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I picked my first ripe tomato today: a SunSugar tomato from the plant on the fire escape. It was softer and sweeter than the Sungolds I'd bought at the farmer's market a few weeks ago; I guess letting it sit a few extra days on the vine helps. It's an orange tomato, so I guess it's a little harder to determine ripeness (I'm more used to growing red tomatoes). Someone said to wait until it's a bit translucent. I found it helpful to see whether it had also turned slighly soft to the touch. At any rate, there are more on the way!
What an unusual plant this is: when it brush its foliage, it doesn't emit the normal acrid aroma of most tomato plants. Instead, it smells a little like pineapple!
[At the office, on the patio: Looks like Sweet 100 will supply the next ripe tomatoes, followed by Amish Paste.]
I've had more success with the plant on the fire escape (in its cramped
3-gallon pot) than the ones on the south side of the house, planted directly in the ground. The former gets all-day sun, the latter, only morning and early-afternoon sun. Apparently the sun makes all the difference between fruit and no fruit: the SunSugar on the fire escape is on the small side but is loaded with blossoms and small green fruit, the one on the side of the building is tall, lush and green, but has very little fruit.
Its neighbor plants in the ground (Park's Beefy Boy and Early Girl) are tall and blooming but haven't set any fruit yet. I set them out on July
20 and I hope to see something on them at least by mid-September, or they aren't worth the ground they're occupying.
-- dkra (San Francisco Bay Area, North Oakland, USDA Zone 9 / Sunset Zone 16/17)