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Location

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Date Posted

Austin MN

Hello all I am doing a paper for college on how I would go about starting a 40 acre tomato farm but was curious what breeds of tomatoes do people prefer for taste color size and yield any web sites or just personal option would be much appreciated....ill admire I don't know a whole lot about tomatoes lol

2/17/2014 2:03:47 PM

Elk County, PA

Only grow Cherry and Roma. Yummmy!!!

2/17/2014 2:19:50 PM

Austin MN

My biggest question is what reeds will do well in the Mn climate?

2/17/2014 2:32:00 PM

Corbin, KY

Grafted Heirlooms, rootstock for increased vigor and disease resistance and heirloom for flavor. Also Heirlooms bring a preminum price on the market.

2/17/2014 2:57:11 PM

Minnesota(dw447@fastmail.fm)

You'll need to consider what the tomatoes will ultimately be used for. Will they be shipped to a canning operation, sold locally at a farmers market(you can only sell so many this way), etc.
Other considerations:

Do you support the tomatoes with some sort of trellis or let them sprawl?
Would you start your own plants from seed...then a greenhouse would be needed.
If the tomatoes are shipped, then you would need varieties that could hand the rigors of shipping.
Also consider crop insurance, disease/insect prevention, and how many people would be needed for labor.
There's a website called Tomatoville, that I belong to. There are some very knowledgeable folks there. I'm mostly into "heirloom varieties" of which there are thousands. Good luck!

2/17/2014 3:51:53 PM

Minnesota(dw447@fastmail.fm)

"handle the rigors of shipping"

2/17/2014 3:53:01 PM

I had to do similar projects for my BS degree. Doug is spot on - the first thing you need to decide is what your tomatoes will be used for. Also, for my projects I contacted an actual producer and asked them lots of questions that I couldn't find the answers to myself.

2/17/2014 6:31:54 PM

Minnesota

Paul Robeson, Cherokee Purple, Brandywine taste great. I fed them this stuff, seaagri.com, makes tomatoes taste and grow great, they also have a few articles on using with tomatoes.

2/17/2014 9:37:13 PM