You've got the look, but have you got the touch?

[TheDens]

...or the taste, in this case. In cruising through catalogues and galleries, a few varieties have caught my eye just for sheer beauty. Obviously, though, I don't want to grow a gorgeous fruit that tastes like a donkey's butt*, so I'm taking an informal little survey. Yes, I know taste is subjective, flavor varies from garden to garden, blah blah blah, but let's face it, there are some varieties that are widely loved (Brandywine, for example) and some that are the butt of many a tomatophile joke (like Yellow Pear).
So, how do y'all like these?

Berkeley Tie Dye
Purple Calabash
Costoluto Genovese
Isis Candy
Mortgage Lifter Bicolor Strain
Pineapple
Burracker's Favorite

Feel free to point out if any of these are consistantly problematic to grow, overly sensitive to heat and/or humidity (I'm in Georgia), or anything else you found noteworthy about whichever variety you may have experience with.

Denna

*Not that I would know anything about that sort of thing. Really.

[carolyn137]

Berkeley Tie Dye, haven't grown it

Purple Calabash, one of my major spit outs along with Sandpoint and Noir des Cosebeauf, but those who like really STRONG tastes might like them

Costoluto Genovese , same as all the other Costolutos, as in not much praise from me me. The word costoluto just means ribbed and the various ones are named from the area or city closest to them, such as Genovese from Genoa and Fiorentino from Florence, etc. If it's a paste you feel you must have grow Heidi, altho most folks I know use any great tasting variety for sauces, etc.


Isis Candy, bred by Joe Bratka, not one of my fave cherries but many like it.


Mortgage Lifter Bicolor Strain, just another gold/red bicolor of which over 100 different varieties are known and most of them are about the same, IMO.

Pineapple, another gold/red bicolor, cracks badly for me.

Burracker's Favorite, another gold/red bicolor, nothing that different from the others, for me

There are a few gold/red bicolors that I do think perform better for me and those are Big Rainbow, Marizol Gold and a new one, Virginia Sweets.

In general I think the bicolors are the most variable varieties to grow b'c variety A grown this year will be sweet and lucious and the same variety grown the next year will be mealy and lousy, as many have experienced. In other words, they are very much influenced by weather.

In addition, the flesh is soft, so when you get concentric splitting, which is common with almost all of them, rot can set in quite quickly. And shelf life is short b'c of that soft flesh.

But they are pretty.

Denna, pretty please put up a list with some varieties that I really do like b'c I feel like a "stinker" not liking almost all that you list.

[COgarden]

I've only grown two from your list, both last season. Costoluto Genovese was a very attractive tomato but the taste was lame and the texture was a bit mealy. Pineapple was beautiful, juicy, and completely tasteless. Only one season growing them both so I can't give any absolutes, but neither was good enough to ever get a second chance. I love a good looking tomato but I love a good tasting one even more!

Kurt

[landarc]

Costoluto genovese was a beatiful tomato with mediocre flavor for me, it was quite large for me also. My sister had more typical size fruit, also quite nice looking and they tasted very good.

Pineapple was a total bust for me last year. The cracking was terrible for me also, so, I do not suspect that I will grow it again.

[TheDens]

No worries, Carolyn, that's why I asked. Who wants to grow a tomato they won't want to eat?
For the record, the varieties I'm growing this year I chose purely because a large number of people seemed to rave about the flavor. In the end, that's the main thing, isn't it?

(In case you're curious, right now I'm growing Cherokee Purple, Sungold, Aunt Ruby's German Green, Silvery Fir Tree, and Brandywine [Sudduth strain]). There were a few others I had on my list that I either decided I didn't have room for, or couldn't find in time, but I already plan to include next year (Marianna's Peace, Mexico Midget, Green Giant, Earl's Faux).

Denna

[angelique]

Hi Denna,

Of those on your list, I have only grown:

Costoluto Genovese
Isis Candy

I hated them both. CG was dry, small and tasteless. Isis candy was blah. It wasn't bicolored...Okay maybe slightly. I was told that with hot weather the color blends into a not so pretty pinkish...This was my experience.

I have tried Purple Calabash from a local organic food store. I really like this tomato. It's quite yummy and juicy. DH also really liked it.

I hope this helps.

Cheers,

Angelique

[Jonesey1]

I like purple calabash. my family asked me to grow it again this year so it is a winner here. I thought it was a juicy , tasty tomato. I wouldn't leave it on the vine to long, gets mushy.

[coronabarb]

C. G. was a yuck in my garden. I yanked the plant.

I tasted Berkeley Tie Dye at the NORCATT last summer and thought it was very good.

[Mantis]

Might be a bit off topic but has anyone grown a Costoluto anything that isn't bland and tasteless???
I have only grown two from memory and they both gave me heavily ribbed smallish fruit. Unremarkable in all respects.
Just my 2c. I will stay clear of them in future.
Too many big pink things to try

[landarc]

A couple of years ago I grew some called Costoluto Catanese that were actually pretty good in the taste department. They were small, ribbed (duh) and prolific. I ran out of seeds and have not seen them listed anywhere else since.

[TomatoDon]

I'm a newbie, and tried to stay away from the exotic and unusual varieties this year. I tried to pick the most favored varieties that I see mentioned most here.

JJ was too generous, and I owe him a steak dinner.

Carolyn's book helped on selection. But I know I couldn't have planted 50 varieties and liked them all. But I am doing quite a few that I've never tried before, and most I never even heard of, but they all had a consistently high rating among the best tasters here with the most experienced. There's about 25 that come up over and over again. From this I picked. I also tend to stay away from the cherries and paste types, all but the very highest ratings. I just like the good slicers.

I'll bet, if we took a poll, we would have no more than 100 varieties, as was the number in Carolyn's book, but I'll bet all 100 aren't suited for my taste and climate (or anyones).

This Heirloom stuff can be sorta overwhelming at first because there are so many, and so many people with different ideas on them. I think I have now finally limited my list to far less than I first thougth. I'll see what suits me best. Haven't planted a Big Boy yet! <s>

Don