Beauty King from Wild Boar Farms. I had trouble growing all tomatoes this year due to weather but can say these plants seem pretty tough. Really tall and thick stems and leaves. They did not break themselves with their fruit like my other two large varieties did. They are diseased, as all my tomatoes are, but they pushed a ton of new growth out and are flowering again. I just hope they produce some more fruit bc so far low production. I have 3 plants and have harvested 5 fruit so far, and theres not too many left on the plants. Fruit has a lot of catfacing and small cracks/scars, looks almost like reptile skin on the shoulders of the larger ones. But also this tomato is big and the weather was trash so that prob didnt help.
As for flavor its hard to tell, I feel like my tomatoes are all bland this year from the bad growing season, and the first BK I ate was so freaking lame. BUT I just ate another one today and it was pretty good. Mild but tasty, better than grocery store for sure, subtle complexities were there. I was happy and kept going back for more. I did like the texture. Meaty tomato, but still had a decent amount of juice, and not too soft. Grown in better conditions would prob taste better. I wonder if Wild Boar varieties just do better in drier climates like California where they are bred. I'm East Coast and its swampy here.
Personally I would not grow this breed again because I don't think they are thriving in my climate and not producing enough, but all in all I'd say its a decent large tomato and of course its gorgeous to look at with those colors and stripes. It is half Big Rainbow and it shows! For me, I am growing only Late Blight and foliar disease-resistant types next season (stupid Septoria) and am replacing the BK and my other two large varieties with Dark Star. (Blushing Star is in the running too for that septoria resistance)
BTW the smaller tomatoes in the last pic are Moneymaker and the peppers are Kristian Thai. I hate when people post pics but dont say what everything is!
by OSRSjadeine
6 Comments
Barred Boar from them is my all time favorite. Cracks like crazy in my NYC weather but the taste can’t be beat
I wonder if a related tomato like Firebird Sweet or Shimmering Beauty would do better. I think those are crosses of BK and Wild Fred. They would likely have been selected in North Carolina and Wisconsin
Wasn’t a fan of the taste of Beauty King when I grew it in Ohio. Tried it two years in a row and it just didn’t do it for me, even though I think they’re beautiful!
I can’t wait for the season to start here. Lots of inspirational ideas. 🍅🍅🍅
Thank you so much for sharing this information about Beauty King.
It’s always been my experience that the first tomato off of a particular plant is not the best one.
(BK was a big seller for us this season, but I’ve never had it!)
>>”…and am replacing the BK and my other two large varieties with Dark Star.”
Just wanted to say that Dark Star has been a consistent winner for me. NE Texas, 8a. Climate hot and wet. Have grown it 3 or maybe 4 seasons.
Good disease resistance, a heavy producer, excellent taste. Actually, it surprises me that this isn’t a more popular indeterminate slicer hybrid for growers (like myself) who prefer the dark, rich-tasting tomatoes with a good balance between sweetness and acid.