Improving Early Season Flavour

[Mr Tickle]

This year I grew sweet as Linda, joyaux d'idaho, early Belarus, purple potato top, sleeping lady and scotia.
As usual I didn't start getting some good tomato flavour until pretty late in the season.
Is there any technique or fertiliser/additive that anyone can recommend to get a yummy, full tomato taste as soon as possible??
Or maybe early varieties that have early flavour??
Thanks from London, England

[Andrey_BY]

Hi. I have many early tomato varieties with quite good flavour. Just PM me your address.

[PaulF]

I wonder if weather has a lot to do with flavor development. A couple of years back we spent time driving all over England, making sure we tasted tomatoes where ever we were. Most were grown in greenhouses rather than in-ground. Almost none had much flavor. The outdoor grown tomatoes mostly were small, salad style fruits.

Because of the wetter and cooler conditions, maybe more like our Pacific Northwest, those growers can add to Andrey's list of good tasting tomatoes for your weather and growing conditions.

No, the Pacific Northwest is not like England. We have rain on perhaps two or three days in the summer. We get our rain in the winter, when the sun is rarely seen, and no one is trying to grow tomatoes. Broccoli thrives, though.

[carolyn137]

If we're talking great taste and talking about early or midseason or late season varieties, I used to grow a few earlies, just to get some fresh tomatoes,but grew midseason and late season varieties to get good tasting ones.

Carolyn, who when she was in London didn't get any good tasting tomatoes, but there's an island off the coast, I forget the name now, that grew lots of decent tasting ones in glasshouses and sent them to the mainland.

[Mr Tickle]

Originally Posted by Andrey_BY

Hi. I have many early tomato varieties with quite good flavour. Just PM me your address.

Hey Andrey! You are a gentleman! I'm sure your expertise will help out a long way!
Pm sent

[Mr Tickle]

Originally Posted by PaulF

I wonder if weather has a lot to do with flavor development. A couple of years back we spent time driving all over England, making sure we tasted tomatoes where ever we were. Most were grown in greenhouses rather than in-ground. Almost none had much flavor. The outdoor grown tomatoes mostly were small, salad style fruits.

Because of the wetter and cooler conditions, maybe more like our Pacific Northwest, those growers can add to Andrey's list of good tasting tomatoes for your weather and growing conditions.

Hi Paul, glad you managed to get across the pond and hope you enjoyed your holiday!

You're correct in that we mostly grow saladette and cherry types over here but ther is a big move towards op varieties and the big seed companies (T&m) are capitalising on the real food movement. A lot of colleagues at my allotment society have moved on to more obscure tomatoes from further afield.

I was wondering if it was a combination of low temp and low light that made our earlier fruits taste rubbish??

I was thinking to install a small greenhouses heater linked to a thermostat to try and bring the background temps up quicker in the season and see if that made any difference. Figured it'd be worth a try?...

[seaeagle]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

If we're talking great taste and talking about early or midseason or late season varieties, I used to grow a few earlies, just to get some fresh tomatoes,but grew midseason and late season varieties to get good tasting ones.

Carolyn, who when she was in London didn't get any good tasting tomatoes, but there's an island off the coast, I forget the name now, that grew lots of decent tasting ones in glasshouses and sent them to the mainland.

Didn't you say Danko was early and tasty or maybe it was Andrey. Anyway I ordered some Danko along 3 other Russian tomato seeds and a 38 day Zuchinni that is supposed to withstand light frost and cool weather and still produce

[Mr Tickle]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

If we're talking great taste and talking about early or midseason or late season varieties, I used to grow a few earlies, just to get some fresh tomatoes,but grew midseason and late season varieties to get good tasting ones.

Carolyn, who when she was in London didn't get any good tasting tomatoes, but there's an island off the coast, I forget the name now, that grew lots of decent tasting ones in glasshouses and sent them to the mainland.

Hi Carolyn, our tomatoes are about as good as our teeth!!!

The island you are thinking of is the 'Isle of Wight' ( pronounced white) in the solent which is part of the channel, near Portsmouth.
The tomatoes that we buy in our supermarkets are getting better these days but there are still plenty of watery offerings from the cheaper suppliers

Thanks
Mr Tickle

[bower]

IMO there are some varieties that produce their best fruit in cool and damp conditions. Moravsky Div comes to mind, the colder and wetter the year, the tastier they were for us!

[Mr Tickle]

Originally Posted by bower

IMO there are some varieties that produce their best fruit in cool and damp conditions. Moravsky Div comes to mind, the colder and wetter the year, the tastier they were for us!

Have just ordered for next season and will let you all know how they get on.
Any other suggestions??

[PaulF]

Originally Posted by LDiane

No, the Pacific Northwest is not like England. We have rain on perhaps two or three days in the summer. We get our rain in the winter, when the sun is rarely seen, and no one is trying to grow tomatoes. Broccoli thrives, though.

Having grown up in Oregon just west of Portland, I was thinking more of temperatures both daytime and nighttime. Compared to growing season conditions in the mid-west, Pacific Northwest is much cooler day and night which is reminiscent of England. I know about the rainy season and the dry season and agree it doesn't compare. I was not very clear. And it has been a long time since living in God's country and my memory is a little shorter than it used to be.

My dad tried his best to grow tomatoes like he did in Iowa and was frustrated in the attempt. Then you throw in the English rains along with the lower temps and it makes it difficult to grow long season tomatoes.

[Mr Tickle]

Hi Paul, I'm in the south east of England so maybe we are more like the Pacific north west in climate. I have managed to grow long season toms a couple of times but crops are always small. Midseason varieties do well in the greenhouse and my favourite has been rose de bern.
What did you grow in Oregon? Will give them a try
Thanks

[JLJ_]

We're at around 5400 ft in the eastern edge of Wyoming mountains, so climate here isn't at all like that in southeast part of England . . . except, perhaps, that in both areas the snow sometimes falls in liquid form (less common here than there) and the sky is sometimes blue with a shiny round yellow thing in it (more common here than there).

But we do share that many good varieties of tomatoes are grown here only by those who lack the sense to realize that it is impossible to grow good tomatoes in this climate.

One idea that you *might* find helpful is that I've had some success with growing some of the longer season larger tomatoes outside when they're in their second year. That is, starting them mid to late one year, in pots, wintering them inside -- trying to just keep them alive with minimum growth, not trying to make them too happy -- setting the pots outside on warm spring days when they begin (which is probably much earlier there than here), and planting them outside when ground is warm. This has sometimes produced a long season big fruit plant -- Brandywine type, for example -- that has a vigorous and productive summer.

I don't have enough data to have firm, or even semi-jelled, conclusions -- but roughly half the plants I've tried this with have survived the winter and had reasonably productive summers. It *might* be true that potato leaf plants do better with this routine -- though I've had RLs that did fine. It does seem to be true that even a plant that looks pretty discouraged after the winter, as long as it is putting out a little bit of growth, can explode into productive growth when planted out in warm ground.

Something to consider trying, anyway -- if only to compare performance in your area to that of freshly started long season big fruited tomatoes planted out at the same time.

[PaulF]

Originally Posted by Mr Tickle

What did you grow in Oregon? Will give them a try
Thanks

All my father tried to grow were hardware store plants with boy, girl, better and best in the names. That may be the reason he couldn't get it right. I am sure there will be many suggestions for cooler climate varieties from the good folks on this site. There are several members from GB who I hope would chime in to help out. Good luck with your search.