Tomato reviews likes & dislikes 2015 - 2020

[Thelma Sanders]

Re: Jaune Flamme
One that Thelma likes - I've grown it too this year and agree it's lovely.

Oh yes, I tried Orange Paruche as a replacement, but find the skins split like crazy - so will be going back to JF next year

[annie8]

Starting to think about what tomatoes I’ll grow next year after a difficult year this year. Am cutting back on the number to leave space for other things and none outside, all GH. So am thinking -

Shirley - good crop, want a bigger sized one, tasty and reliable.

Sungold- always get loads of tomatoes and very tasty. Lots of split ones this year outside but think that was largely due to all the changes in weather.

Green grapes - thanks Scarlet. These are lovely looking with reasonable crop and a very tomato taste - if you know what I mean.

Black icicle - thanks scarlet. like to include a plum tomato and these are tasty and reasonably productive. In a large pot in the GH this year and know that’s not ideal not sure what else I could do though.

Think I’ll not bother with gardeners delight and red cherry (disappointing this year) and Black Russian (tasty but too few), orange banana (blossom end rot) and white zebra ( few tomatoes and not that tasty).

[MarkPelican]

I must admit I've had an awful year this year. So far I've only had 11kg from 35 plants. There are still lots to ripen but I've also go lots of grey mould so the plants are dying. I too am gong to reduce the number of plants (and cultivars)

I think it will be: Summer Cider (always the best); Jaune Flamme; Darby Stripe; Britain's Breakfast(?) - they've done well this year and are easier to grow than most of the Italian Plum varieties; Oleron Yellow (still growing those out); Blush Tiger; Green Grapes; and then some determinate varieties (and some from the incoming seed swap).

[toomanytommytoes]

My tentative list for next year, I am constantly changing my mind...

Greenhouse:

Rose de Berne
Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye
Moskovich
Jaune Flamme
Ambrosia Red
Black Cherry
Rosella

Also the two Dwarf Tomato Project varieties Rosella Purple and Tasmanian Chocolate if there's enough space (there never is ).

Outdoors, determinates only:

Sophie's Choice
Danko
Latah
Grushovka
Sasha's Altai (if I can find seeds)

[robbra]

Mine have just started to ripen, many are dropping off, the recent heavy rain has caused some to split and made the fruit a bit watery but... I'll do it all over again next year. All the varieties this year were new to me and that old fashioned taste is good in many, one in particular is First in Field.
Some new ones to try next year include "Peach Bloom Sutton", looking forward to this one.
Rob

[chillithyme]

These are some of the tomatoes that i've enjoyed this year

Yellow Pear- Reliable every year, multiple trusses, more trusses than sun gold, nice for salads
Sungold- sweet and productive, tomatoes split very easily, I may miss these next year because of the splitting, it happens every year
Outdoor Girl- Good looking tomatoes, lots of heavy trusses, but I also found big variations in size
Costaluto Fiorentina- Some were very acidic and sharp tasting, almost lemony, delicious for cooking with, and others were less so (all of my tomatoe varieties were generally more acidic than I expected)
Red Pear Beefsteak- Heavy crop, mushy, good for sauces
Gardeners Delight- lots of heavy trusses, sharp tasting
This year I found a lot of the tomatoes to be acidic/sharp tasting in general. I'm not sure why.

[FromYorkshiretoBucks]

Yellow Pear - were nice and sweet, but the yield wasn’t great.

Marmande (picked up a plant at a GC for 50p) - wasn’t too bad, but they were a bit mushy for me so I threw them in a sauce.

Black Russian - generally sweet when left to ripen, good haul.

Too be honest, all were pleasant but I wouldn’t regrow any in a rush.

I’ve just bought my varieties for next year;

SAN Marzano
Beefmaster
Sweet million
Maskotka(trailing)

[Geordie]

This year I found a lot of the tomatoes to be acidic/sharp tasting in general. I'm not sure why.

I thought this was an interesting point and offer a couple of pointers that might help, although I am sure somebody could offer an example that contradicts each one!
Flavour is a balance of acidity and sugar, we all know that some tomatoes taste sweet, while other taste acidic. The ones that taste the most acidic, or sour, have higher level of acids combined with low level of sugars. A tomato high in sugars and low in acids has a sweet taste. If a tomato is low in both acids and sugars, it has a bland taste. The preferred flavour for most people results from high levels of acids combined with high level of sugars to balance the taste.
So........ Size of fruit Cherry and grape tomatoes reach higher sugar concentrations that full-size tomatoes, so they taste sweeter. Research the variety but am assuming this is more about random acidity than variety specific? Foliage, a lot of leaves can capture a lot of sunlight, so a plant with dense, healthy foliage can convert more sunlight into sugars and other flavourful components, for that same reason space plants out. Make sure organic material is added to the growing ‘pot’ rather than just compost - big ‘pots’ mean less watering, less watering helps as dryer soil will concentrate the flavour.
Might help?

[Mark_Riga]

'Te audire non possum. Musa sapientum fixa est in aure' what does it mean? Google thinks you have banana in your ear?

[burnie]

To assist with easier use of the forum some of the longer threads are being closed and a new one started, this site will be archived as it holds lots of useful information for everyone, please see the new thread to post your tomato likes and dislikes. Thanks you