Umamin Tomato-- Burpee

[WaltRoos]

I would like any info you folks have on the Umamin Tomato from Burpee or wherever.

https://www.burpee.com/vegetables/to...rod099665.html

I planted 5 seeds ( sort of expensive and only available from Burpee ? ) . As always in a catalog, seems like a great Hybrid tomato. Of my 5 seeds only 2 germinated, and one was a runt and refuses to grow to more than a mutant seedling. Planted with all my other seeds which had over 80% average germination rates. OK, no real problem as the one plant which is normal is now large enough to root a sucker or two. Although next year I will need to plant the rest of the pack to be sure to get a/some seedlings.
I admit I did have several other varieties which gave somewhat poor germination results. I would really like to know if this Tomato Plant goes by any other name and who "Bred" it, and anything about it not covered by Burpee.

Thanks

walt

[peebee]

From the name alone it sounds like a Japanese hybrid but the name it has currently is probably a made up one. How would one go about finding out what the original tomato is?

[NarnianGarden]

Hmmm, it seems someone is making money of the fifth main taste .. I don't understand who would want a umami-flavored tomato..? Sweets, sours, bitters and even salty ones make sense.. But I guess that breeders have the need to keep on pushing the limits in order to come up w/ something new and spectacular.

[carolyn137]

I tried Googling it with no luck b/c every time I entered the correct word for the variety it came up with the spelling of the taste items that many know about.

I don't think it's a Japanese variety at all, knowing Burpee as I do and knowing George Ball as I do. Until a few years ago they had Petoseed construct varieties for them and then Burpee named them.

There was a huge outcry when they named one TyeDye,after Brad Gates ones with the same name, and many folks sent them em after em to protest that one.

But a few years ago they started their own breeding team in PA where they are located.

So to what degree this one might have come from Petoseed vs,the local Burpee breeder(S),I don't know.

I hope most of you know that Burpee bought Shepherd seeds out of VT,so now there are two catalogs with pretty much the same listing , and oh my, the names that they gave to the tomatoes would,well,should not surprise you,

And I suppose that most of you didn't know that George Ball had to file for banckruptcy, got it restructured,but for several years the catalog and online were just ridiculous.

All to say it sure didn't get me excited about it when I went to the Burpee site and took a look,but that's just me.

On a positive note Burpee was THE place to buy seeds from, for the homegrower,in the WW II era and a few years beyond when many were planting what were called Victory Gardens.

A neighbor at the time had kept all his catalogs from back then and I know that they are around here somewhere,I mean everything is around here somewhere,I just don't know where.

Carolyn

[Starlight]

I am probably wrong, but have a feeling they named the tomato after umamin. I had found this site talking about umamin. Maybe Carolyn or somebody else knows what umamin provider glutamic acid is.

I wonder if this tomato has a high level of umamin in it and figured they would name it after it.

http://www.umamiinfo.com/2011/03/the...vegetables.php

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Starlight

I am probably wrong, but have a feeling they named the tomato after umamin. I had found this site talking about umamin. Maybe Carolyn or somebody else knows what umamin provider glutamic acid is.

I wonder if this tomato has a high level of umamin in it and figured they would name it after it.

http://www.umamiinfo.com/2011/03/the...vegetables.php

Please see my first sentence in post #4 where I mentioned the same, but I didn't link to the Google search there that I had done.

Yes, I'm pretty darn sure they did name it rather unconventially to ramp up interest.

Carolyn, and more interesting to me is that taste of that is determined by the unique tastebuds that each person has and not that many do have them, as I remember,but haven't fetched a link to confirm.

[WaltRoos]

Originally Posted by WaltRoos

I would like any info you folks have on the Umamin Tomato from Burpee or wherever.

https://www.burpee.com/vegetables/to...rod099665.html

I planted 5 seeds ( sort of expensive and only available from Burpee ? ) . As always in a catalog, seems like a great Hybrid tomato. Of my 5 seeds only 2 germinated, and one was a runt and refuses to grow to more than a mutant seedling. Planted with all my other seeds which had over 80% average germination rates. OK, no real problem as the one plant which is normal is now large enough to root a sucker or two. Although next year I will need to plant the rest of the pack to be sure to get a/some seedlings.
I admit I did have several other varieties which gave somewhat poor germination results. I would really like to know if this Tomato Plant goes by any other name and who "Bred" it, and anything about it not covered by Burpee.

Thanks

walt

Thanks for all the replies, and sorry I didn't thank you folks earlier. I Forgot. As the season wears on I'll try real hard to come back to this thread to pass on what I can about this Tomato. The Runt seedling is finally starting to grow out, but I have 4 babies growing (suckers) in the seedling stage which I prefer to plant. I'm losing a few tomatoes to blossom end rot, 2 from the Umamin near the top. It's a big plant just shy of the Early Girl next to it. Also with a bit of BER. Good size green tomatoes, I'll do a few photos soon to show what it grows like. It's in a 5 gal double bucket and gets water every 2-3 days, which in the last couple of weeks is not enough. That may be the reason for my BER. Funny though when the water runs out in the bottom bucket, the plants wilt, but my moisture meters say the potting mix still has maximum moisture. I'm thinking that the plants are getting spoiled by the easy water from the bottom and don't bother to work the water in the mix. So they go on strike and wilt a bit.

Looks like I'll just have to wait a couple of weeks to do a Taste Test.

walt

[gorbelly]

Originally Posted by NarnianGarden

I don't understand who would want a umami-flavored tomato..?

I would. Sounds good. I'm just a bit skeptical that the tomato is actually more umami. Walt, please update us when you get a chance to taste them!

