Sun Orange and Sun Green

[Barb_FL]

Just checked out the SunGarnet; looks like a really big SunChocola (which I love).

Thanks - I need to check out there other listings, but I did see they carried some of the large Japanese tomatoes which I bought from the Kitazawa which also have pricey shipping but spends it all on a Flat rate priority box so they didn't make anything on it either.

Last year RGlew and I wanted those SunGrapes and no one in North America sold them. Richard went to great lengths getting them and now this year Osborne is selling them.

Plus we heard the grape ones weren't the best, but they ended up being great.

[RJGlew]

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

You forgot you are growing SunGrape.

I didn't have room for Sungrape along the patio so it could not be part of the munchable test (I have to leave the patio to get to it). With that said, it is a very good tasting tomato and I would definitely recommend it. The 3rd set of flowers was huge, hundreds of flowers/buds. Unfortunately our weather here frosted before any of those from the 3rd brach ripened. 1st and 2nd flower brachs were much smaller.

[RJGlew]

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

Just checked out the SunGarnet; looks like a really big SunChocola (which I love).

I tested an order with Sungarnet in the shopping cart and it seems that Territorial no longer ships to Canada. They did a few years ago (when I was looking to buy Sungreen), but I recall the shipping they wanted was really high.

[Barb_FL]

Here's a picture from last April 2020 of SunGarnet vs SunChocola, SunOrange vs SunCitron and SunDoice. SunGarnet, SunCitron and SunDoice were new Tokita releases in late 2019 /early 2020.

Tomatoes are: On Left (9 o'clock) are 3 SunChocola, followed by 2 SunGarnet, 2 SunOrange and 2 SunCitron. The grape shaped tomato is SunDoice.

SunGarnet is available from Territorial Seeds. I don't think it is available anywhere else in the US.

SunOrange, SunCitron, and most other Sun Series are available from Osborne Seeds.

Other vendors have a smattering of Tokita Sun Series with many having SunGold.

Unfortunately, SunDoice is not available in the US.

The 2nd photo is what the SunSeries tomatoes look like mixed in a carton.

[natural]

Wow. Didn't realize that Sungarnet are larger than Sunchocola. Are they as productive?

How did you like SunCitron compared to SunLemon? I grew SunLemon this year and was not impressed. The only tomato in my greenhouse to get edema. Was spindly the entire season.

Bill

[Barb_FL]

Originally Posted by natural

Wow. Didn't realize that Sungarnet are larger than Sunchocola. Are they as productive?

How did you like SunCitron compared to SunLemon? I grew SunLemon this year and was not impressed. The only tomato in my greenhouse to get edema. Was spindly the entire season.

Bill

SunGarnets are equally productive as SunChocola. Maybe RJGlew will chime in; we did a lot of these Tokita purchases jointly. He was interested in SG because of it's lower DTM than SunChocola. He has a short season being from Calgary.

My SunLemon plants have always been robust; tomatoes were fine. SunCitron has a much more unique taste than SunLemon. My SunCitron plants were started much later b/c seeds weren't available during the first part of my season. They got powdery mildew but kept on producing a lot and later grew out of it. They had great morning sun so the PM was a surprise. I typically have so much wind where I live that I rarely get any fungal diseases.

Did you get your SunLemon seeds from Osborne?

The first 2 pictures are the Sun Garnets (2 plants grown in an Earthbox). One is a closeup.

The third picture is SunCitron - It is the Earthbox on the left.

The last picture is SunDoice - unfortunately we can't get it in the US; but probably the most productive and perfect of any plant I've ever grown.

[natural]

Yes. I purchased SunLemon from Osborne. Mine also had powdery mildew in addition to Edema. I also grew SunChocola, SunGreen, SunCherry SunOrange and SunPeach. None of the others had powdery mildew. I'll keep on the watch for SunDoice. I really liked SunOrange. I couldn't decide which I preferred, SunOrange or Toronjina.

[Barb_FL]

Originally Posted by natural

Yes. I purchased SunLemon from Osborne. Mine also had powdery mildew in addition to Edema. I also grew SunChocola, SunGreen, SunCherry SunOrange and SunPeach. None of the others had powdery mildew. I'll keep on the watch for SunDoice. I really liked SunOrange. I couldn't decide which I preferred, SunOrange or Toronjina.

Last season I grew the same Sun Series as you, the ones pictured above along with Sun Grape, Golden Cherry (another SunGold type that also doesn't split), TomatoBerry.

Probably SunOrange is my favorite. SunPeach when it is picked at the perfect time is dynamite.

I thought SunGreen was surprising good once I figured out when to pick it. Super Productive but much later than the others. This coming season, I'm going with the newer 4029 release (Johnny's and Parkseed were the only ones that had it when I purchased the seeds). The newer release has shorter DTM and I think is smaller. My SunGreens from last season were large.

Thanks for the tip on Toronjina - I never heard of it before. Off to research.


RE: Toronjina - did you find the skin thick? This is one of the descriptions I found: "Finally an organic rival for the beloved Sungold F1! A medium-sized orange cherry with slightly thicker skin than Sungold F1. Perfect for high tunnels but tends to crack in the field if not harvested regularly".

One of the things I love about the Tokita is the thin skin on all their tomatoes.

[RJGlew]

I am in Zone 3a with a high elevation (3,428′), hence very cool nights and a short season - our first frost is schedule for tonight... This summer in late July I was not sure I was even going to get any fruit since it had been so cold, but we were saved by a month of really warm weather through August and actually managed a good crop. Here is what I found this year with the very special Tokita cherries I grew.

