind... I grew them in the 90's and they kept into Feb. but by then you often got germinated seedlings inside your tomato..  ;D

[chriscross1966]

I found that the ones that kept the best for me were black cherry, principe borghese and san marzano. The cherry's still looked normal to eat as fresh, the other two were getting a bit dehydrated by then though. My plan for next year is to have som emore space dedicated to them adn also to wash them off with Milton after harvesting, I lost about a third of my kept tomatoes, mostly early on...

Yellows don't tend to keep very well.

chrisc

[Stevens706]

I am also growing Principe Borghese for the 1st time this year, chrisc did you hang the plants to ripen the toms?