Sun Gold F1

AlittleSalt · August 21, 2014

I have been reading, watching a few videos, collecting images, and just basically enjoying looking up many varieties of tomatoes and learning about them. There is a lot of conflicting information from site-to-site, but even that is enjoyable.

One thing that I have found on sites from all over North America, Central America, England, Scotland, Germany, Russia, well basically, everywhere, is that Sun Gold F1 is still all-the-rage.

I have never seen a Sun Gold F1 - much less tasted one. I am going to ask for this variety from WinterSown to check it my/ourselves.

Some of what I have read about this hybrid tomato is:

It is the sweetest tomato available.
Is the most popular tomato in the world today here in 2014.

If you have grown or tasted this variety, your opinions and thoughts would be very insightful and interesting.

luigiwu · August 21, 2014

I think they were sold at Costco last year... little orange nubbins that are sugary sweet. I bring them into work and everyone adores them.

joseph · August 22, 2014

Sungold F1 is a very early tomato in my garden. I don't grow it any more because I don't want to contribute to the companies that make it nor to encourage the way of thinking associated with how and where it is produced and distributed.

Some people love how it tastes, other people find it disgusting. It's a struggle for me to get people to sample it at the farmer's market. It is not as sweet in my garden as in my friend's gardens in warmer climates. As a cherry tomato it's too labor intensive to want to pick, so tends to stay in the field rather than going to market.

drew51 · August 22, 2014

It's very sweet. Easy to eat. Looks cool. Cracks a lot! A very prolific plant. I got over 500 off of one plant. Sun Sugar is close. Jasper another F1 is not as sweet, but man that is my favorite cherry so far. I have not tasted that many. If you like sweet Sun Gold wins.
All the cherries with sweet in the name are very sweet too. Sweet 100, Super Sweet 100, etc. Seems hybrids rule with cherry tomatoes.

August 22, 2014

I grew it three years in a row because it is so popular. I didn't like it. It is sugar sweet. In my garden, the tomatoes never got any larger than tiny berries and were therefore a pain the patoot to harvest. On a good day only 90% of them cracked. On a bad day, they all cracked. I finally gave up on the variety and decided they simply were not worth the effort. I'm sure the people who think they are great are correct, but not in my garden.

I grew a hybrid variety this year named Sweet Quartz which was only 50% as sweet as Sun Gold so it still had some tomato flavor. It was much larger than Sun Gold, highly productive, held up well in the summer heat and is still alive ready to produce in the fall. I never found a single cracked fruit on the vine.

Ted

Cole_Robbie · August 22, 2014

Sun Gold is the only hybrid in my cherry mix I sell at market. I will probably replace it next year. My heirloom/OP cherries produce just as well and taste better or at least as good as Sun Gold, which has a very sweet yet one-dimensional flavor. The fruit are also small, and I think the skins are too thick.

There are not a lot of orange cherries out there. I am going to try Ambrosia Gold and Sungold Select II next year:
http://jandlgardens.com/catalog/inde...hkdfid2u8b8vq6

http://www.rareseeds.com/sungold-select-ii-tomat/

ddsack · August 22, 2014

I don't care for most cherry tomatoes, don't grow hardly any hybrids, and I don't crave sweet tomatoes -- but I love Sungold Hybrid! It has a distinctive unusual acid fruity kick in addition to the sweetness, the combo of which I have never tasted in any other tomato. I will grow it as my cherry of choice every year. I tried it's relative SunSugar Hyb, but that was just plain one dimensionally sweet and so not very appealing to my tastebuds. Sungold may not taste like a tomato, but I don't want it to -- that's what I grow my other big'uns for.

KarenO · August 22, 2014

Never understood all the hype personally. If you like a really sweet gold cherry it's going to taste great to many folks I guess. Not for me though, at least in my garden.
Certainly give it a grow and see for yourself. It is a very popular hybrid cherry

K

AlittleSalt · August 22, 2014

From the replies above, it sounds like the perfect cherry tomato variety to try from WinterSown.

Drew, sweet tomatoes are what my friends and relatives like most. They think that Super Sweet Cherry 100s (SSC 100) are the best tomatoes. Those friends and relatives are 40 an under in age. I personally like tomatoes to all taste different. Sweetness is not a big thing to me. I mean, yes, sweet is cool, but not as pleasurable as a tomato that excites my taste buds all by itself. After all, you can add "a little salt", pepper, sugar, honey or whatever.

