Casady’s Folly Tomato Mega-Review

A wonderful variety, incredibly heavy yielder 🍅. I’ve been planting it for two years. Outdoors in open ground, it reached about 28-32 inches (70-80 cm), and I barely pruned the suckers at all. The fruits are dense, striped icicles weighing around 2 oz (60g), absolutely excellent for canning 👍.

I did get Blossom End Rot (BER) on 3-4 fruits per bush, but with a yield this massive, that’s not critical at all 🙂.

Not a single seed germinated for me. 😠 I held onto them for 14 DAYS.

A very prolific variety for canning, with thick skin. Grew outdoors. By the way, it looked absolutely gorgeous in person. I liked it.

My Casady’s Folly was highly vigorous, very prolific, and beautiful. Lots of fruit; they are dense, didn’t crack, had no hard white core inside, and contained very, very few seeds. Almost all of them went straight into canning jars.

It looks stunning paired with Chocolate Stripes. I’m planning to plant both again this year.

🙂 I planted it this year, with seeds from Verochka-Tomatinka. Despite growing in the greenhouse, it wasn’t tall at all, only about 24-28 inches (60-70 cm). Prolific and very beautiful. I plan to grow it outdoors in open ground this year.

Nadin wrote:
Despite growing in the greenhouse, it wasn’t tall at all, only about 24-28 inches (60-70 cm).

Mine was exactly the same height!!!

Its little brother, Sweet Casady, is even tastier! 😉

Edited February 6, 2015 by Drosera

My Casady was definitely tall, over 5.5 ft (1.70 m) for sure. Seeds were from Popenko. It set fruit and produced for a long time. I have no idea why it grew so tall, but that’s what happened. The fruits matched Popenko’s variety description perfectly, though.

The fruits look very similar to Striped Peppercorn, but that plant is only about 28 inches (70 cm) tall. I also noticed that my fruits were all elongated — none of them were slightly chubby/pot-bellied like Svetikk’s. And they weighed more than 2 oz (60g), closer to the stated 3.5-5 oz (100-150g).

I’ve been reading here and there… and I’m completely confused. Who is who?

Seeds were from Sveta-Svetikk. I absolutely loved both the taste and the appearance. Grew 2 bushes outdoors and 2 in the greenhouse. They performed extremely well, very prolific. I only had Blossom End Rot (BER) on the outdoor ones, but it was just a couple of fruits. I will definitely plant again! 👍

Amazing for canning 😋

Mine wasn’t tall outdoors, but it was quite prolific. The flavor of the fresh fruits didn’t impress me, but for canning, it truly is yummy 😋. I think because of the thick walls, it would be absolutely perfect for sun-drying (dehydrating).

Ladoga wrote:
The fruits look very similar to Striped Peppercorn… I’ve been reading here and there… and I’m completely confused. Who is who?

I have Striped Peppercorn, and it’s different. And my Casady’s Folly is from Popenko. This year in the greenhouse, it’s about 5 feet (1.5 m) tall. But still shorter than the other icicle types. And the fruits are larger than 2 oz (60g). I’ll pick them and weigh them. They’re still green right now.

tomatinka wrote:
I have Striped Peppercorn, and it’s different.

Yes, it’s completely different, especially the plant habit — Striped Peppercorn has a strong, stocky, tree-type (dwarf) seedling with broad leaves. Casady’s Folly has an elegant, delicate bush with thin, wispy, weeping foliage and equally thin stems. Staking is absolutely mandatory!

My Casady clearly went crazy from this summer’s weather and grew just like everyone else’s, about 28 inches (70 cm). Very few fruits, and it’s dropping blossoms. So it turns out the weather can heavily influence vegetative growth, too.

We tried it canned/pickled, and honestly, I’m not that thrilled. It felt fibrous to me. But this is strictly under my growing conditions; conditions vary, so I’m not going to make grand claims, as I’m starting to get confused myself. But externally, it’s stunning; when it’s on a plate on the table, your hand naturally reaches for such an exotic tomato. This year I planted one bush not for canning, but purely as table decoration. I will keep trying it.

