Growers’ Notes and Photos (USDA Zones 4-8 Experience)
In my garden, grown out in an open bed, the plant reached about 4.3 ft (1.3 m). Insanely productive – it set every single cluster without dropping blossoms through this blistering summer heat. Didn’t turn out ultra-early for me; the first ripe ones just came in now. The fruit are gorgeous: vibrant red with gold jagged striping, firm skins, dense sugary flesh with a crisp bite, and a classic balanced tomato flavor without heavy sweetness. Should be an absolute home run for canning whole.
Here is a side-by-side of this variety next to Casady’s Folly – remarkably similar coloration.
Edited November 2, 2017 by Drosera
Drosera: Corrected the thread title to the proper spelling: Schimmeig Creg.
Good call. It ends with a ‘g’, not a ‘t’. Most local seed catalogs have been butchering this Manx name completely.
Drosera: Though people will probably still search for the butchered catalog version…
True enough. Good idea to keep both spellings indexed so people can actually find the right information.
Yanina: Olga, I grew it for two seasons. It’s definitely not an early variety…
Oh wow, thanks for the heads-up! 🙏 Glad I asked before wasting prime early-season real estate on it. Crossing it right off my early shortlist. 📝
Lyolikovna: Liliya and anyone else who’s grown it – would this make a good early-season tomato…?
Olga, where I bought the seeds it was listed as mid-early, and down here in the south, that’s pretty much how it performed.
LiliyaYa: …down here in the south, that’s pretty much how it performed.
Liliya, don’t get me wrong! 🙈 I just meant for my northern conditions. I compare it to other determinates grown out in the garden. This one clearly felt cold up here and developed way slower than my regular outdoor stock.
It’s actually super helpful that you noted where it ripens in your climate. 😊
Lyolikovna: Liliya, did you ever try starting it extra early…?
Just caught this question… No, Olga, for extra-early spring tomatoes I lean on much faster, specialized early cultivars.
LiliyaYa: …for extra-early spring tomatoes I lean on much faster, specialized early cultivars.
Fair enough, took it off the early crop list. I figured since it was a determinate it might race out of the gate. Still planting it this year either way – such a sharp-looking little tomato. 👍
Lyolikovna: Still planting it this year either way…
Olga, definitely grow it for your main crop! Mine ended up significantly taller than the catalog claimed, pumped out heavy yields, and visually it’s a real beauty. I’m a sucker for stripers. 🤐😄
LiliyaYa: Mine ended up significantly taller than the catalog claimed…
Mine was taller than listed, too. I’ve noticed nearly all outdoor varieties from Happy Garden end up taller than their seed packets suggest. Not just height either. I caught on to that, so now I always double-check descriptions against other grower databases. 😊
Edited August 14, 2022 by Marusha
Quick Facts: Variety Summary
- 🌿 Growth Habit: Semi-determinate to vigorous determinate bush. While seed packets often advertise a tidy 2 ft (60 cm) frame, multiple growers report plants reaching 32 inches to over 4 ft (0.8-1.3 m). Needs heavy staking to keep weighted trusses off the ground.
- 🍅 Fruit Profile: Pointed plum/paste tomatoes weighing 3-4 oz (80-120 g). Scarlet base streaked with jagged golden-yellow lightning lines. Dense, crisp flesh with thick skin built to resist cracking.
- 📈 Heat Tolerance & Yield: Exceptional fruit setter during extreme heatwaves, setting every truss without dropping flowers. Can get overloaded to the point of toppling stakes during late summer storms.
- ⏱️ Maturity Window: Performs as a mid-early producer in warm southern climates (Zones 7-8), but slows down significantly in cooler northern regions (Zone 4), acting as a mid-to-late season main crop rather than an early harvest.
- 🧬 Breeder & Origin: Developed by famed US breeder Tom Wagner, carrying a Manx Gaelic name meaning “striped stone/rock”.
The confusion over the spelling in this thread stems from the variety’s unique heritage. Bred by Tom Wagner, Schimmeig Creg is named using Manx Gaelic (the Celtic language of the Isle of Man), translating roughly to striped rock or speckled crag. Russian seed distributors frequently transliterated the phonetic sounds into Cyrillic as “Shaimet Krig,” which led to gardeners searching for a non-existent variety. Its dense walls and elongated striped profile share close ties with other Wagner-influenced striped paste lines like Casady’s Folly.
