Topic: What are your favourite tomatoes and why?

[willconkerer]

Sungolds had delicious sweet flavour but tended to split if we left them on the vine when ripe so we lost quite a few. Shirleys heavy croppers (lower truss breakages etc) but good flavour for slicing and cooking.Don't know whether to stick with these or experiment. Grew Alicante last year, cropped massively and flavour OK

[heloise]

Grew sungold this year and was blown away by the flavour - I don't like raw tomatoes normally but these I'll eat like sweets  :D They did split a bit if left though obviously still tasted gorgeous.

haven't been able to find a good variety for cooking, in soups or bolognese for example, so I'm keen to see what varieties others think are tasty that also cook well.

[Deb P]

I've just done my 'annual review' of the tomato varieties I've tried this year, and the majority have not been anything special so I wouldn't grow them again. I tried quite a few American varieties this year, the others were either from the Heritage Seed Library or my established favourites.

The few that have made it onto my 'favourites' list this year are:

Smokey Mountain Red (USA seed): Prolific and tasty, salad sized fruit.

Taxi: A bit like Thai Pink Egg but more prolific and kept going longer, pink egg sized fruit.

Bloody Butcher: a really nice tasting tom, smaller fruit that I had expected(I thought it was a beefsteak type?!)  but lots of them.

Russian Red (HSL seed) Did well in and outdoors, salad sized fruit over a long period, no disease.

Porter (USA): round pink fruits, very sweet.

Nepal (USA): large red flushed fruits, great for cooking.

Campbell's Soup (USA), useful sized fruit for cooking, red and tasty, great for soup!

Beefsteak (USA) early, big meaty fruits, 5-6 per truss.

I'm slowly realising I prefer the medium and beefsteak sized fruits, I just can't water consistently enough to get away with growing cherry type varieties, I lose too many to splitting. Also, I am finding that the really big types such as 'German Pink' often get mould growing on them before they are fully ripe, or they get nibbled by beasties so I end up losing a grater percentage of the crop, so it's middle sized and beefsteak types for me only now! ::) One lives and learns..... ::) ;D ;D

I've also gone right off yellow and white tomatoes, they are generally just TOO sweet for me, I prefer a more acid bite. Similarly purple types seem to suffer from the same problem. Still love stripey ones though! ;D

[Melbourne12]

Ailsa Craig and the related Tigerella are our favourites.  Old fashioned, but can't be beaten for true tomato flavour.  Any of the San Marzano varieties are favourites for cooking.

[torquil]

grew gardeners delight ,black cherry, good old favourite grenadier, also shirley, will be growing same next year good crop all round. ;D ;D

[Paulines7]

I notice that Sungold keeps cropping up as a favourite.  I haven't tried them so if anyone has any seeds to swap please, I would be interested.  I would also be interested in any beef steak varieties, apart from Marmande which I already have.  In return I could offer Carp Rich, Golden Sunrise and Pomodoro Cuore di Bue.  Please send me a pm if interested.

The only cherry tomato I have grown is Tiny Tim.  I will not be growing it again though.  This is the first year it has produced fruit for me and whilst the flavour is all right, once picked, they start to go squidgy and even if slightly soft, they have an awful taste!  Does anyone know if this is true of all cherry tomatoes or just Tiny Tim?

[GrannieAnnie]

Pauline, John_Miller sent me some "Green Grape" cherry toms. They are green when ripe and give a bright, sweet burst of flavor in the mouth.

[flowerofshona2007]

Best for us are Ferline and Tigerella, Rosanda are nice, i try a few new ones each year just incase there is one lurking that blows us away  ;D

[willconkerer]

All of this begs the question - grow what you know or take a chance!
I did once fall under the spell of the sorceress Sarah Raven and tried to grow all kinds of beautiful quirky varieties but it left me with very little to eat, so its back to the tried and tested. Quality by all means but give me quantity as well.

[jennym]

I like Sungold too, lovely sweet flavour and reliable.
Roma, a plum tomato grows well here, very prolific but I have to start it very early to beat the blight. It's nice and meaty with few seeds, great for cooking, purees etc.
Tried one called Tamina this year, it's what I'd call a standard sized round tomato, the flavour was average, but they did seem to fruit and ripen earlier than everything else, which was an advantage.

