Tomato variety review

Well tomato season is over for this year so looking back at what worked and what did not. Here is what was planted:
  • Tomato Ananas Noire Or Black Pineapple - Was neither sweet or acidic but it could be the weather that affected taste. Will give it one more shot next year as it is very pretty on a plate.
  • Tomato Big Rainbow - Pretty but not tasty. Very low production rate - I got 2 fruit from the plant.
  • Tomato Black From Tula - Tasty but small fruit. Will give it another try.
  • Tomato Black Giant  - no clue as it didn't produce anything. Will try again next year.
  • Tomato Black Krim - Always good and this year was good for it too - very tasty, medium set fruit but not heavy producer.
  • Tomato Caspian Pink Heirloom - didn't produce so will plant it again next year to see if it works.
  • Tomato Cherokee Purple - hands down top tasting tomato but wish it would produce more of them.
  • Tomato Chocolate Stripes  - didn't survive. Will try again next year.
  • Tomato Grandma Oliver's Green - only 1 tomato produced but it was very tasty. Will try it again.
  • Tomato Green Zebra Heirloom - interesting and different in visual and taste. Will plant 1 next year.
  • Tomato Hillbilly Heirloom - not worth it neither good tasting or a good producer.
  • Tomato Marmande  - did not produce.
  • Tomato Mr Stripey Heirloom - will plant 1 more as it makes a colorful sandwich or a salad. Not too great on taste. Very low producer.
  • Tomato Orange Fleshed Purple Smudge - Did not produce.
  • Tomato Pink Brandywine - Good tasting but not a heavy producer. I think I'll stick to Red or Black instead.
  • Tomato Prudens Purple Heirloom  - did not survive.
  • Tomato Purple Calabash - small very ribbed fruit, very tough skin but tasty inside. Not sure if weather made it tough and small. Not planting again.
  • Tomato Red Brandywine Organic - Definitely good flavor and will plant again next year.
  • Tomato Red Mortgage Lifter - Not impressed with the yield. Neither large or productive but a good meaty slicing tomatoes. Once again weather might have played the role.
  • Tomato Red Zebra Heirloom - didn't survive.
  • Tomato San Marzano Lungo - good producer for sauce. Won't recommend for eating fresh.
  • Tomato Sarah Black  - didn't survive, will try again.
  • Tomato Super Italian Paste Heirloom - good producer for sauce. Won't recommend for eating fresh.
  • Tomato Sweet Million Hybrid (Cherry) - surprisingly did not produce that many tomatoes. Very tiny but also very sweet. I'll give it a try next year again.
  • Tomato True Black Brandywine - Winner in my book. Superb taste and holds well but does not produce many fruits.
  • Tomato Yellow Pear (Cherry) - overly productive variety and taste pretty good. Limit to 1 next year as it gives too much for my taste.
  • Tomato Aunt Ruby German Green - Good tasting and interesting variety. Only 2 fruits produced but will give it another try.
  • Tomato Jersey Giant - didn't survive. Will try again next year.
  • Tomato Genovese - small fruit, hard skin but nice pretty tomato with good flavor. Very ribbed. Still debating if i should plant them again.
  • Tomato Old Italian - didn't produce.
  • Tomato Subartic - didn't produce
Added later in May after main planting:
  • Black Cherry - wonderful cherry variety with abundant amount of fruit. Limit to 1 next year - did not get blight.
  • Indigo Rose cherry tomato - don't waste your time. Very long to get ripe, not good on taste, doesn't hold well at all, tends to rot very quickly.
  • Black Prince - wonderful tasting tomato, produces small but fragrant and tasty fruit. Heavy producer - did not get blight.
  • German Striped - very pretty and sweet tomato but doesn't hold well and is not a heavy producer.
  • Black Striped Zebra - very visually striking and tasty tomato. Definitely planting again. Did not get blight.
  • Black Truffle - very nice tasting tomato, small size but not heavy producer. Not sure yet if I'll replant it.
  • Rutger - very prolific medium globes - good for slices or sauces or salads. One that did not get disease this year and still producing alot of green tomatoes.
Next year I will add several more varieties to try - Gaint Oxheart, Carol Chyko's Big Paste, Paul Robeson, Azoychka, Amana Orange,  Anna Russian, Bull's Heart, Carmello, Giant Pink Belgium and one hybrid - Big Mama Hybrid to see how it compares to other Paste varieties.

