I know this is going to cause some divisions, but here goes.
I have been given quite a few different varieties of tomatoes, but only have room to sow a few. I know I could sow a few of each, but would rather grow more of the best. I'm interested in taste rather than yield, disease resistance etc..
Please could you mark the following varieties out of 10 for taste
They will be grown outside.
Tumbling Tom
Alicante
Garden Pearl
Sungold
Gardeners Delight
Ailsa Craig
Super Marmande
Red Alert
Sweet Million
Golden Sunrise
Thanks
As the saying goes, one mans meat is another mans poison.
I would like to sing the virtues of Red Alert. It did well for me growing out doors, reasonable crop too. Yet the season is everything.
My Mum goes for Alicante and Tumbler ever time.
Clifford
Bawtry, Doncaster, South Yorkshire
Of those I've grown Alicante, Sungold and Gardeners Dekight -and I keep growing them. I've tried tumbling Tom in the past, it was OK but not enough to buy another packet and I'm trying Sweet Millions this year.
I've grown sweet million, money maker, gardeners' delight, sunbelle and ace.
I like gardeners' delight - they are flavoursome and reliable.
I was pleasantly surprised by sunbelle - very sweet. Would definitely grow every year.
Ace - wasn't impressed, very bland and pulpy (but maybe I didn't treat it properly or something)
Money maker - quite ordinary but pleasant flavour. The plants are really reliable.
Sweet million - very sweet but I found it a bit too sweet and not very refreshing.
I also tasted sungold from my local PYO. They are really nice but wouldn't grow them myself, I prefer open pollinated varieties.
I'm growing a lot of varieties this year thanks to kind people on A4A.
Can't wait to compare their tastes. ;D
Greatpalm, I think Cliff has hit it on the head.
Whatever you prefer is the best variety for you.
I grow lots of plum toms, San Marzano and good ol' Roma, all for cooking with. For eating raw I enjoy Alicante and one I got into last year and will do again, "Black Krim", a beefsteak. After years of giving them one more go, I don't do bush varieties any more, only cordons; it's a preference thing.
I also enjoy the odd cherry tom - I think last year's were Garden Pearl - as well, so I grow a few of them (but mainly for Mrs Project, who takes them to work with the salad leaves for lunch).
The answer is actually this:- try all the varieties that take your fancy and then in a few years settle on the three or four varieties that taste best to you and grow best in your soil. :D
Pearls of Wisdom!
If you have kids go with Gardeners Delight - nice and tasty for my kids giving them a bag of these was like giving them a bag of sweets.
I'm going for G delight, Money maker and a big beef variety (can't remember the name) this year. but would like to try a couple of others but have been told I can't spend any more on seeds ??? ??? ???
If anyone one has a spare golden variety and black variety seed or two going spare I'd be gratefull.
Glow
Gardeners Delight- 8 out of 10 A good old favourite wiht great taste and versatility, I've always grown it and always will!
the others- don't know, sorry! I going to experiment this year with tumbling varieties!
Last year I had great success with black krim and red pear. Yellow pear was less prolific, but very tasty. Constutino fiorento (?) was v tasty indeed for a beefstake, and clementine ( a tumbling mini yellow tom) was gorgeous! Great white beefsteak toms are tasty enough, but I didn't have a lot of luck in terms of yield. Sungold did well and was reliably tasty...
This year I am growing:
Eva purple ball
Jersey red devil (paste)
jelly bean (for my son!)
black krim
red pear
yellow pear
black cherry
siberian red
hill billy
pineapple
orange strawberry
purple calabash
gartenperle
Riesentraube
snow white cherry
japanese triefle
russian plum lemon
black pineaple (anannas noir)
That's all that I can remember at the moment - at the last count I have 37 different packets of seeds to go in ...
I am planning on keeping records re yield, taste etc, and I'll post here later in the year with the results.
Hi Greatpalm
I live in London and grew tomatoes for the first time last year, sowed gardeners delight indoors then into grow bags in the garden best tasting toms ever trying something different this year but will still have a few gardeners delight there so good . 8)
phil - these are all outdoors??
some of them will be - those I can't fit in my jury rigged tomato tent - I have been given an old frame tent frame, and am going to cover the sides in plastic and leave the roof open...
