what gives tomatoes flavour

[pigeonseed]

I've never had very tasty home-grown tomatoes. I can't change the British climate, but what else could I do to make them taste richer?

This year I grew carbon (photos were smooth, round, almost black - my carbon are big pink lumpy beefsteak!) and gardener's delight - both chosen for their reputed taste.

But the GD are bland and watery, no depth of flavour, no richness. The carbon are better but still not great.

Should I be feeding them more? singing to them?  :)

[pigeonseed]

[saddad]

Light intensity is meant to be the best factor... have you had many really sunny days?  :-\

[manicscousers]

we grew black krim this year, Ray's the tomato buff and reckons it's the best he's tasted  ;D

[pigeonseed]

Light intensity is meant to be the best factor... have you had many really sunny days?  :-\

I thought this year we were doing ok - we've had a lot of sunshine. But the garden is north facing, so could that have made a difference?

[saddad]

Yes... even on the South Coast... can you not find one south facing bit...  :)

[ajb]

they do need direct sun for a good part of the day (at least 4-5 hours). Also, don't over-water them as too much water leads to weak flavour.  The only feed I've given mine are organic potato/tomato feed granules mixed into the compost.

Being the chilly North I grew early varieties only this year: Legend (really good beef-steak type) and Glacier (small and sweeet/tangy) on the sunniest bit of the patio.

[rosebud]

 I have to say i have grown the tastiest toms, ever this year.
I brought some beefsteak seeds back from Italy, & they are superb.
Lorna, saw them how lovely they looked & tasted divine.  The GD were so very tasty i cannot remember them being that good in previous years, our greenhouse is south facing so it must be all that sun. ;D

[amphibian]

Too much water, in my experience, is the most common cause of bland, mushy/watery and tasteless tomatoes. That and cultivar choice, some varities just aren't good tasters, though this is a subjective thing of course, I like the meaty tomatoes, eaten slightly underripe to impart a complex flavour from the acid hints. Others like a very ripe tomato, sweet and juicy, others sharp acidic toms.

This year tomatoes have been great tasters, especially Japanese Black Trifele, just fantastic.

[tim]

Yes - 'they' say that, especially with Cherry varieties, go easy on water.

[realfood]

The variety is the most important factor, followed by sun and plenty of nutrients.
As usual, my top tasters from the greenhouse are sungold and sun cherry premium.

[pigeonseed]

Although it's a north facing garden, it seems to get a lot of sun. But pehaps just not quite enough.

I don't think it's over-watering, I haven't watered them at all for weeks as we get the odd bit of rain and they seem happy (happy? well you know what I mean!)

maybe I should be more generous with feeding them next year as well.

[amphibian]

I feed my tomatoes very little and get good flavour. I think variety is really the key, above all else.