Ambrosia vs. Sungold

rsg2001 · July 25, 2012

I just tasted my first Ambrosia! This is from Carolyn's 2012 seed offer,and as she described it, it was bred by Lee Goodwin, OP Sungold type. Craig and Carolyn both got gold fruits; Lee had red fruits, and so Carolyn was not sure what would come out of it.

As you'll see in the attached photo of Ambrosia and Sungold, the Ambrosia (at least from the 1 plant that is harvesting so far) has dark orange-reddish fruit. The one I tasted was quite good. Where Sungold is intensely fruity/sweet, the Ambrosia was intensely fruity/tangy.It is going to be a saver!

**nctomatoman** · July 25, 2012

I got grew both red and gold this year. I found both to have good flavor - red one would rate a 7.5, orange one the same or a bit better, compared to annual 9 for Sungold. But a really good orange cherry.

Main issue is that both were very susceptible to Fusarium wilt - my front row had Blush, Tiger Tom, Ambrosia orange, four Sungold, Ambrosia red, Sungold Select II (which ended up red)....first to go down was Ambrosia Orange, followed by Ambrosia Red, then Tiger Tom to Septoria. Still thriving are all of the rest.

rsg2001 · July 25, 2012

Craig, could you tell from my picture if the Ambrosia is the orange or the red? I saw it as a deep orange, but sometimes people call that "red" (lol).
So far, the 2 Ambrosia plants I have look OK, other than some not-unusual bottom leave yellowing. It's not as prolific as Sungold which is also my favorite. So I'll hope that they hold out long enough to give me a decent harvest.

I have had 2 plants go down to what I believe is fusarium. The first is a tomato called Raspberry, that I planted from saved seeds from 2005. I have two planted in one planter and oddly, one got sick but the other one still is healthy. I'm sure that the second one will go down though.

The second one to go down is Black. I did get two beautiful tomatoes out of it. I have not pulled the plant but have trimmed it down because I see new growth on the bottom. Black is in my ground garden which is a bit scary. However, everything else around it looks OK.

**nctomatoman** · July 25, 2012

Yup - that's red Ambrosia you have there. The orange one is exactly the same color as Sungold.

Fusarium is such a bummer...but slightly less of a bummer than Bacterial Wilt or Tomato Spotted Wilt! At least the plant hangs on long enough for a partial harvest, typically.

July 25, 2012	#2
nctomatoman Tomatoville® Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Hendersonville, NC zone 7 Posts: 10,385	I got grew both red and gold this year. I found both to have good flavor - red one would rate a 7.5, orange one the same or a bit better, compared to annual 9 for Sungold. But a really good orange cherry. Main issue is that both were very susceptible to Fusarium wilt - my front row had Blush, Tiger Tom, Ambrosia orange, four Sungold, Ambrosia red, Sungold Select II (which ended up red)....first to go down was Ambrosia Orange, followed by Ambrosia Red, then Tiger Tom to Septoria. Still thriving are all of the rest. __________________ Craig

July 25, 2012	#4
nctomatoman Tomatoville® Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Hendersonville, NC zone 7 Posts: 10,385	Yup - that's red Ambrosia you have there. The orange one is exactly the same color as Sungold. Fusarium is such a bummer...but slightly less of a bummer than Bacterial Wilt or Tomato Spotted Wilt! At least the plant hangs on long enough for a partial harvest, typically. __________________ Craig

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July 25, 2012	#3
rsg2001 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: New York Zone 6 Posts: 479	Craig, could you tell from my picture if the Ambrosia is the orange or the red? I saw it as a deep orange, but sometimes people call that "red" (lol). So far, the 2 Ambrosia plants I have look OK, other than some not-unusual bottom leave yellowing. It's not as prolific as Sungold which is also my favorite. So I'll hope that they hold out long enough to give me a decent harvest. I have had 2 plants go down to what I believe is fusarium. The first is a tomato called Raspberry, that I planted from saved seeds from 2005. I have two planted in one planter and oddly, one got sick but the other one still is healthy. I'm sure that the second one will go down though. The second one to go down is Black. I did get two beautiful tomatoes out of it. I have not pulled the plant but have trimmed it down because I see new growth on the bottom. Black is in my ground garden which is a bit scary. However, everything else around it looks OK.