Tomato reviews likes & dislikes 2015 - 2020

[Jungle Jane]

Thanks Ani I was about to put a review here,this is an old thread

[Jungle Jane]

Review of Moskowsi Ultra Skorospelyi - these tomatoes have thicker skins compared with others but the taste is gorgeous & overwhelms you so you don’t notice. Some split with the heavy rain we had for days but still edible,can’t waste any The taste reminded me of tomato soup,it’s a really nice flavour & they’re firm. Tasty cooked & uncooked,I’m growing them again next year they’re one of the best tasting so far this year. I tried growing it as a cordon but then it had sideshoots with flowers on so I let it do it’s own thing in the end. Heavy plants needed an extra bamboo stick for support,branches can snap with weight when you’re not looking -

[Ani]

Most of my tomatoes this year are quite acidic but with good tomato flavour. I like acidity but I would like them more balanced.

Maskotka - larger than average sized cherry, productive, relatively nice flavour (could be sweeter but they aren't tasteless). Better than other tumbling types I've tried so far.

Sungold - this is my first year with sungold. I was afraid that it will be too sweet but mine are more acidic. If I leave them to fully orange, they are intense mix of very sweet and acidic (great contrast). Small fruit, I would say too small. And extremely prone to splitting even if harvested under-ripen, which means that they often need to be eaten sooner than would be optimal (when they are still bit too acidic). I like them, will grow them again, but they are not my ideal tomato.

Black cherry - probably my favourite tomato this year. I think I like it slightly more than sungold. They are sweeter and the taste is more complex. I will grow it again.

Ildi - productive, nice looking fruit, simple sweet taste. They are slightly boring on their own but perfect in mixed salads with more acidic tomatoes. Plants are untidy and hard to support. I have three pplants this year, probably will grow only one next year or I will try some other yellow cherry type.

Red robin - tiny dwarf variety, thrives on neglect, decent fruit. Grows 30 cm up but spreads to sides, foliage is very dense and hiding the fruit, which is often hard to harvest or too close to the ground (prone to slug or wind damage). Also the fruit is thin skinned and splits easily. It would make a nice windowsill or conservatory tomato, it's not that good outside.

Tigerella - nice looking, prolific, ok taste, but nothing special. They don't keep well, they get mushy when fully red. And they are too acidic when orange. The window with ideal texture and ideal taste is very short. I have one plant and maybe I will do one again next year but not more.

Craigella - similar to tigerella but worse texture, and worse looking. I am not impressed by this variety.

Green zebra - disapponting, mushy texture, no taste, the only problems with BER I had this year, hard to tell when ripe. I know it should be a good tomato but somehow doesn't work for me. I have two plants, one in sunny spot (does ok) and second in partially shady spot (this one doesn't produce at all).

I gave some seeds (black cherry, maskotka, tigerella, green zebra) to my grandmother in the Czech Republic and she said they were all sweet. They had much more sun and heat there (maybe even too much this year).

[annie8]

Larger plum tomatoes are a bit slower,my black icicle & orange banana are slow to ripen this year but the plants are huge.

I hadn’t realised they were meant to be so big. Last year I barely got any from the. and the fruit I did get was much smaller. Oh well will try to be patient.

[chillithyme]

I have 4 indigo roses this year and I can’t tell when they are getting ripe too. They are getting a little purple on top but seems to stop there (No change in last 3 weeks).

Any tips?

Hi
Sorry I've only just seen this, I've just been feeling them and having a guess, I've been picking them when they feel a bit soft,I can tell because the not ready ones are hard to touch in comparison.
Not an exact science, I'm kinda winging it

Jungle Jane posted this link to help
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Qqr6Vw50sTY

[KevinM67]

I tried my first 'yellow' tomato at the weekend - WOW !!!

Absolutely gorgeous and very very sweet - loved it.

The seeds were a freebie (from another magazine) - Yellow Delight

The yields from each plant are superb as well. I'll definitely be growing them again next year.

[robbra]

Shouldn't this be made a sticky to replace the 2015 thread?

Mod EDIT - 2015 & 2018 threads merged

[Snoop Puss]

I'm cutting back on varieties next year and will grow fewer plants. So I'll be sticking to our old favourites:
Gardener's Delight and Sungold for cherries
Cuor di Bue, Big Daddy and Pantano Romanesco for the biggies.

[WeeGarden]

I grew this year:
Sungold
Rosella
Latah
Mountain Magic
Hundreds and thousands
Heartbreaker Vita

Will not be doing again:

Latah again - I’m disappointed with the taste and willing to wait for tastier tomatoes later in the season.

Hundreds and thousands too fiddly to bother with.

Heartbreaker - flavour wasn’t good, a bit watery.

Sungold and Rosella again for me next year! Mountain Magic only for the blight resistance.