Joseph, a farmer's market is something I am hoping to be able to do in the near future. So far, I have not been able to go see one because my wife works weekends and I refuse to drive due to my disease/disability. In fact, I chose not to renew my Drivers License. But, I am getting better, and one day, I will be able to safely get back on the roads.

Until that day, I can learn everything I possibly can about tomatoes and gardening. I'm also curious about why you wrote, " I don't want to contribute to the companies that make it nor to encourage the way of thinking associated with how and where it is produced and distributed." I guess I should add you as a friend here to ask why in private? Not sure how that works?

Luigiwu,
Sharing food and stuff at work... so cool. I miss that so much.

AlittleSalt · August 22, 2014

After reading replies maybe I should choose another cherry variety? I would rather it be an heirloom so I can send seeds to exchange or donate.

joseph · August 22, 2014

Oh my heck. I'd forgot about the splitting issue.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

I'm also curious about why you wrote, " I don't want to contribute to the companies that make it nor to encourage the way of thinking associated with how and where it is produced and distributed."

A detailed answer would take a book, but the short condensed version is that I choose to live locally as a sustenance farmer, and to not buy seeds that are produced in far-away lands by mega-corporations.

zipcode · August 22, 2014

Quite productive, thick skin, nice looking.
In my garden it's not that sweet fortunately (Rosada for example is sweeter). It also has some acidity to it. Taste is not strong.
In my opinion it's best eaten without salt. Salt makes the flavour seem weird, and eating it with food makes it even weirder.

NarnianGarden · August 22, 2014

Growing the SunGold this year for the first time, and I can understand what the hoopla is about. It is quite nice and sweet-ish, but not so special that I would like to grow it every year. The trusses are long and full of fruit, but it's not the only prolific variety - many OP cherries are loaded with fruit, too.
Probably not going to be on my grow-to list for the next season, but I'm thankful I know what the tomato world is talking about

drew51 · August 22, 2014

I myself don't mind giving money to big corporations most are filled with regular people just trying to make a living and feed their kids. I live in Detroit and appreciate the Ford family who offers good paying jobs to average Joes. They are a huge corporation. Most are exactly the same way. Even though a world wide company they are local too! They don't kiss the government's behind either! What I like most about them! Way to go William Clay Ford!

I grow them for others. I like tart fruit and it what I mostly grow
acid peaches, currants, raspberries, blackberries etc. Some sweets too like cherries, blueberries, etc.
I grow my tomatoes for sauce only. The cherry types are for the wife and friends. They love Sun Gold! Next year though I'm going back to Jasper, it's a more balanced (acid-sugar) F1. Super disease resistant too!

ginger2778 · August 22, 2014

Sungold F1 is the only type so far that my garden will never be without. It is really sweet here, but has a really good acid balance, so you get complex flavor. Really productive. I haven't found it to crack much at all for me, but I grow in Earthboxes so the water level is always even. Try it for yourself, how much do you have to lose? And if you don't like it you can trade the seeds.

August 21, 2014	#1
AlittleSalt BANNED FOR LIFE Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 13,333	Sun Gold F1 I have been reading, watching a few videos, collecting images, and just basically enjoying looking up many varieties of tomatoes and learning about them. There is a lot of conflicting information from site-to-site, but even that is enjoyable. One thing that I have found on sites from all over North America, Central America, England, Scotland, Germany, Russia, well basically, everywhere, is that Sun Gold F1 is still all-the-rage. I have never seen a Sun Gold F1 - much less tasted one. I am going to ask for this variety from WinterSown to check it my/ourselves. Some of what I have read about this hybrid tomato is: It is the sweetest tomato available. Is the most popular tomato in the world today here in 2014. If you have grown or tasted this variety, your opinions and thoughts would be very insightful and interesting.

August 22, 2014	#7
ddsack Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Northern Minnesota - zone 3 Posts: 3,231	I don't care for most cherry tomatoes, don't grow hardly any hybrids, and I don't crave sweet tomatoes -- but I love Sungold Hybrid! It has a distinctive unusual acid fruity kick in addition to the sweetness, the combo of which I have never tasted in any other tomato. I will grow it as my cherry of choice every year. I tried it's relative SunSugar Hyb, but that was just plain one dimensionally sweet and so not very appealing to my tastebuds. Sungold may not taste like a tomato, but I don't want it to -- that's what I grow my other big'uns for. __________________ Dee **************

August 22, 2014	#13
NarnianGarden Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Finland, EU Posts: 2,550	Growing the SunGold this year for the first time, and I can understand what the hoopla is about. It is quite nice and sweet-ish, but not so special that I would like to grow it every year. The trusses are long and full of fruit, but it's not the only prolific variety - many OP cherries are loaded with fruit, too. Probably not going to be on my grow-to list for the next season, but I'm thankful I know what the tomato world is talking about Last edited by NarnianGarden; August 22, 2014 at 04:53 AM.