I planted Blush for the first time this year, and I love it. It grew to nearly 6.5 ft (2 m), sets fruit beautifully, and outperformed Casady in overall development. I prefer its taste, too. But paired together, they are irresistible — a boring dinner complemented by these charmers turns into a feast! 😄

Anzhel, my Casady (I hope we are talking about Folly, not Sweet Casady) is performing very well. It set almost all full trusses, it’s 4.5 ft (1.4 m) tall, though it hasn’t started ripening yet. Last year its trusses weren’t full, which disappointed me, and there was a lot of BER on it — the variety is definitely highly susceptible to this disorder. This year I added Borofoska (boron/phosphate/potassium) to the planting hole and I water regularly, but still, BER showed up on two fruits.

(Note: Originally two varieties were mixed up in this thread).

Initially, this thread was only about Casady’s Folly. Sweet Casady was just mentioned for a flavor comparison. I will split the topics.

Tomatanya wrote:
Anzhel, my Casady (I hope we are talking about Folly, not Sweet Casady) is performing very well…

Yes, I’m talking about the regular one (Folly). As I mentioned above, the original seeds were from Popenko. Last year it reached about 5 ft (1.5 m) tall, maybe taller, set fruit beautifully, and gave a lot of tomatoes, plus it started ripening much earlier. This year, from those exact same seeds, the bush grew to 28 inches (70 cm), produced very few fruits, and they are all green.

Last year I didn’t have a single case of BER on it, but this year I had to throw away the first couple of fruits because they were affected. I added Borofoska to the hole, and later sprayed them with Aquarin (foliar feed). Maybe it helped — I haven’t noticed any more yet, but we’ll see.

I’ve been growing it in the greenhouse for two years now (thanks Svetik for the seeds). Height is 5 ft (1.5 m), good yield, mid-season. It is absolutely indispensable for canning and sun-drying. 😋

My seeds were from Svetik too, thank you so much! The tomato is gorgeous, quite prolific, but the taste is strictly for the jars! It is firm, dense, I would even say oak-like (tough), and stores for a long time. Haven’t tried sun-drying it, but it’s fantastic in canning jars — it doesn’t turn to mush or fall apart.

How do you tell if it’s ripe or not? With striped plum tomatoes, it’s hard to figure out…

The bush is growing outdoors. As of today, it is 5.5 ft (1.7 m) tall and still growing. Extremely prolific, sets trusses without any skips even in this hot summer. The tomatoes have beautiful coloration, banana-shaped. Thick skin, turned out to be crunchy, and the fresh taste is mediocre. But according to reviews, it’s great for canning. Therefore, it’s perfectly fine to grow such a prolific beauty specifically for that purpose.
Thanks to our forum member Ekaterina (Katrinka) for the seeds!

And here is Casady’s Folly next to Schimmeig Creg; they turned out to have the exact same coloring and are growing next to each other in the same row.

Edited July 18, 2016 by LiliyaYa

Hello everyone. I planted this miracle tomato this year. Out of the 5 seeds that Lena (Strekoza) shared with me, only one germinated. To my great disappointment, I only harvested 3 tomatoes from it, while all the rest succumbed to Blossom End Rot (BER) 😞. Girls, tell me, is it worth saving seeds from a bush like this?

OksanaV wrote:
…all the rest succumbed to Blossom End Rot (BER). Girls, tell me, is it worth saving seeds from a bush like this?

You can definitely save the seeds. Blossom End Rot is primarily caused by a calcium deficiency; bacterial BER is much rarer.

Casady’s Folly is one of those varieties that requires constant feeding with calcium supplements, otherwise, you will get BER. I struggled with it last year and decided not to bother with it anymore.

