Best toms?

[jimbojetset]

i watched Raymond Blanc do a tasting on the telly so I'm growing a couple he recommended;

Black Japanese Trifele - came out top for taste
Yellow Brandywine - second
Marmande - third
Sweet Million - top cherry
Black Krim - didn't fair well but giving it a go

All very well but am sure they will grow differently in different settings

a 'terroir' if you are feeling pretentious!

Also trying;
Tigerella
Garden Pearl
Tumbling Tom
St Pierre
Basinga
Sub Arctic Plenty

Exactly where they will fit is anyone's guess!

[jimbojetset]

also forgot to mention, you might want to try something a bit 'safe' and easy to grow for your first time!
gardener's delight and moneymaker are winners in that case

[Davdandy]

What a great response,thanks guys.

The moneymaker,gardeners delight and sungold seem the obvious choice.I remember my dad grew the moneymaker many years ago and enjoyed them so may try these three.

When i first saw the sheer amount of toms available and the names i thought i was reading from the list of the horses about to run the grand national.

[hamsterqueen]

I have tried many types but always have a few plants of Gardeners delight and sungold, both are really good croppers and are forgiving if you neglect them.

I tried Black Russian last year and got 1 measly tomato and that had blossom end rot!

[Davdandy]

Today i was given a small bag of Gardeners delight in a small sealed growbag by 151,you just cut the top open,fill with the compost and sow and water and put it on my window ledge.

I have started now so no turning back eh.

Now to get that damn greenhouse ordered.

[RobintheBobin]

I'm a Seed Addict so in my teeny tiny garden I'm nurturing:

Beam's Yellow Pear
Green Zebra
Cherokee Purple
Roma
Vanessa
Tigerella
Ananas Noire

And scrounging a Tumbling Tom from my sis

BYP was absolutely amazing last year; it is quite a thug and was fruiting well into November!!! Tastes lovely and also looks the part.

RtB
x

[RedThorn]

Good luck and happy growing lol. Toms are a very personal thing ... everyone has different tastes and likes different toms in my opinion.

[Iamhanuman]

gotta love em

[Storming Norman]

Hi Dave,

My tom list this year is:

Beefy Types
Marmande - new to me but grown on many a recommendation here
Costoluto Fiorentino - very tasty, not that prolific, odd plants do not grow large for some reason but Italian toms can be wonderful when they grow well
Standard size
Black Krim - new to me but on a good recommendation
Tigrella - pretty as they are stripey but also a good flavour
Cherry Types I love cherries and these are over half of my crop each year. Friends also appreciate gifts of any surplus!
Gardeners Delight - really tasty and reliable [old fashioned taste]
Sungold - too sweet for some, but I love them
Black Cherry - my absolute favourite, I cannot recommend them highly enough, if you PM me with your address I will send you a seed or two [they are expensive so it won't be many].

Next year I am planning to add Sungella to this list as I got some seeds cheap and they should be a good variety.

I used to grown Shirley [easier to buy] - which is quite tasty and very reliable, and Moneymaker, which is not a patch on the varieties I grow now, but is completely reliable. I wonder if you need to pay fortunes buying your toms when you could easily grow from seed now if you are quick. Perhaps you can find a friend or colleague who has too many plants to give you some to try - I always have surplus and am supplying 2 of my friends with all their tom plants this year.

I put half my toms in the greenhouse and half outside against walls [in ample sized containers]. It's amazing how well the outdoor types can do. They can taste different to the same ones grown indoors, so you might want to try this comparison, unless you have blight problems with your patch.

I find it is easy to get carried away but since tom seeds last for years if properly stored growing one or two of a number of varieties is a worthwhile exercise.

Personally I can recommend popping in a few seeds of wild rocket in the same tub as your toms when they go out [not too many though]. This means you will have some lettuce to eat with the toms when they are ready and if you leave the pots the rocket will pop up again next spring for lovely early salads/pasta dishes - it's really prolific this year as well due to the mild spring.

If you are new to toms you might want to be cautious about growing plum toms [not all of them are worthwhile] and the basket toms all seem to ripen at the same time producing a major glut, which is frustrating.

Enjoy.

Ann

[gojiberry]

Keeping it simple with tried and tested old favourites :- Alicante, moneymaker and gardeners delight. Am also doing a few tumbling tom in baskets.

[HayleyB]

I grew Marmande last year and loved them, big and beefy, very tasty the way I like them. So gone mad on them this year (about 30 plants). Along with.....
Yellow Perfection
Striped Stuffer
Garden Pearl
Yellow Big Boy

[rob the roller]

Choice of tomato should depend on what you want to do with them.

If you want to pick and eat (the best way to make use of limited space) then Sungold, Sweet Million, and Gardener's Delight will always score. They are all cherry (GD is slightly larger than the other 2) and give a small explosion of sweetness when you bite into them.

For cooking, Ailsa Craig and Alicante, or one of the Italian types.

For slicing and including in salads, Alicante again, or if you like large thick slices for sandwiches and hamburgers, one of the Marmande varieties.

I hope you have success with your bought plants. I have in the past purchased young plants with no end of fancy names. Problem is that until the flowering stage you can't be sure of even the general type, and you won't know the variety until you actually eat them. I have had many disappointments with bought plants (usually bought because the weather has been so awful I have put off planting until too late) which turn out to be anything but the variety on the label. Best plan is to grow your own and sell/swap/give away any surplus.

[susiewoosie]

All I will add to this is whatever tomato you grow, its gonna taste a whole lot better then anything you can buy from the supermarket.

[sewer rat]

My own personal favourite standard variety is Golden Sunrise, a yellow tom, which has quite a sharp taste - not to everyone's liking but I love 'em.
Black Russian is quite simply an amazing cherry type - the fruits literally explode in your mouth and fill it with juice.

[Davdandy]

Fantastic response from you guys,thanks.

I have now,a gardeners delight seeds in a mini growbag,and yesterday i bought some moneymakers seeds and sungold plant.

I still don't have my greenhouse yet so will probably put them on the window ledge for now but realise that they will need to be moved once they start to grow.

I`m like a kid in a sweetshop.