[nicollas]

In a french catalog i've seen reference to a hybrid with umami taste, rhianna. At 1€/seed i've didnt check the fact

[zipcode]

Originally Posted by WaltRoos

Thanks for all the replies, and sorry I didn't thank you folks earlier. I Forgot. As the season wears on I'll try real hard to come back to this thread to pass on what I can about this Tomato. The Runt seedling is finally starting to grow out, but I have 4 babies growing (suckers) in the seedling stage which I prefer to plant. I'm losing a few tomatoes to blossom end rot, 2 from the Umamin near the top. It's a big plant just shy of the Early Girl next to it. Also with a bit of BER. Good size green tomatoes, I'll do a few photos soon to show what it grows like. It's in a 5 gal double bucket and gets water every 2-3 days, which in the last couple of weeks is not enough. That may be the reason for my BER. Funny though when the water runs out in the bottom bucket, the plants wilt, but my moisture meters say the potting mix still has maximum moisture. I'm thinking that the plants are getting spoiled by the easy water from the bottom and don't bother to work the water in the mix. So they go on strike and wilt a bit.

Looks like I'll just have to wait a couple of weeks to do a Taste Test.

walt

Wilting in pots = ber, no way around it. I think your mix is too 'loose', it doesn't hold enough water. Once the pots get hot in the afternoon sun for example, the water sucking capabilities of the plants goes down, and they can still wilt even with ok moisture, you simply need more.

As for umami, the japanese say that tomato is generally 'rich in umami'. For example Tomatoberry is marketed as even more rich in umami. I find the taste of tomatoberry to be good, balanced, a bit on the sweet side but not that much, and the flavour profile is not the usual cherry tomato, or generally one that is found in older sorts, but is not unique, it tastes very close to most of the modern hybrid grape tomatoes, from NL and wherever, they have their distinct profile, probably they all share same taste gene, maybe one that has screened very positively in taste trials.

[WaltRoos]

Originally Posted by gorbelly

I would. Sounds good. I'm just a bit skeptical that the tomato is actually more umami. Walt, please update us when you get a chance to taste them!

Yea, I'm looking forward to a Taste of these. Quote from Burpee "with bold, smoky, savory notes" I's the "smoky" I am interested in : ))

Mean while, here are a couple of photos of my Umamin in the double 5 gal. buckets. ( middle of photo)

walt

PS The white spots are not Whiteflies, thank goodness, but two sprays that did not mix well.
I was hit by Early blight and some kind of Wilt. The Wilt quickly killed 3 plants. All seems to be under control now.

[NarnianGarden]

Originally Posted by zipcode

As for umami, the japanese say that tomato is generally 'rich in umami'. For example Tomatoberry is marketed as even more rich in umami. I find the taste of tomatoberry to be good, balanced, a bit on the sweet side but not that much, and the flavour profile is not the usual cherry tomato, or generally one that is found in older sorts, but is not unique, it tastes very close to most of the modern hybrid grape tomatoes, from NL and wherever, they have their distinct profile, probably they all share same taste gene, maybe one that has screened very positively in taste trials.

Interesting about Tomatoberry. I have admired the pictures, but never was tempted, since the comments (here and elsewhere) mentioned it as nothing extraordinary, just very usual-tasting. (nothing wrong with that - it's just that beautiful looks alone aren't enough for me to buy something)

[WaltRoos]

Sorry to say, no good or especially bad news to report. I really never got a good taste test in before the plant had to be pulled due to Early Blight ( I Think). I have another plant coming along which I grew from a sucker and it has some nice size green tomatoes on it, which I'm hoping they will get ripe before something kills the plant.

I have a bunch of fall harvest tomato plants going which were all started from suckers ( so easy) and some of them are doing much better than their spring parents.

I really hope to have a real taste test to report for these Umamin tomatoes for this year. Bear with me please. Or is that Beer with me, either way have a great Harvest,

walt

The Cloudy day Tomatoes I grew for the first time this year have been Great. They don't split, have a nice smooth medium size, taste good and, so far, are disease free. From Burpee.

Huge Problem with White flies and tomatoes splitting this year, but not the Cloudy day. No Splitting. I am also growing the Cloudy Day for fall harvest from suckers. Suppose to be very resistant to Blights. And good for cooler weather.

[Scooty]

Originally Posted by zipcode

As for umami, the japanese say that tomato is generally 'rich in umami'. For example Tomatoberry is marketed as even more rich in umami. I find the taste of tomatoberry to be good, balanced, a bit on the sweet side but not that much, and the flavour profile is not the usual cherry tomato, or generally one that is found in older sorts, but is not unique, it tastes very close to most of the modern hybrid grape tomatoes, from NL and wherever, they have their distinct profile, probably they all share same taste gene, maybe one that has screened very positively in taste trials.

Yeah, but Japan also has a very limited domestic market for tomatoes. Heirlooms as we know them in the states are nearly nonexistent over there. So comparing Tomatoberry to be more umami than Momotaro? Maybe, sure. More than say a Carbon? No.

If I had the patience, I'd put a few tomatoes trialed this under under an L-glutamate assay. Of all those with a very savory flavor, Wild Fred, Carbon and (Ron's) Carbon Copy would be high on my list. Some people are much more sensitive to glutamate than others, in the same way some people are more sensitive to sugar or acid levels. Not everyone is going to have the same taste preference or taste intensity.

Having said that, I have yet to find any commercial hybrid with a better umami taste than the best of heirlooms. Even the sweetest of commercial hybrids don't compare with the sweetest of heirlooms. Productivity? Hybrids usually win though.