Topic: best outdoor tomatoes???

[Blue Bird]

Any advise on outdoor tomatoes please?  ???  ???

[debster]

my toms this year were not good due to blight but ordered some blight proof this year so not able to help you but someone with much more idea will be along soon  ;)

[Trevor_D]

Yes, this year was awful, but last year I had the best tomato crop ever! You just have to go with it & hope (& spray!).

In the GH I grow Shirley, which is very reliable, if slightly boring, so outdoors I go for flavour, yield & as many different types as possible. My mainstays are: Marmande, Costoluto Fiorentino, Roma. Black Russian, Sungold, Gardeners' Delight (all commercially available) plus King George & Spanish Big Globe (from the HDRA seed library). Then I grow a plant or two each of as many varieties as I can lay my hands on! Several of us pass round plants or seeds, so I generally end up with a couple of dozen varieties.

But Jeannine is the one to ask. She grows about two thousand different varieties!!

[Robert_Brenchley]

Last summer was a  total washout, but Clear Pink Early, Prima and Taxi are good ones.

[ruud]

Blue bird,the only real impotancy with toms is the time they need to get red.We need early season toms.Toms who gets there crops between 50-70 days,that is the only way to beat blight.Early cropping  toms.I swear on russian varieties and varieties from nothern parts of the states and canada.

[Jeannine]

Try to go for early season ones or at least a few types with different maturity dates, toms mature as short at 52days and as long as110 so you ca.n see the difference the weather might make, also go for some cold hardy ones. I am just going to bed, I will add some names and dates tomorrow CC Jeannine

[Chris Graham]

I tried Ferline but didnt think they grew very well, hardly got any fruit from 3 plants. Could just have been me though! ;)

Sungold and Tigarella were both very good outside but I'm not keen on the flavour of Tigarella.

Garden Pearl grew well but like Tigarella I didnt like the taste.  Tumbling Toms would be a better choice.

[OllieC]

Garden Pearl grew well but like Tigarella I didnt like the taste.

The RHS trial (last year?, involved Raymond Blanc in the tasting) voted Garden Pearl the most dull of all the ones they tried - and I agree!!

[Jeannine]

Alicante and Gardeners Delight grow well outside, the others I use are Oregon Spring, Early Girl, Sweet Million, Tumbler,Celebrity,Glacier, Legend,Praire Fire, Stupice,Big Beef (my favourite)Nepal. Juliet ( has some blight tolerance) Patio if you are using pots, strong short plants that bear heavily,Sugary,

New one for me for outside this year is Kimberley

I have to be honest and admit I have not grown all of these in the UK, but most of them are designed for cooler nights or short seasons and have had good success with most of them here and all of them in Canada. It was warmer there though with a longer growing season.

I would also consider the Polar ones, but I have only  personally used  Polar Baby,

XX Jeannine

[flowerofshona2007]

Ferline is pretty good and i found it produced large nice tasting fruits :)

[Blue Bird]

Thanks for all your help at least I now have sosme ideas

cheers to all  ;D

[Rob08]

I find that San Marzano does well outdoors and stands well in poor weather at the end of the season as well.  Does require an early start indoors though.  These plants all kept growing and eventually I picked out the growing tips when they cleared 6 foot.

I also grew out a variety called Giant Ukrainian from Amishland - did not set much fruit at all but what it did grew huge and had an absolutely divine flavour.  Much smaller plant as well and did not require much staking.

[Tin Shed]

Last year, despite the dreaded blight, I still did well with Tigerella, Roma, Legend, Gardener's delight and Latah. Costoluto got hit the worst, Latah, a russian tomato, which I started off very early did really well  - I had to plant it out early in that cold and windy May we had, but gave it lots of protection and it survived and gave a good early crop.

[cleo]

So much depends on where one is and the aspect of one`s garden. As a very general rule of thumb the bigger beafsteak varieties or hybrids bred for greenhouse cropping are best under glass.

But so many will grow outside it`s hard to say what is `best`

My advice-avoid Money Maker,avoid Garden Pearl,avoid sub arctic plenty

[Barnowl]

Big fan of Shirley. It is an F1 ,  but not the most expensive.  Mother has been growing it for years and I have for 4 years now. Seems resistant to to BER and splitting and gives a generous crop.

[greenstar]

Hurray Tin Shed - I've ordered Latah for this year as not a lot else seems to ripen outside in Glasgow, apart from tiny cherry ones.  I've also got Purple Ukrainian coming and am hoping to grow these outside as well.  All the rest I have to put in the greenhouse as out summer only lasts about two weeks  :(