Tomato reviews likes & dislikes 2015 - 2020

[ecudc]

From 2015

Jersey devil : plum for cooking grown in pots in conservatory
Health - 7/10 touch of BER
Yield - 5/10
Taste - 5/10 odd metallic taste
Grow it again? No

Black Krim - red/black beafsteakish grown in pots in conservatory
Health 9/10
Yield 6/10
Taste 6/10 bit floury
grow it again? No

Sungold - orange cherry grown in pots, in greenhouse border and against sunny fence
Health 9/10 although didn't like the soggy end of the greenhouse border this year
Yield - 9/10
Taste 9/10 very sweet almost too sweet for me now

Growing Roma, San manzano and Losetto this year, yet to crop.

Does anyone have any recommendations for outdoor paste tomatoes? Running out of space in the poly and would like to grow more next year.

[snowbunny]

Oooh, this is interesting. I have only had my cherries ripen so far, but here we go so far. Keep in mind I was very late planting them out, and have neglected them terribly, so this shouldn't be any indication of how they could turn out under skilled hands. All grown outside in fairly poor soil in Spain.

Gardener's Delight:
Health - 10/10 no problems at all
Yield - 3/10
Taste - 5/10 rather bland
Grow it again? No

Black Cherry: cherry tomato with darkish skin
Health - 10/10 no problems
Yield - 5/10
Taste - 8/10 sweet with a firm texture. Slightly tough skin, probably due to underwatering
Grow it again? Yes

Roma: plum tomato
Health - 10/10 no problems
Yield - 5/10 only grown to large cherry size so far
Taste - 5/10 rather bland
Grow it again? No

Sun Belle: yellow plum cherry
Health - 10/10
Yield - 5/10
Taste - 10/10 very flavoursome, sweet
Grow it again? Yes

[Snoop Puss]

I'm sure I read that this was a bush! That's what I did last year (I think!) I'Ve got some on the go again so'll train up two main shoots.

I grow Marmandes like dwarf cordons but with rather an impressive structure (made by me this year) to provide additional support for side stems, as they seem to like growing extras. They're doing quite well. Will probably be my first big toms to get eaten this year. In fact, BM, if you're reading this thread, you might find Marmandes would cope well with your horizontal tomato-growing experiment so long as you tie them in quickly, as the stems can get quite thick.

[veggiechicken]

Tomato reviews - Likes and dislikes 2016

2015 reviews at http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...-2015-a-8.html

[veggiechicken]

New thread for 2016 at http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...6-a_90938.html

[maverick451]

Crimson Crush

I nearly didnt grow this variety, it was a last minute impulse buy from the garden centre, I grew it last year from the seedlings that were available and while it tasted great I was a little dissapointed with the vigour, it seemed slower growing and that crops were uneven, one plant would be great, another would be very weak, This year I grew it from seed starting in February, Ive found this year I havent had the uneven vigour problems, its a shorter growing stubbier variety than the most but its my earliest cropper, a heavy cropper and also have a great taste, a gave a few plants to a friend and he was also impressed.

To sum up this will probably be my go to outdoor tomato from now on, I havent had any blight on the any crimson crush

Earliness 10/10
Health and vigour 7/10
Taste 8/10
Will I grow next year - Yes definately

[veggiechicken]

Sweet 'n' Neat Scarlet Improved F1

I don't normally bother with these little "windowsill" tomatoes on the basis that you may as well grow a big plant as a tiddler.
However, having several packets of tiddlers languishing in my seed box, I decided to give them a go - and I'm glad I did!



Lots of fruits on a small plant that can be tucked in front of the normal sized toms!

Earliness 10/10
Health and vigour 9/10
Taste 8/10
Will I grow next year - Yes if I still have seeds. Too expensive to buy at £2.99 for 6 seeds.

Sown 18th March.

[veggiechicken]

Balconi Yellow

Another windowsill tiddler



As with Sweet n Neat above, I had some old seeds and decided to give them a try.
These were not quite so early but that may be because they're in a shadier GH. Still earlier than most other toms .
I grew a row of them in front of some cordon toms so they're a bonus crop



Earliness 8/10
Health and vigour 9/10
Taste 8/10
Will I grow next year - Yes if I still have seeds. Quite expensive at £2.99 for 20 seeds.

Sown 18th March.

[Scarlet]

I'll get some photos up tomorrow ...but VC, how far apart have you got those buckets?. Looks a neat set up!