August 22, 2014	#14
drew51 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Sterling Heights, MI Zone 6a/5b Posts: 1,302	I myself don't mind giving money to big corporations most are filled with regular people just trying to make a living and feed their kids. I live in Detroit and appreciate the Ford family who offers good paying jobs to average Joes. They are a huge corporation. Most are exactly the same way. Even though a world wide company they are local too! They don't kiss the government's behind either! What I like most about them! Way to go William Clay Ford! I grow them for others. I like tart fruit and it what I mostly grow acid peaches, currants, raspberries, blackberries etc. Some sweets too like cherries, blueberries, etc. I grow my tomatoes for sauce only. The cherry types are for the wife and friends. They love Sun Gold! Next year though I'm going back to Jasper, it's a more balanced (acid-sugar) F1. Super disease resistant too! Last edited by drew51; August 22, 2014 at 08:18 AM.

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August 21, 2014	#2
luigiwu Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: ny Posts: 1,219	I think they were sold at Costco last year... little orange nubbins that are sugary sweet. I bring them into work and everyone adores them.

August 22, 2014	#3
joseph Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: Cache Valley, N/E of The Great Salt Lake Posts: 1,244	Sungold F1 is a very early tomato in my garden. I don't grow it any more because I don't want to contribute to the companies that make it nor to encourage the way of thinking associated with how and where it is produced and distributed. Some people love how it tastes, other people find it disgusting. It's a struggle for me to get people to sample it at the farmer's market. It is not as sweet in my garden as in my friend's gardens in warmer climates. As a cherry tomato it's too labor intensive to want to pick, so tends to stay in the field rather than going to market.

August 22, 2014	#5
tedln Guest Posts: n/a	I grew it three years in a row because it is so popular. I didn't like it. It is sugar sweet. In my garden, the tomatoes never got any larger than tiny berries and were therefore a pain the patoot to harvest. On a good day only 90% of them cracked. On a bad day, they all cracked. I finally gave up on the variety and decided they simply were not worth the effort. I'm sure the people who think they are great are correct, but not in my garden. I grew a hybrid variety this year named Sweet Quartz which was only 50% as sweet as Sun Gold so it still had some tomato flavor. It was much larger than Sun Gold, highly productive, held up well in the summer heat and is still alive ready to produce in the fall. I never found a single cracked fruit on the vine. Ted

August 22, 2014	#6
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	Sun Gold is the only hybrid in my cherry mix I sell at market. I will probably replace it next year. My heirloom/OP cherries produce just as well and taste better or at least as good as Sun Gold, which has a very sweet yet one-dimensional flavor. The fruit are also small, and I think the skins are too thick. There are not a lot of orange cherries out there. I am going to try Ambrosia Gold and Sungold Select II next year: http://jandlgardens.com/catalog/inde...hkdfid2u8b8vq6 http://www.rareseeds.com/sungold-select-ii-tomat/

August 22, 2014	#8
KarenO Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Vancouver Island Posts: 5,931	Never understood all the hype personally. If you like a really sweet gold cherry it's going to taste great to many folks I guess. Not for me though, at least in my garden. Certainly give it a grow and see for yourself. It is a very popular hybrid cherry K

August 22, 2014	#12
zipcode Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Romania/Germany , z 4-6 Posts: 1,582	Quite productive, thick skin, nice looking. In my garden it's not that sweet fortunately (Rosada for example is sweeter). It also has some acidity to it. Taste is not strong. In my opinion it's best eaten without salt. Salt makes the flavour seem weird, and eating it with food makes it even weirder.

August 22, 2014	#15
ginger2778 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Plantation, Florida zone 10 Posts: 9,283	Sungold F1 is the only type so far that my garden will never be without. It is really sweet here, but has a really good acid balance, so you get complex flavor. Really productive. I haven't found it to crack much at all for me, but I grow in Earthboxes so the water level is always even. Try it for yourself, how much do you have to lose? And if you don't like it you can trade the seeds.