1. Golden Cherry F1 - much like Sun Gold but bigger fruit and it is a bit sweeter. For the best taste let 6 fruit ripen on a brach before beginning to harvest any. Seeds from Vesey's.
2. Suncherry Pure F1 - is a really good red cherry from Osborne, but perhaps not their best overall red. I need to grow it side by side with the other Tokita Suncherries and Nectar F1 (Park). It is a dark red colour.
3. Suncitron F1 - a really fabulous new offering (Osborne). Lighter yellow coloured round fruit, bigger than SunLemon, and with a much fruitier taste. Blows away Esterina F1 for flavour - Esterina tastes sweet, but watery in comparison.
4. Sundolce F1 - Oh my, what a great tomato this one turned out to be. A lovely grape shape, and sweet, sweet, sweet. And the biggest volume of fruit on any of the cherries I grew, on a huge, strong plant. This one is super impressive in every manner. Everyone who sampled these really liked them. Did I mention sweet? lol.
5. Sungarnet F1 - the biggest surprise of the season for me (Territorial). I wanted to try them but really only hoped it might be good. And boy did it deliver - great rich taste - this was consistently one of the favourites of my neighbours and I really enjoyed it too.
6. Sungold F1 - same old - reliable, and delicious. (seeds from Renee's)
7. Sungrape F1 - Did not do as well for me this year as last (T&M). Unfortunately it had to go up against the really great new kids and so it did not fare that well.
8. Sungreen 4029 F1 - another "oh my" variety for me this year (Park Seeds). 4029 is the newest Sungreen and due to its smaller size ripens earlier than the other ones I have grown (improved & 3014). It had very poor fruit set in our cold spring weather but it really picked up in the warm conditions. The fruit is very sweet, but don't let it over-ripen since it gets soft. Even after growing it for a few years I still find it hard to identify perfectly ripe fruit - crisp & sweet.
9. Sunlemon F1 - is a very robust plant with a big fruit payload (Osborne). I like the flavour, but would certainly suggest that SunCitron is more `fruity.'
10. Sunorange F1 - is a really great tomato too (Osborne). At one point Tokita was contemplating introducing it as "Improved SunGold," but that did not happen. For me it is basically the same as SunGold, but the first fruit are always earlier by at least a week, and they are a bit bigger than SG in mid season. It is so dry here that Sungold does not crack, but I understand SO is pretty crack resistant in wetter climates.
11. Sunpeach F1 - This one is as early as SunOrange, and produces very beautiful fruit on strong plants. For me certainly not the `best' tasting Tokita, but for some reason I always gravitate to it when I am snacking in the garden. Based on what Barb said perhaps I am picking it too soon.

I won't attempt to rank them, but the stars for me this year were SunDolce, SunCitron and SunGarnet.

Next year I'll do a grow off between Suncherry Extra Sweet F1 FT (S&S), Suncherry Pure (TSX-103) (Osborne), Suncherry RB F1 FT (S&S) and Nectar F1 (Park). I'm also hoping I can find some of the Tokita Sun Zebra series since they look really great.

[RJGlew]

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

Here's a picture from last April 2020 of SunGarnet vs SunChocola, SunOrange vs SunCitron and SunDoice. SunGarnet, SunCitron and SunDoice were new Tokita releases in late 2019 /early 2020.

Those are beautiful pictures - thank you for sharing. My fruit looked quite similar except my SunCitron were consistently bigger than SunOrange, and my SunGarnet seem to be a bit smaller than yours. I didn't grow SunChocola this year, and I'm not sure I will next since I enjoyed the SunGarnet so much. It is a great large cherry.

Hoping your fall season goes well and I'll look out for your updates.

rg

[natural]

Barb,

I grew Sungreen Improved from Osborne. I thought it was the same as 4029, but maybe not. It was still large and very difficult to tell when ripe. The biggest issue for me is the short 'flavor window'. I would NEVER AGAIN grow these for restaurant sales. If I waited for them to ripen (not overripe) enough to have the sweet flavor, then they would still split after picking if they had recently received water.
If I pick them one day too early then the flavor is not there at all. It's pretty amazing how quickly it changes. I don't want the hassle to need to 'train' my chefs to work with this one variety.

I grew Toronjina in my greenhouse. It did not have thick skin. I thought it was perfect. Not too thick and not thin enough to cause splitting. The flavor seemed to improve over the course of the season whereas SunOrange remained consistent over the season. Both were equally productive for me. I grew 6 plants of each in the same bed.

[RJGlew]

Originally Posted by natural

I grew Sungreen Improved from Osborne. I thought it was the same as 4029, but maybe not.

There are currently 3 Tokita SunGreens available which I am aware of - a) Improved (typically just called Sungreen by sellers), b) 3014 & c) 4029. The 4029 fruit is 10g smaller than the other 2 so it ripens earlier. Tokita suggests it does well in cold climates, but I did not see that this past summer. Varieties are shown on page 9 in the Tokita catalog: http://anyflip.com/gvze/dtxx/basic

[natural]

Originally Posted by RJGlew

There are currently 3 Tokita SunGreens available which I am aware of - a) Improved (typically just called Sungreen by sellers), b) 3014 & c) 4029. The 4029 fruit is 10g smaller than the other 2 so it ripens earlier. Tokita suggests it does well in cold climates, but I did not see that this past summer. Varieties are shown on page 9 in the Tokita catalog: http://anyflip.com/gvze/dtxx/basic

Thanks for the clarification!

Bill