[Penellype]

I have grown the following this year

Must haves:

Shirley (indoors, greenhouse and outdoors) - utterly reliable decent tasting tomato grown for early tomatoes in the house and maincrop in the greenhouse. Always a bit dodgy outdoors but has done ok in the heat this year.



Balconi red and yellow - dwarf cherry tomatoes grown mainly to add to the early crop of Shirley. Small enough to grow on a windowsill and although a bush, will fruit again after the first flush, especially if potted up into fresh compost and put outside. The yellow variety is rather tasteless, the red one is ok but nothing special.



This is the 2nd crop from this Balconi Yellow.

Sungold - fabulous taste and always the first to ripen outdoors. I let mine grow into a rampant hedge as they produce more fruit that way than when grown as cordons.



(Photo taken into the sun, sorry about the quality)

Ferline - supposedly blight resistant, but isn't really, I first grew this 4 years ago and was astonished to find I prefer the taste to Sungold. Tomatoes are large and trusses need support or they can snap the main stem of the plant. Slightly fussy, needs a warm spot, but worth the trouble.



I pick them as soon as they start turning red. 3 so far this year.

Using up seeds:

Garden Pearl - hanging basket tomato that tends to produce a thick mat of foliage which can then go mouldy underneath. The tomatoes are pinkish red cherry size and taste ok, best when cooked. I'm trying them in 30 litre buckets outdoors this year which is working ok, but I'm not that keen on cherry tomatoes (fiddly to peel).

Crimson Crush - bought last year to try because of blight resistance, their performance was utterly pathetic and I only got about 20 medium sized tomatoes from 3 sickly plants. This year has been completely different. The plants are strong and rampant at the allotment and the tomatoes are huge. They clearly like the heat. Flavour is ok, but nothing special.



This is one of the plants at home, which is nowhere near as strong or productive as at the allotment.

Mountain Magic - bought 2 years ago because of blight resistance. Tomatoes are small and very hard to peel even after soaking in boiling water. Flavour is rather bland. I won't be growing them again, having finished the seeds now.

Roma - bush variety that tends to be rather rampant, grown in my friend's greenhouse for plum tomatoes. I find this variety impossible to stake and once again it has got the better of me. Nice flavour and few seeds so good for cooking and sauces but I won't be growing it again.

Experiments

Oh Happy Days - new blight resistant variety I'm trying at the allotment. These have an identical growth habit to Crimson Crush and are producing similarly huge tomatoes. One of the plants has pulled its stake (not cane) over and had to be re-staked today. Taste is similar to Crimson Crush and I suspect they are related.

Red Alert - bush variety I'm trying at the allotment. Quite big plants for bush tomatoes and plenty of medium sized fruits which are ripening very unevenly. Taste is pleasant without being stunning.

Brandy Boy - beefsteak type I'm trying in my friend's greenhouse, but not impressed. The plant has stopped growing at about 3ft high and has just 4 tomatoes on it, none of which are yet showing any sign of turning red. The tomatoes on Ferline, Crimson Crush and Oh Happy Day, grown outside, are larger. I sowed 2 seeds from a new packet, but only one germinated.

[burnie]

I had quite a change in types grown this year:-
Sungold. I too have had problems with them splitting, I thought from erratic watering when I was away on holiday, been unfairly blaming the neighbor lol. Not my favourite, won't grow them again.
Red Cherry. Disappointing really, won't bother again.
Red Plum. A success both of us like these, will grow again.
Gardeners Delight. Grew these last year and will again next year.
Supersweet 100. Again I grew these last year and will again.
I grew some plants in pots, which are a smaller crop, but are a bit later, so might help with any glut problems, might grow a couple more next year. The ones grown in the "plastic rings" are superior to the ones in the ground without the rings and they were grown next to each other, so I might get a few more.

[Penellype]

A couple more pictures to go with the above post:



Garden Pearl - one of the branches on the left hand plant has split.




The unevenly ripened Red Alert tomatoes.

[lottie dolly]

I tried my first 'yellow' tomato at the weekend - WOW !!!

Absolutely gorgeous and very very sweet - loved it.

The seeds were a freebie (from another magazine) - Yellow Delight

The yields from each plant are superb as well. I'll definitely be growing them again next year.

same here,they are lovely and sweet,a must for next year

[Bumblingbroccoli]

Far away the best Principe so borghese. Bush variety v prolific and juicy.
Also good defiant. Massive and juicy.
Sungold were good but not prolific.
Lemon drop and golden sunrise good this year but terrible last year.
Red pear v nice and mega productive.
Gardeners delight disappointing
Tigerella insipid this year.

[Scarlet]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]82780[/ATTACH]

The unevenly ripened Red Alert tomatoes.

That looks like green back Pen. Usually due to the weather - sun related. I’ve had it on a few toms in the GH this year.