PlantFiles: Tomato
Lycopersicon lycopersicum 'Park's Whopper'

sonomo-Franklin,NC.( zone 7) July 18, 2010. This is the first year I have grown the Parks Whopper. The plant is very healthy and produces alot of fruit. I just picked my first tomato off the vine yesterday. The fruit seems hard despite it being red. I was wondering if this fruit is supposed to be firmer than alot of tomatoes when they ripen?? I can't wait to cut into this tomato and taste it. The great thing about this plant is that I haven't had to spray it for blossom end rot-amazing!!!!!

Although quite prolific, the taste is, well, meh...nothing spectacular. Still, it tastes better than the mass produced store cultivar. But most home grown ones do, no?

The skin was pretty resistant to cracking but I'd rather have a tastier heirloom tomato than a sturdier one. It's also a hybrid so you can't save the seeds for the following season. Perhaps more rewarding for a beginner vegetable gardener?

This is one of my favorite Hybrids. It grows very well here in South Carolina and produces a ton of medium red tomatoes that are very tasty. It leans more to the sweet tasting tomato, than acidic. I grow these every year.

Jan 23, 2006 Wayne, NE zone 4-5
I haven't grown this plant for a few years, but that was only because I wanted to experiment a bit. But it was a healthy reliable plant. My first determinent I believe. I start all my tomatos indoors starting in January or early Feb. I start all the seeds in the same small flat with good loose soil, lots of sun, maybe a little bottom heat (but not absolutely necessary) and when they've sprouted to about 1 1/2 inches I transplant to small single pots... leftover 2" nursery bedding plant pots. Then I fertilize with a weak solution of starter fertilizer each time I water and transplant to slightly larger pots until they're about 3-4" tall. At that point they go into 4" plastic pots planted just below the bottom leaves like one does outside. They root along the stem. After that if it's too cold to take a chance outside yet, I just keep up the water regimen and increasing pot size if getting rootbound. As soon as I can trust the days to be warm and sunny they go outside out of the wind to acclimate, brought inside if there's frost expected, By the time they go into the garden... deeply again.. they have a pretty nice size and fullness. Maybe everyone knows this already but I do hope some of my experience is helpful to someone.

Oh yes maybe this has already come up but a sprinkling of orchard spray powder or garden dusting powder can help with damping off.

We grew this one last year and it was the worst of about thirty varieties. Poor yeild, terrible disease resistance, small fruit - who could ask for less?

Of the 36 PW we grew no two plants were the same. Maybe we got a bad batch of seeds.

My first year growing this variety. Best producer for me by far in a bad year for tomatoes (2005). Heavy yields of large, bright red tomatoes. Plants were just loaded. My first ripe ones came in @ 55 days from setting out plants.

I have grown this plant for years and I can count on it to produce a good crop of flavorful tomatoes. It has been a mainstay for years.

We are very disappointed with this tomato. When grown in our garden it looks and tastes just like a supermarket tomato--lovely color, uniform shape, absolutely no flavor. We have lots of experience growing many varieties of tomatoes and this one just doesn't make the grade. We have over 20 other types of tomatoes this year and all of them produce fruit preferable to Whopper.

This plant was the first of 20 to produce this year. It's one of 6 I started during the winter in my sunroom, which could account for the fact that it' a bit on the scrawny side. The tomatoes are VERY tasty, but fairly small - again, it could be because I started it indoors and it's a container plant. I don't mind giving up size for an early crop - once the other 'mater plants kick in, I'm sure we'll make up for it.

I'll try using more traditional growing methods next year and see if the production is less disappointing.

this is my first year growing whoppers. I just picked my first ripe tomatoes. My vines are loaded.They are so heavy I had to add additional stakes. I have had better yield than all previous kinds i planted. great flavor. I'm a little concerned about the weight on plants. hope I don't loose some do to breakage of limbs.

Very good tomato. This is my first year growing it. Has a very good flavor and they are good size.

Developed by Petoseed in 1979. Competes with Better Boy. It is an indeterminate. Handles the Georgia environment much better than Better Boy. One of my best performers this year.

We planted five types of tomatoes last year which included Parks Whopper, Arkansas Traveler, Celebrity, Brandywine, and Better Boy. Of the five, Parks Whopper had a good taste and the most tender skin. So this year we have planted all Parks Whoppers.

This is by far one of the best tomatoes for us. Early, big yield, mostly blemish free. Tastes great and very meaty.
We also use it for our tomato starts that we sell in our garden center, because we can recommend it and not have to worry that the buyer will happy with it.
Bernie