Tomato reviews likes & dislikes 2015 - 2020

[Scarlet]

I grow black Russian and while they do well in the greenhouse they are a bit slow to ripen.
Have never grown black icicle but I am keen to give it a try.

I've got some...I'll send in your Tom seed circle parcel.

[Scarlet]

Heritage varieties would have been a simple cross, obviously grown out by someone in the dim and distant past.

Many of us have grown plants from seeds of supermarket tom (all f1s) and had similar fruits, if I understand things correctly simple selection over years, does eventually produce a stable variety?
Isn't that what Gourmet Genetics are doing with their new breeding lines, producing modern open pollinated varieties?

I have friends who have grown Sungold for years....saved seed every year and do far it's run true.

[toomanytommytoes]

Green Zebra
Vigorous plants produce a good yield of lovely looking tomatoes, but for me the taste is really lacking no matter how ripe. Wouldn't grow again.

Orange Banana
Vigorous plants with a decent yield, but badly hit by blossom end rot in their 20 L pots. Don't taste particularly great raw but are excellent cooked. Would grow again in a bigger pot or in the greenhouse border.

[toomanytommytoes]

Green Zebra
Vigorous plants produce a good yield of lovely looking tomatoes, but for me the taste is really lacking no matter how ripe. Wouldn't grow again.

Orange Banana
Vigorous plants with a decent yield, but badly hit by blossom end rot in their 20 L pots. Don't taste particularly great raw but are excellent cooked. Would grow again in a bigger pot or in the greenhouse border.

Urbikany & Latah
Heavy yielders for their size, need some staking if you want to keep them tidy. Both are of good taste with Urbikany producing the bigger fruit. Grown outside in 20 L pots with the first ripe tomatoes harvested from the Latahs in early July this year. Have happily grown them for a number of years now.

Been trawling through message boards, blogs and seed websites to find good heirloom/open pollinated toms for next year. It's quite staggering how many varieties are out there! A lot of the information seems to be directed towards US growers with longer, hotter summers, so it has been a task to whittle it down to varieties which could do well in our climate. Below are my prospective candidates, your input would be very welcome.

Outdoors
Stupice
Matina/Tamina
Grushovka
Moskvich
Azoychka
Anna Russian

Greenhouse
Galina
Riesentraube
Chadwick Cherry
Jaune Flamme
Druzba
Black Prince
Japanese Black Trifele

[Hillwalker]

Outdoors[/B]
Stupice
Matina/Tamina
Grushovka
Moskvich
Azoychka
Anna Russian

Greenhouse
Galina
Riesentraube
Chadwick Cherry
Jaune Flamme
Druzba
Black Prince
Japanese Black Trifele

I grew Riesentraube outdoors last year, they were nowhere near ripe by the end of the season. The same applies to Black Prince, a large tomato, which was also grown outside this year.

[annie8]

Finally some signs of my san marzano starting to ripen. A few at least. The other 40 are still green!

[Babru]

My first year growing tomatoes and it's been great! I bought a little blowaway from Wilko. Hard to stop it living up to its name with the high winds we've had from time to time over the summer - it's on its second plastic cover and that's in shreds now. I planted three varieties in a grow bag, and have had a fair number of tomatoes from each. If I were to do this again I think two plants would be enough, because they are all tangled up, and my amateurish attempts at removing sideshoots were made rather difficult. The three varieties were:

Totem - a good sized tomato with a fair yield, but pretty tasteless
Gardener's Delight - lots of tasty cherry tomatoes, excellent
Red Alert - larger than GD but smaller than Totem, lots of tomatoes, reasonable flavour

Next year (in my new greenhouse), after research on this thread and a recommendation from Beechgrove Garden, I will be growing: Gardener's Delight, Orange Paruche, Sungold, Shirley. If there seems to be space I might try Balconi Red or Sweet Million.

I am sure this year's success was largely down to the weeks of sunshine rather than any skill of mine, but fingers crossed for a good crop next year!

[kitty12345]

I thought I should update my earlier (unfair) review of Roma tomatoes. I was cross because after all that effort they didn't taste good in a salad but having made jars of pasta sauce I must say they are delicious in a sauce!

[Deano's "Diggin It"]

Been that long since I have been on here forgot where to post stuff!

But harvested the last of Mark's "Summer Cider"

Not a lover of "Beefsteaks" but kept this in view of "Saving Seed"




If you wanna grow a "Beefsteak" grow this one! It is "Awesome"

[Scarlet]

^^^ I think that may be one of MarkPs’s favourite toms!

Welcome back Deano - we’ve missed you!

[annie8]

Can’t believe I’m still getting lots of tomatoes. The san marzano are almost ripe so hoping to finally get making some sauce with them next week.

[Scarlet]

I'm getting loads too...very warm for October though. The day before yesterday I was sat in the beer garden in a t'shirt!! ...Friends over from the USA were amazed at the weather

[toomanytommytoes]

Been trawling through message boards, blogs and seed websites to find good heirloom/open pollinated toms for next year. It's quite staggering how many varieties are out there! A lot of the information seems to be directed towards US growers with longer, hotter summers, so it has been a task to whittle it down to varieties which could do well in our climate. Below are my prospective candidates, your input would be very welcome.

Outdoors
Stupice
Matina/Tamina
Grushovka
Moskvich
Azoychka
Anna Russian

Greenhouse
Galina
Riesentraube
Chadwick Cherry
Jaune Flamme
Druzba
Black Prince
Japanese Black Trifele

As a follow up, here's what I eventually settled on for next year:

Blush, Galina, Chadwick Cherry, Black Cherry, Stupice, Latah, Urbikany, Moskvich, Jaune Flamme, Rose de Berne, Cosmonaut Volkov, Pink Berkeley Tie Dye, Black Prince, Tasmanian Chocolate (Dwarf) and Rosella Purple (Dwarf).

[Scarlet]

Hmm, have you grown black cherry? It is s common black variety but well worth a spot... (IMO )
Ignore that comment!!! I can see it listed now.

[toomanytommytoes]

Hmm, have you grown black cherry? It is s common black variety but well worth a spot... (IMO )
Ignore that comment!!! I can see it listed now.

Yes! Really like its more complex flavour. Not a fan of super sweet cherries like Sungold.