Casady’s Folly is an indet, very beautiful, and prolific variety. The bush is very thin, so you can plant them closer together. I pruned mine to two stems. My tomatoes weighed around 3.5 oz (100g). The skin is thick, and the fresh taste is mediocre, but for processing, they say it’s quite good. Basically, it’s a variety meant for beautiful pantry jars: canning, pickling, and sun-drying.

Svetulya (Svetikk) – thank you for the seeds! 🌺

I loved this variety! Amazingly beautiful and heavy yielder 🍅.
The bush in the greenhouse reached about 50 inches (130 cm), the icicles weighed 1.7-2.5 oz (50-70 grams). The taste is normal/average. I had to stake and tie it up a lot. I canned a few jars; we will taste them later. I will definitely plant it again. Really loved it 👍.
Every single seed germinated.
Thank you, Sveta (Svetikk).

It also got hammered by Blossom End Rot (BER) for me; I struggled endlessly with it. I won’t plant it again. It’s too hot here; our climate is just not right for this variety.

A definitively negative review of this variety. Aside from the coloring, there’s nothing interesting about it. We exhausted ourselves trying to save it from Blossom End Rot. There are plenty of other varieties with this color pattern. I won’t plant it again.

Grew outdoors, elegant bush structure, height around 28-32 inches (70-80 cm), zero BER…

Grew it in 2016. Seeds were from Redko. It grew tall but wasn’t prolific at all — it only set about 5-7 fruits total. It was one of my lowest-yielding varieties from last season, and the exact same thing happened with Sweet Casady (also from Redko seeds). Now I’m not sure if I want to repeat either variety.

One of my favorite varieties. My bush was short but prolific. It started setting fruit as one of the very first and produced for a long time. Good flavor, and it perfectly holds its shape and texture in canning jars thanks to its density. Great for sun-drying.

Casady’s Folly is definitely not my variety. I’m just writing this so there’s another opinion out there, apparently it’s not wonderful for everyone… The bush is short, grows upwards very weirdly, not straight… Sun-drying these tomatoes — oh yes! But that’s it. Well, they are also beautiful, interesting shape, striped. Blossom End Rot loves this variety, just like it does many elongated plum types. It is prolific. But all of its pros were entirely overshadowed for me by one massive con — it’s tasteless. Like rubber. Thick skin, dense flesh, barely even smells like a tomato… To each their own, as they say, but I didn’t plant it this year.

In this extremely difficult year for all plants in the Moscow Region, it ripened as one of the first. Lots of fruit… the bush is well-behaved (not aggressive). 6.5 ft (2 m) tall in the greenhouse. Absolutely no BER…

Lana_Sadovnica wrote:
Sun-drying these tomatoes — oh yes! But that’s it… all of its pros were entirely overshadowed for me by one massive con — it’s tasteless. Like rubber. Thick skin, dense flesh, barely even smells like a tomato…

But why only sun-dry? All dense icicle/plum varieties of this type are excellent pickled/marinated for those who enjoy them that way.

There’s a reason many varieties have a specific intended purpose — slicing/salads, juicing, or processing/canning.

For some reason, many people try to gnaw on these canning varieties fresh off the vine, and then complain they are tasteless. 😛

I really liked them: prolific, beautiful. I was pickling jars today — Banana Legs on the bottom of the jar, then Casady’s Folly, and Gigalo on top. Looks incredibly appetizing and beautiful.

I also love it specifically for canning. Prolific, beautiful, the golden stripes are very bright. Sometimes it drops blossoms and leaves behind unpollinated buttons (nubbins), but I haven’t found a replacement for it yet.

Well damn, I didn’t even realize Casady was a processing variety! 😄 Thanks for the heads-up! Here I was crunching on it fresh, you see…. Everyone has their own tastes, yeah. My family and friends didn’t really like it pickled in jars either; it was too tough, literally had to gnaw on it. I didn’t plant it this year and I’m not suffering; I have enough striped plum varieties without Casady. By the way, for some reason, it wasn’t very prolific for me, nor was it tall. I didn’t attempt growing it outdoors since it’s too cold here, and greenhouse space is too precious. In short, farewell, Casady…

I have mixed feelings about it. For fresh eating, the variety is completely tasteless. And we only can tomatoes in their own tomato juice; we don’t eat other types of pickles. It did get hit by BER, yes, but watering with Calcium Nitrate quickly stopped the process completely. For earliness, I give it a 5 out of 5; it was one of the very first to start turning red. Regarding yield, it also set plenty of fruit and they ripened fast. But most likely, it’s goodbye Casady; I just didn’t like it.