[veggiechicken]

There are 5 buckets in about 8' of a 10' GH. The far end is full of cabbages

[Penellype]

My results so far are quite interesting:

Balconi Red
Grown indoors on windowsill in 3 litre pot until first flush of fruit is finished, then potted up and put outside for more fruit later.
Earliness 10/10 (110 days from sowing to first fruit eaten)
Health and vigour 8/10
Taste 7/10
Will I grow next year - yes definitely

Balconi Yellow
Grown as for Balconi Red.
Earliness 9/10 (118 days)
Health and vigour 8/10
Taste 7/10
Will I grow next year - yes definitely

Shirley
Grown indoors under lights then on sitting room windowsill or in the greenhouse
Different results, depending on sowing dates and where they were grown.
Sown on 11th January:
Earliness 8/10 (140 days, beaten to it by February sown Balconi Red)
Health and vigour 8/10
Taste 7/10 - a bit watery

Sown on 21st February:
Earliness 9/10 (117 days)
Health and vigour 9/10
Taste 8/10

Sideshoots from the January sowing grown on in the greenhouse:
Earliness - hard to say.
Health and vigour 9/10
Taste 10/10 (Noticably very much better flavour than windowsill plants)
Will I grow next year - yes definitely (all 3 methods)

Sungold
Sown 21 April and grown under lights then outdoors.
Earliness 10/10 (109 days)
Health and vigour 10/10
Flavour 10/10 (just eaten the first of these)
Will I grow next year - YES

The biggest surprise to me was that the shortest time between sowing and ripe fruit was (just) Sungold, although I suspect Balconi sown in April would be faster simply because the plants are about 1/6 the size.

[maverick451]

I don't normally bother with these little "windowsill" tomatoes on the basis that you may as well grow a big plant as a tiddler.
However, having several packets of tiddlers languishing in my seed box, I decided to give them a go - and I'm glad I did!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]67656[/ATTACH]

Lots of fruits on a small plant that can be tucked in front of the normal sized toms!

Earliness 10/10
Health and vigour 9/10
Taste 8/10
Will I grow next year - Yes if I still have seeds. Too expensive to buy at £2.99 for 6 seeds.

Sown 18th March.

Im glad someone tried the improved sweet and neat, I tried the last sweet and neat a few years ago, the plants were absolutely amazing but the taste was horrible, it was bitter and had a horrible texture, it actually made me gag, make give these a go next year.

[Scarlet]

Red Buffalo Horn

Red buffalo horn - seeds from Norfolk grey.


This is one of the last of the tomatoes to ripen in my greenhouse, so needs a long growing season. I've only grown one plant so nothing to compare it too. It's reasonably vigorous, has on average 3 sometimes 4 tomatoes per truss. It's over 6ft tall. The tomatoes are really meaty, just cut into it I think it will go lovely with a glass of wine.
Ive picked 4 today, they are between 5-6and a half ounces each. (185g-average) I think I'll grow this one again.

Health - 8/10
Taste - 8/10
Grow again - yes

[Thelma Sanders]

Black Cherry (cordon) - healthy 10, taste 10 - grow again? Yes (Carries on fruiting 'til Nov in a mild year)

Garden Pearl (basket) - healthy 10, taste 7 - grow again? Yes (not the best taste but always the first to ripen!)

Rambling Red Stripe (basket) - healthy 10, taste 8 - grow again? Maybe

Reisentraube (cordon)- healthy 10, taste 10, - grow again? Yes (Huge trusses of well flavoured cherry toms) a cordon but doesn't grow too tall.

Yellow Peardrop (short bush) - healthy 9, taste 10 - grow again? Yes (lemony flavour)

Cornue des Andes (cordon) - healthy 9, taste 9 (cooked) - grow again? Yes (Huge yield)

Jaune Flamme (cordon) - healthy 10, taste 10, - grow again? Yes

Nectar Rose (cordon) - healthy 9, taste 8 - grow again? maybe (lower yield than others this year)

Roughwood Golden Plum (cordon) - healthy 9, taste still not ripe! grow again? No too late.

Grushovka (bush) - healthy 8, taste 9, grow again? No (grows too big in the greenhouse)

[Scarlet]

Chiapas Wild Tomato

This is an heirloom pea-size currant tomato -originating from Southern Mexico, it's a cordon although I've left mine ramble - it does sprawl!
This variety is said to be resistant to many tomato diseases (earl you/late blight)and although ive left it to its own devices it's really healthy and has loads of little toms and is smothered in flowers. They really are sweet and so not many have made it to the kitchen yet...great for kids. I think this will continue to produce for a long time. Although you would need to pick hundreds to make a pasta sauce so probably best grown for snacking.



Health/Vigour 10/10
Taste 9/10
Grow again- yes