I love a good tomato but there are so many varieties to choose from!! I'm not sure what to choose.... and I started everything else from seed, so I thought I'd buy these as plants.
What's your favorite type of tomato plant?
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hendi_alex
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 3604
- Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2008 7:58 am
- Location: Central Sand Hills South Carolina
"What is Your favorite type of tomato" My favorites...
I like beefsteaks because they can be cut up into any size you need. I never understood people who want little salad tomatoes over larger tomatoes without considering flavor. Flavor should be number one reason for picking a tomato. Then come practical reasons (do you want a determinant and/or paste for making sauce more efficiently. Are you space limited so that you need high productivity more than the best possible flavor. Are you space limited so that some of the dwarf varieties work best?
Any way, based on flavor here are some of my favorites
Red: Neves Azorean Red
Pink: Marianna's Peace, Pruden's Purple, Anna Russian, Brandywine (Sudduth's strain)
Green when Ripe: Green Giant
Yellow/gold: Earl of Edgecombe
Black: Black Krim, Japanese Black Trifele, Cherokee Purple (but I consider this to be more of a pink)
Bicolor: Lucky Cross
Extra Early, salad size: Stupice, Zarnitza
Cherry: Black cherry, Gardener's Delight = Sugar Lump, Hawaiian Currant
I like beefsteaks because they can be cut up into any size you need. I never understood people who want little salad tomatoes over larger tomatoes without considering flavor. Flavor should be number one reason for picking a tomato. Then come practical reasons (do you want a determinant and/or paste for making sauce more efficiently. Are you space limited so that you need high productivity more than the best possible flavor. Are you space limited so that some of the dwarf varieties work best?
Any way, based on flavor here are some of my favorites
Red: Neves Azorean Red
Pink: Marianna's Peace, Pruden's Purple, Anna Russian, Brandywine (Sudduth's strain)
Green when Ripe: Green Giant
Yellow/gold: Earl of Edgecombe
Black: Black Krim, Japanese Black Trifele, Cherokee Purple (but I consider this to be more of a pink)
Bicolor: Lucky Cross
Extra Early, salad size: Stupice, Zarnitza
Cherry: Black cherry, Gardener's Delight = Sugar Lump, Hawaiian Currant
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hendi_alex
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 3604
- Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2008 7:58 am
- Location: Central Sand Hills South Carolina
Another consideration is to decide your particular taste preference. Tomatoes range in acidity, sweetness, and flavor intensity. Some of the German varieties as well as others are very low acid. Some folks love the low acid tomato, while others don't consider a tomato to have that real tomato flavor unless it is very high in acid. For me a tomato needs to bite of acidity, but that needs to be balanced with a good bit of sweetness in order to rank very high in a taste test.
Once you know the type of tomato: salad, Italian, fresh slicer, etc. and you determine what taste you like, then screening for potential candidates should be pretty easy.
Good luck with the tomato hunt.
BTW, both 'Black Krim' and 'Carbon' and to less extent 'Cherokee chocolate' keep cropping up on superlatives lists or keep getting strong recs from individuals, so IMO make good candidates for the short list of tomatoes to try. I'm don't have an opinion on either of these but am growing 'Black Krim' and 'Cherokee chocolate' this year. Will try 'Carbon' next year.
Once you know the type of tomato: salad, Italian, fresh slicer, etc. and you determine what taste you like, then screening for potential candidates should be pretty easy.
Good luck with the tomato hunt.
BTW, both 'Black Krim' and 'Carbon' and to less extent 'Cherokee chocolate' keep cropping up on superlatives lists or keep getting strong recs from individuals, so IMO make good candidates for the short list of tomatoes to try. I'm don't have an opinion on either of these but am growing 'Black Krim' and 'Cherokee chocolate' this year. Will try 'Carbon' next year.