[saddad]

Sungold... the only F1 I will grow so far
Black Cherry, Whippersnapper in the small ones. Black Mavr and Black Prince and loads of others...  :)

[Squash64]

Another Sungold fan here  :)  My husband is very particular about his tomatoes and he loves Sungold for flavour.  My only complaint about them is that the fruit does tend to split easily if it's left on the plant a bit too long.  This year, the ones I planted outdoors did even better than the greenhouse ones.

Shirl gave me some very tasty cherry plum ones, from seed she had saved so I will grow those next year too.

[peanuts]

Sungold - as so many people have said.  Re problem of splitting, we grow all our tomatoes outdoors, and virtually never water them, except  just to get them established after planting.  Our Sungold crop has been superb, and no split ones until this last week, when we had a couple of days heavy rain, and overnight the ripe ones split.  So the answer for outdoor ones may be not to water, just let the roots go deeper to search for it.

Other varieties:  we do like the big ones for flavour and meaty salads. Coeur de boeuf every time, a big heart-shaped beef tomato, the biggest weighing in at 980gm! Also Delice de Burpée, another big variety. 

We also grew a couple of grafted tomatoes whic produced a huge huge crop, didn't ge blight at all, but  were somehow ordinary for flavour.  Useful though for soups and purée for the freezer.

[Jayb]

Like many I adore Sungold F1 and grow it every year, summer would not be the same without a few plants of these  ;D

One of the stand out cherries for me this year was Medovaya Kaplya, a superbly sweet and very tasty yellow pear shaped tomato, looked as good as it tasted and produced a super crop. This has totally changed my mind about disappointing mealy tasting pear shaped cherries yaaaaaay.

Also for cherries this year, Green Doctor and Green Doctors frosted have firmly established themselves as 'must haves' for next year , they are very good indeed. I love Suncherry Premium F1 and Rosada F1. Also good Tommy Toe (flavour improved during the season) Mexican Honey has been super. I thought Korlik produced an abundant crop of good tasting cherries quite early on. Also super as an early was Ditmarsher, pretty pink cherries in abundance.

Others types that have been super; Pink Boar, Black and Boar Michael Pollan all very good and well worth growing next year. Harvard Square is stunning both to look at and eat. Another stripy I really enjoyed is Guernsey island.

Paul Robeson is a stunning black lovely large fruits with a gorgeous flavour, love growing these. Earl’s Faux, a super pink beefsteak, very tasty and quite a good crop of large sized fruit. A new favourite this year is Grubs Mystery Green, a green when ripe beefsteak, sweet tasting with an outstanding flavour.

[Squash64]

Sungold - as so many people have said.  Re problem of splitting, we grow all our tomatoes outdoors, and virtually never water them, except  just to get them established after planting.  Our Sungold crop has been superb, and no split ones until this last week, when we had a couple of days heavy rain, and overnight the ripe ones split.  So the answer for outdoor ones may be not to water, just let the roots go deeper to search for it.

You're right about not watering, but I hadn't connected it with them splitting or not.  The ones in the greenhouse which were watered often did split, but the ones outside which I never watered didn't.  I mulched them very heavily with straw when I planted them out, gave them a watering and that was it, no more watering at all.

[galina]

Taxi: A bit like Thai Pink Egg but more prolific and kept going longer, pink egg sized fruit.

Deb P

You have a very interesting selection of faves there.  And not many I have heard of yet.  I know what to look out for now :).  One I do know is Taxi.  It is called taxi because the colour is supposed to be the same as the New York taxi cab.  Your taxi are different colour?

I googled a bit to get to the bottom of this.  Seems taxi has fallen by the wayside in popularity somewhat anyway, and I could not find a pink version.  A nice picture in this blog is showing the yellow fruit type I get (I haven't grown them for several years):
http://www.patnsteph.net/weblog/2008/07/taxi-tomato/

[Jayb]

I notice that Sungold keeps cropping up as a favourite.  I haven't tried them so if anyone has any seeds to swap please, I would be interested.  I would also be interested in any beef steak varieties, apart from Marmande which I already have.  In return I could offer Carp Rich, Golden Sunrise and Pomodoro Cuore di Bue.  Please send me a pm if interested.

