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? :)
Light intensity is meant to be the best factor... have you had many really sunny days? :-\
we grew black krim this year, Ray's the tomato buff and reckons it's the best he's tasted ;D
Quote from: saddad on August 31, 2009, 22:03:14
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?
Yes... even on the South Coast... can you not find one south facing bit... :)
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.
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
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.
Yes - 'they' say that, especially with Cherry varieties, go easy on water.
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.
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.
I feed my tomatoes very little and get good flavour. I think variety is really the key, above all else.