Last year, I used plack fabric under the plants to heat the soil, and a plastic sheeting screen to keep the wind off; I managed to grow around 110 tom plants, and harvested around 1 bucket every 5 days from july to early october, when I was hit with potato blight.
Even in Hereford, that's B amazing!! How many do you feed?
We only have 3 here - Oh, & a few 'next door', so only grow about 24 plants. Couldn't cope with more!
Quote from: greatpalm on March 30, 2006, 20:41:40
Tumbling Tom
Alicante
Garden Pearl
Sungold
Gardeners Delight
Ailsa Craig
Super Marmande
From your list I have grown those above.
Tumber: Grown this for years and will continue to do so, good crop with nice flavour, nice in salads or for drying. Grow under cover and outside.
Alicante: Grown under cover with heavy yield but not that take with flavour. Good for cooking and froze well.
Garden Pearl: Grew 2 years ago, not again. Yield was good but poor flavour and thick skins
Sungold: Grew for the first time last year and again this year. Outside. Good crop and great flavour but first plants to suffer blight.
Gardeners Delight: Grow year after year as reliable good flavour tom.
Ailsa Craig: Not grown for a few years as it was un remarkable.
Super Marmande: Huge crop of meaty toms that taste very well, nice sliced, dried or cooked with, growing again this year.
But with so many things iit is horses for courses, what one person likes another will dislike.
HTH
Jerry
Gardeners' Delight keeps up in the polls - but do you grow the American strain?
"SO much the best".
Red alert ! 8 out of 10
Just like eating sweeties,oh has volunteered my services to grow them for a fellow plotter with 40 years
more experience than me, may have to leave country! mr P i shall look out for PYO
signs on way to the Bunch of Carrots !
Quote from: tim on March 31, 2006, 11:45:56
Even in Hereford, that's B amazing!! How many do you feed?
We only have 3 here - Oh, & a few 'next door', so only grow about 24 plants. Couldn't cope with more!
Tim, there's just the three of us and my son, Tom, was only 2. The real problem that we had with him was stopping him eating them - as soon as he learned where the toms were kept in the fridge, he used to dash in there and grab some! He was eating around 15+ cherry toms/day.
All the "black toms" (absolutely huge yields and great taste, although not se useful in sandwiches as v. juicy) were used in cooking. We made huge amounts of chuthey and I was eating 20+ per day too... We had to double bag the carriers coming from the allotment, as otherwise the handles would pull off.
As you may have guessed, we like tomatoes!
Some of the ones from the list are new for me this year, but since last year I also have acquired a second allotment and a new 12" greenhouse to start them in, rather than borowing a shelf in my fathers'.
I think that the other thread http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/joomla/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,57/topic,18237.0 (http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/joomla/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,57/topic,18237.0)
sums up my attitude to growing tomatoes. As far as I am concerned, you can't grow too many varieties. I expect that in a few years I will have settled down to a list of a few dozen favouritles, but at the moment, I'm going to grow as many as I can, as often as I can!
Golden Sunrise are the best tomato I have ever tasted - really sweet and fruity. They are yellow too so add interest that way.
The best tasting tomato in my point of vieuw is purple calabash,almost sweet,little bit honey involved.Great colour,ashame it isnot a great cropper.
Wonderful, Phil, when they get stuck into them!!
tumbler tom and gardeners delight for reliable raw eating....roma for cooking......i cant wait till tomato time!
kitty
Nor can I!!!! ;D
I'll add to the vote for Gardener's Delight, grew them and Marmande last year, this year will see:
GD
Ailsa Craig
Alicante
Sungold
All will be outside bar the Sungold, OK then I may put one of each in the GH, just to be sure... ;)
i grow all mine outside-i think the slower they grow the tastier they are!
i do the same with sweet peppers too-but i bring those into the cold conservatory in about november....we had peppers off very ragged plants well past christmas-lovely -but rather weird ,to have something so...summery..in the middle of winter!
kitty
Thanks all
Looks like gardener's delight and sungold for the cordons and tumbling tom for the bush. Will also give golden sunrise a go and super marmande as a beefstake
Doesn't answer greatpalm's question, but my bit under 'those great things called veg' has some pertinence in the maze of choice?