I liked it — it turned out early, trouble-free, modest, few suckers, very little BER, and it’s a handsome tomato. Great for jars and sun-drying. I stuffed them paired with Striped Cave. Stores very well; in late autumn I chopped them into soups and stews. It has earned its place in my collection. A solid pass! 👍

Are Casady’s Folly and Sparks of Flame (Iskry Plameni) the same variety?
Has anyone grown both — can you compare them?

Beautiful, tall-growing variety in the greenhouse. The fruits were medium-sized, red with striping. Sweet, meaty, with sugary-textured flesh.

Grew outdoors (under a canopy cover). Similar to Niagara in fruit shape, slightly smaller in size. Abundant trusses, set fruit very well, the bush looks stunning covered in all those tomatoes. Taste-wise — I don’t really like these fresh, they are more for pickling: dense, thick skin. A true processing variety; it turned out great canned in its own juice, holds its shape perfectly and doesn’t fall apart.

Once again repeated this variety, I just love it. Grew in the corner of the greenhouse, didn’t prune the suckers, height about 3 ft (1 meter). Super prolific, long fruiting period; requires very strong staking/support for all those suckers because the stems are flexible/weeping. I had almost no BER on it, even though the variety is highly prone to it.

Planted 2 years in a row. A wonderful, beautiful, and prolific variety. Fruits averaged 7 oz (200g). (Translator note: 200g is unusually large for this variety, likely crossed seeds or mislabeled).

After reading the reviews, I planted 2 bushes outdoors, not for fresh eating, but specifically for sun-drying. Fresh, it is quite bland, although everyone has different tastes. A very beautiful tomato. Had BER on a few isolated fruits, but the summer was extremely hot.
When sun-dried/dehydrated, it is absolutely peerless!

I hadn’t repeated this variety in a long time; the seeds were quite old, but germination was 100%. Interesting bush structure: not tall, not aggressive with suckers, completely draped in beautifully shaped fruits. The striped coloration is my favorite. Early under my conditions, planted outdoors in open ground. Before the heat hit, there was absolutely zero BER. The soil was fresh for tomatoes; they had never been planted in that spot (potatoes grew there 7 years ago). But once the heatwave started, BER became highly active. Good thing we managed to eat our fill and do a photoshoot for the variety before that! 😄

P.S. Ha, the forum won’t let me attach 2 photos, bummer. I’ll try again later.

Repeated this variety again this year; didn’t let me down. I sun-dried them, froze them, and made pasta sauce.

Svetikk wrote:
Once again repeated this variety, I just love it… height about 3 ft (1 meter), super prolific… stems are flexible.

I made it a point to plant Casady’s Folly this year. Planted 2 of them, and they grew into these beautifully sturdy, stocky plants, looking exactly like determinates?? I started wondering, and went digging for info. After reading this entire thread regarding this variety, I just want to say: GIRLS!!!! (AND BOYS 🍅) you can see with the naked eye that there are TWO completely different varieties here!!!!

1. Short, stocky, prolific, give or take 3 ft (1 meter) tall.
2. Thin bush structure, much more susceptible to BER than its short brother, very tall indeterminate. A bush with a “skinny” genetic build will NEVER look small, thick, and stocky as a seedling. 🤔

So, what should we do about this? 🍅

I received this variety as a gift way back in 2014 when I first joined the forum. It’s a slender indet, completely draped in fruit, and I didn’t see a single spot of BER on any of them (grew it again this season). The variety is absolutely perfect for sun-drying, and of course, for canning in jars.