The only cherry tomato I have grown is Tiny Tim.  I will not be growing it again though.  This is the first year it has produced fruit for me and whilst the flavour is all right, once picked, they start to go squidgy and even if slightly soft, they have an awful taste!  Does anyone know if this is true of all cherry tomatoes or just Tiny Tim?

I'm just about out of Sungold seed myself, but I have got some lovely F6 sungold grow outs which are fairly stable now. One is red the other orange, both very good (IMHO) if you are interested and still looking for some seeds, I'll have a few beafsteak and hearts spare too. Pm me if interested.

I grew Tiny Tim too this year and have to agree not the best tasting tomato, although makes a small and compact plant. No not all cherries are like this, TT seem to lose their eating quality quite rapidly.

[goodlife]

I like my tomatoes on a sweet side...and small..
My all time favourite is Sun Belle..yellow, cherry sized, meaty fruit
Out of cooking sort I like Jersey Devil
Bloody Butcher is nice small salad type...first time for me this year..it was first to fruit and it is still cropping
'Irish' delight and sugar lump..both cherry toms...lovely..
Oh..so many choices..but those are the ones that 'jump' into my mind...

[Deb P]

Taxi: A bit like Thai Pink Egg but more prolific and kept going longer, pink egg sized fruit.

Deb P

You have a very interesting selection of faves there.  And not many I have heard of yet.  I know what to look out for now :).  One I do know is Taxi.  It is called taxi because the colour is supposed to be the same as the New York taxi cab.  Your taxi are different colour?

I googled a bit to get to the bottom of this.  Seems taxi has fallen by the wayside in popularity somewhat anyway, and I could not find a pink version.  A nice picture in this blog is showing the yellow fruit type I get (I haven't grown them for several years):
http://www.patnsteph.net/weblog/2008/07/taxi-tomato/

Interesting...mine are not like that at all! I got the seed in an A4A seed swap, wonder if there has been a mix up!?

[chriscross1966]

I grew a stupid number of varieties this year, and as well as about 20 plants outdoors I had 30-something in a 4.5m cheapy ebay polytunnel...

Favourites in no type order:
Cherries:
Black Cherry: bugger to work out when it's ripe but a lovely balance of sweet and acid...
Garden Pearl. Early to crop, cropped right through, tiny plants are a bit scruffy, nice taste.
Sungold (see everyone elses comments)
Kirschklumpen: Cherry tom taste on big fruit down to it's "nothing but king-fruit" flowering habit . Bug ugly to look at and the plants are almost as bad for growth faults as some of the heirloom beefsteaks...

Standards:
Tigerella and the similar but greener Green Zebra. Will grow the first but not the second again, GZ wasn'yt a heavy cropper for me.
Golden Sunrise.   good yellow standard.

Beefs:
Black Krim. Hard to get other people to eat but once they do they'll want more. Good raw when ripe, good grilled even when underripe. Plants are dragsters though, up quickly, fruit very early for something that big and then they die early in September when  I grow them.... they've finished...
Costoluto Fiorentino: Classic Italian deeply ribbed beefsteak, tastes good too.
Korol Gigantov. Big russian bruiser, my mum's second favourite, good for slicing.
Giant Spanish Yellow: Otherwise unnamed big yellow beef I got from ebay (and pushed into the swaps too). Great flavour, gets to a serious size for a yellow too.

Cooking:
San Marzano 2. Absolute classic italian cooker.
Heinz. picked up in a swap and straight to the top of the charts as pretty much my all-time favourite tomato. I cook a lot with toms and this is pretty much the best I've seen. Massive fruits (1.5-2lb's or so in some cases), almopst sdolid flesh, hardly any seeds, and a flavour when cooked that is very rich. THis strain escaped from the Heinz company breeding program many years ago (thye're all F1's now) and it lives up to the hype of the legend.


Next year I'll be trying to get my hands on Ssome Mortgage Lifter cos I'm tolkd it will give heinz a run for its money and if I can get some, Berkely Tie-Die, purely for the novelty...