18 comments:

  1. This was a tough year to judge tomatoes on for us. Bad July-hot and DRY.
    It's interesting that you didn't like the Hillbilly--I was going to try it next year, but now I don't think so.
    Brandywines have always been my favorite-I've not heard of the black. Mine barely produced any this year.
    NEXT YEAR.............
    :)

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    1. I think this year all taste of the tomato was off so not sure if HIllbilly would be better on a good year. For me it wasn't good. Maybe it works better for you. If you want I can send you seeds for them and for Black Brandywine.

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  2. Wow! That is a lot of different varieties of tomatoes you planted! Great job on keeping track too. I need to strive at keeping better records!!! Next year!!! lol Nancy

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  3. It was a rough year for tomato judging... but! That's an even better indicator that the ones that did well will do well even on a bad year. I haven't yet met a more classic sweet cherry tomato flavor than Sweet Million, but I've never had them produce as poorly as they did this year either. Can I recommend a few for you to try? Oregon Spring has been my very favorite extra early tomato, it has great flavor too. And I love the size, taste and meatiness of Cuore di Bue (which means Bull's Heart, so may be same as the one you listed to try next year). It is pouch shaped, large, and a main season producer but wow! I love them.

    Thanks for the great reviews!

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    1. I will have to research Oregon Spring and see if I can try it next year. And yes, the Cuore di Bue is the Bull's Heart that I've added already. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

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  4. That's a great list of tomato varieties! Lots of ones I don't know too. I thought I was doing well to grow 10 different varieties, but my list looks paltry in comparison with your collection.

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    1. Mark - once I know which ones I really like I'll downsize to those varieties only. For now I'm still taking chances and trying thigs out. Some worked and some definitely did not.

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  5. Looks to me like tomatoes were a bit off for everyone this year. You speak highly of a number of the "blacks"; I will have to look into Black Prince and the Black Striped Zebra. Any variety that resists blight would be on my list!

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    1. I guess it all depends on the taste buds. Some people like yellow and white variety because they're sweet and don't have accidity, but I like darks because they are acidic and some have a bit of a smocky rich and complex taste to it. if you have tried Cherokee Purple and like the taste then you'll love Black Prince and Zebra.

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  6. HOLY COW! That's a lot of tomatoes you planted. How large is your garden?

    I'm going to study your results and see what to try next year!

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    1. We have two garden areas - one small and one large that was build this spring. small has 5 beds - two 4x8, two 4x10 and one 4x12. Large garden has two long beds 4x21 and four beds that are L shaped - 15 feet long one side and 10 feet another - 4 feet wide. Many veggies were planted outside of the gardens like leeks, squash, some tomatoes, beets and all herbs. Fencing was used as supports for beans and peas and squashes. You can see layout here: http://simplegardenmadeeasy.blogspot.com/2012/04/just-in-time-for-easter.html

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  7. Thanks for the review. You must have worked very hard to keep track of all those varieties. I've kept track too, but everything seems so mixed up right now, I'm not sure I'll be able to unravel the mess! Great job!

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    1. I had a big mess of mixed 36 plants from the original planting but the second set was all labeled. Once they started to produce it was easy to identify as they're very distinctive for the most part.

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  8. Great job! This year wasn't great for tomatoes here either. I was really disappointed in the San marzarans. The Amish paste did good for such a crappy year and I will grow them again. I grew a grape tomato that tried to overtake my garden. Headed lots of fruit but I didn't care for the taste. I'll have to look the name up. I like a red meaty low acid red tomatoes for slicing. Doesn't have to be big. The 4th of july's were close

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    1. Thanks Lisa, I actually liked my SM after i fixed the BER issue. They're still ripening on the dead vines. I think you'll like Rutger and Mortgage Lifter as they're both tend to be low on acid and more like a typical slicing tomato.

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