Topic: Disappointing tomato taste

[pammiep]

Am really disappointed with tomato taste this year.  Dont taste that much different to shop bought (god forbid!) Gardeners Delight, Sub artic and Shirley.  Any of you wise owls know what gives tomatoes their taste? Am not sure whether have been over/under watering, over/under feeding or is it luck of the draw?  Any advise would be welcome. pam   :-[

[Barnowl]

Gardener's Delight seems very inconsistent - I've always suspected it's the label each producer puts on their most reliable small cherry !

I'm surprised you don't like Shirley. It's not exceptional but I reckon it better than most shop bought standard size tomatoes.

Don't know sub Arctic.

I think feeding does affect the taste, but so does when you pick them.

[Jeannine]

Tomato taste can be affected by the weather, eg..some of the black toms have a stronger tom taste when grown in hotter areas. I wouldn'y have thought this would have made much different in the UK due to the size of the country but  it is a big consideratuon in the US.

Sub Artic is an early tom, they are generally not known for good flavour but are useful due to their ability to fruit in coller weather.

Shirley is one of the " I never grow"  toms as the taste is bland and insipid to me compared to most everything else I grow, but it is a reliable producer and grows well especially in the greenhouse

Gardeners Delight would vary depending on wether in greenhouse ot not , it will grow either way, but in the open it tastes far better. My neighbour always grows these outdoors, she brought me an extra plant she had and I tucked it in a greenhouse, we have compared and hers are much better than mine.

I prefer toms with a bite and sweetness,   so I grow for flavour, 2 out of the 3 you have grown  don't have what I would want and I am wondering if you too like a tangy tom.

I would doubt anything you have done has altered the flavour much.

What do you usually grow?

XX Jeannine

[Barnowl]

I agree that variety and weather / ripeness are the most important factors but feeding did appear improve the taste of my Gartenperle, although not by enough to keep them on my list  :)

Shirley (grown outdoors) is my 'banker',  but then I don't actually like all my tomatoes to be strong flavoured. For example some of the sweeter tangier varieties can overwhelm the lettuce in a mixed salad - perhaps I should grow stronger flavoured lettuce! On the other hand Shirley doesn't usually have enough oomph for a tomato and onion salad.

[OllieC]

I'm going back to Shirley next year, instead of Outdoor Girl, for an early nearly normal sized one. Not a massive taster, but early.

I know it goes against some people's principles, but if you're happy to grow f1's, you absolutely must grow Sungold next year. To me it is the perfect tomato - massive yields of perfect fruit, still going now after being the earliest to start... Having said that, the mrs prefers one she can slice up in a sandwich, so her new "must have" is Fantasio.

Food is important, but not as much as variety... perhaps less so if grown outside, which is all I do.

I ditched Gartenperle last year Barnowl - very disappointing!

[saddad]

First time with Garrtenpearle for me and I have quite liked it, OK not a Sungold or black cherry but equal to GD for me...  ???

[tim]

For the smaller (plummy) ones we've long been Santa fans, but last year was not too good so this year we tried Rosada.
Very impressed.

[Barnowl]

Olivade look as if they are going to be good but aren't in the sunniest spot and all the toms there seem reluctant to ripen. The fruit are bigger than I expected from their description on the net.

[pammiep]

Thanks everyone for your comments. Just picked loads last night and roasted a few with some fish and they were very nice. xx pam

[betula]

I must be strange but I can not really taste much difference in tomatoes,they all just taste like ......well,Tomato. ;D

[tonybloke]

I save my own seed of gardeners delight and whippersnapper every year, great taste!! ;)
(if anybody wants some seed, let me know!) ;)

[greenstar]

Apologies in advance for slightly hijacking this thread, but I'm sure some of you have grown Galina before.  Mine have the most amazing taste - almost like mandarin oranges - very citrussy.  Are they always like this?  Definitely growing these again next year.

[Jeannine]

Yes,I like Galinas.(yellow )I like it in a mixed bowl of snacks along with Sungold,(orange) Black Cherry  (very dark purple), Sugar Snack(red) and Sweet Quartz(pink,) except this year the pink is Whippersnapper. The multi colours look so pretty together...now if only I could find a white cherry!!

Oh and you are not hi jacking.

XX Jeannine

[cleo]

For the smaller (plummy) ones we've long been Santa fans, but last year was not too good so this year we tried Rosada.
Very impressed.
I like santa as well-but it`s  a hybrid-do try Aunt Madge

[littlebabybird]

Jeannine this is my fav site to dream about tomatoes these are the white ones, i have never bought from them but i thought the pics might help
lbb

[Jeannine]

Where?

 I have seeds of several whites but sadly there isn't a white cherry yet.

If you like to see toms sites. look at tomatogrowerssupply I find they are very good.

  XX Jeannine

[littlebabybird]

Jeannine, i'm so silly. heres the link but the ones i was thinking of are indeed not white the come up ivory
http://www.tomatogrowers.com/whites.htm

[Jeannine]

It is the same site I buy a lot of my seeds from.

The Dr Carolyn are good, quite a tangy flavour for a white,I have the seeds but they do go a pale yellow. Actually the lady who that tom is named after Dr Carolyn Male has searched to find me a  true white cherry  and there is no such thing yet..She is perhaps the leading authority on tomatoes in the world, the tom was named in her honour by her friend Steve Draper and actually it was bred from the Galina tomato.

Just a bit of tom chat for you.

 I buy from this company all the time by the way.

XX Jeannine

[Trevor_D]

Sorry, just found this thread. (Been busy with grand-daughters all weekend!)

A few general points:

1 - Greenhouse tomatoes are seldom, if ever, as tasty as outdoor ones.

2 - All tomatoes taste better in a hot, sunny year, rather than the dull damp one we've had this year.

3 - And some varieties are tastier than others! (And generally speaking, the tastier they are, the less reliable and/or productive they are.)

That's why those of us who love tomatoes grow loads of different varieties. There's nothing nicer than a tomato salad made with several different colours & textures of tomato, with plenty of basil & a nice dressing!!

[tricia]

Great site - thanks for the link Jeannine. I want to try some really early varieties next year to see if I can beat the blight!

Tricia