Re: [tomato] Caspian Pnk @ Brandywine

William McKay (Tomato@GlobalGarden.com)
Thu, 17 Feb 2000 19:56:26 PST 

I am one of the folks who took the Caspian Pink seeds from you last year and 
never responded though I had promised to do so.  I am really sorry;  I 
usually do what I promised to do.

The good news, however, is that I kept records since I had fully intended to 
comply with your simple request.  First the good news.  I had really good 
germination-80% down in my basement where conditions are not ideal and where 
that rate was among the highest I had.  The plant is incredibly vigorous and 
has very good disease resistance.  The weather in New England was not 
conducive to good tomatoes last year-as is usually the case-and I had a fair 
amount of blight.  The Caspian Pink were among the four or five tomatoes 
that showed really good disease resistance (others were Polish C, Stupice 
and Mortgage Lifter) and made it through to the first frost.  They were good 
producers, far outstripping the Pink Brandywines (though just about 
everything else did also since the heat in July greatly effected fruit set 
on the Brandywines). Fruit were of regular shape, pretty much blemish free, 
and large;  most were in the 14-18 ounce range.  The only thing that did not 
particularly impress was the taste.  I did not think they had as good a 
taste as the Mortgage Lifters or the Polish c's.

Bill McKay in E. Mass



>I offered free seeds for Caspian Pink tomato to a bunch of you last
>year. I asked that you let me know how it grew for you, and not
>suprisingly, I did not receive one response.
>
>I grew a a couple of plants of Caspian Pink, and I also grew a
>couple of Brandywine plants which I found at the local ("Eagle-
>Lowes Hardware store")
>
>Both varieties had about the same amount of fruit, the fruits varied
>in size from 8 to 25 ounces, and they both tasted wonderful. My
>only difference between the two varieties is that the Caspian Pink
>seemed to be slightly more acidic.
>
>Any comments, pro or con are appreciated.
>
>Dave Anderson
>Tough Love Chile Co.
>http ://www.tough-love.com

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