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Best tasting tomatoes for me to grow?

I’m new to gardening, but I’d like to grow the best tasting tomatoes possible for eating raw in salads and sandwiches.

I would like them to be disease resistant, determinant, and suitable for growing in New Jersey, and I would like them to be ready to harvest within no more than 100 days or so, since it’s already late spring.

(And since it IS late spring already, I don’t think I would need to start them indoors, but please correct me if I’m wrong about that.)

I don’t mind if the plants need to be pruned and/or staked, and I don't mind having to prepare the soil for proper pH, etc. And the plants don’t have to produce giant fruit.

But trying to research online what variety to grow, it seems like making the best selection is a lot more complicated than I thought it would be.

Any suggestions about what variety would be best for me to grow?

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rainbowgardener
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It's a topic that's been discussed a few times around here. Here's a couple threads to look at:

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/ ... es#p417334 (what varieties to grow)

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/ ... es#p396179 (tomato tasting, compare and share)

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/ ... es#p387518 (best tasting raw tomatoes)

You can find more by typing best tasting tomatoes into search box top left OR by scrolling down to Similar Topics at the very bottom of the page (after the ads).

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Gary350
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We love tomatoes, I like to plant 6 different varieties in my garden every year then no matter what the crazy weather does we usually have good tomatoes until frost kills the plants. Cherry tomatoes do better in hot weather than most larger tomatoes. I planted, Big Beef, Beef master, beef steak, jet star, big boy & 1" diameter cherry tomatoes this year. I can tell you what I plant but that may not be a tomato that you think taste good. 40 years ago I planted 6 different types of tomatoes every year for 3 years until I found the flavor we like best, you should probably do the same thing. Celebrity is what you get in grocery stores it has as much flavor as cardboard but some people like those. I tried heirlooms they are all very poor producers and some have strange flavor. I want 500 lbs of tomatoes from 16 plants heirlooms will never do that you be lucky to get 60 lbs of tomatoes from 16 plants. German Johnson is a good Heirloom that tastes a lot like Big Beef but German Johnson will be lucky to produce 10 lbs of tomatoes all summer while Big Beef will produce 50 lbs per plant. If you have a small garden you many want to take advantage of plants that are large producers. You need to experiment and take notes to find tomatoes you like best. We CAN 100 pints & quarts of tomatoes for the kitchen pantry every summer then we eat the rest July to Nov.

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applestar
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So, did you read the reference links rainbowgardener found for you? I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned this before, and like Gary350 just said, no one can tell you which is the best TASTING variety for YOU to grow unless you indicate what kind of tomato flavors you like best.

I prefer ones that start out with somewhat sweet rich flavor that builds in mouthwatering “umami” in the middle, then finishes with lingering tang with some acid but not too sharp acid burning my mouth. So those are the ones I can tell you which ones I have discovered.

But if you indicated preference, I can recommend some that I might have encountered along the way as I (and my family) have eaten our way through varieties of heirloom and open pollinated in pursuit of our favorites.

Some people prefer sweeter tomatoes but not too tangy and no acid at all, some people prefer varieties that I consider lack much flavor but call them “mild” — so I’ve learned to avoid ones described “mild” ...but aI’ve grown them.

Some people prefer rich old fashioned tomato flavor which typically doesn’t have pronounced “sweet” taste at any point — masked in the complexity of flavors.

Some people like sugary sweet which is usually found in cherry tomatoes.

And that’s another thing — what Size? I don’t like stacking tomato slices that are too small in sandwiches because they slide off. My idea of sandwich tomato is big enough to cover the entire bun or slice of bread... or can be smaller for two slices on oval rye bread slices. Do you like cherry tomatoes or prefer wedge cut and do they need to be quarters small enough to pop in mouth or will you just cut into eights? Or is juicy messy tomato that squirt or dribble when you take bites OK? Do you mind skin or do you mostly peel the super ripe ones and only eat thin skinned cherry tomatoes like I do, and spit skin out?

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rainbowgardener
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Note the link labeled tomato tasting, compare and share, takes you to page 6 of a seven page thread. You can browse through the whole thread...

PaulF
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Because "best taste" is so subjective I rarely even get into discussions like this. However, my explanation every once in a while does not hurt. The above answers do a good job of directing you to other threads. My first foray into growing tomatoes forty-five years ago, I asked the same questions but without the aid of forums for a wide range of opinions. Now it is much easier to get a wide range of opinions.

For several years 75 or 80 tomato growing friends got together for a "tomato tasting" party with between 100 and 150 different varieties. We all wrote down our three favorites. Every year there were between 60 and 70 "favorites" with no one variety garnishing more than five votes. And several varieties had five to ten entries from different folks gardens. Most of the time only one or two of the same variety got a vote. There is no accounting for taste.

Since we were growing the same variety within a few miles of each other you would think the flavor would be the same...not so. So, my Kelloggs Breakfast and yours may not be the same flavor for tens of reasons. What I like most definitely would vary from you. Our weather, soil, conditions and method of growing most likely would be different. I only grow heirloom/Open Pollenated varieties where you may opt for hybrids (have not grown one in twenty years). My taste buds may be wacky...and on and on and on...

My suggestion is to read all the threads you can to determine what sounds good for your garden and taste buds. Then experiment to your hearts content (pun intended since I never ate a heart I did not love) content. Grow as many varieties as possible, discard those you consider spitters, grow your favorites the next year and add in new to you varieties. Experiment with sizes, colors, shapes textures, length of season varieties, etc., unless you opt for boring red round hybrids instead of real tomatoes (editorial comment).

Above all, have fun, learn as much as possible from the many really good advise you will get from this site as well as other gardening and tomato forums and let us know what you discover along the way. In no time you too will be an expert. Beware!! Growing and eating tomatoes is addictive...you will soon be hooked.
Last edited by PaulF on Wed May 23, 2018 4:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

imafan26
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I am still experimenting. There are so many cultivars to choose from. I haven't found the best yet. Besides taste preferences. Soil and local conditions can also affect taste. The same cultivar may taste different grown under different conditions and within varieties there may still be some variation since most old varieties are open pollinated and not cloned.



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