I Need a Red Cherry Tomato

[swamper]

Carolyn, I've looked for a definition of what is "cherry sized" and all I can find is extra small is less than 2 & 4/32". Can you give a source for what you refer to as "cherry sized"? I was going to add jolly f1 to my list, but thought it was too large.

A small tomato is actually between 2 & 4/32 and 2 & 9/32 inches. I dont think that is what the original poster was looking for. :-)

And for the record: I'd say that being sweet does not rule out "depth of flavor"

[Worth1]

I have looked and seen descriptions that say as large as golf balls, I disagree with this.
I would say a cherry sized tomato would be about the size of a cherry, nothing more and nothing less.
Seed suppliers and people can have what ever description they want, there are no set rules that I know of.

Worth

[ddsack]

To me, cherry tomatoes always imply a tomato that can be eaten in one bite, regardless of the shape -- so I've always thought of grape tomatoes as cherries. Anything larger or golf ball size, I've thought of as saladette tomatoes. (what is the "dette" about anyway, it's the tomatoes not the salad that is small - tomatoettes? Tomatototts" why not just "salad tomatoes"? Or slicettes instead of slicers? )

I really don't care what any of them is called.

[Too Tall Toms]

For me, grape tomatoes are hit or miss. I always found cherries to be a bit sweeter. There's nothing I like better than going out to the garden to do whatever and walking past a cherry tomato plant and plucking off a half dozen or so to snack on.

I grew a grape tomato a few years ago and they were almost as big as a small plum tomato.

This past year I grew a cherry tomato that was the color of a dusty rose and that was really good. It wasn't very prolific though. That could've been due to my tending habits.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by swamper

Carolyn, I've looked for a definition of what is "cherry sized" and all I can find is extra small is less than 2 & 4/32". Can you give a source for what you refer to as "cherry sized"? I was going to add jolly f1 to my list, but thought it was too large.

A small tomato is actually between 2 & 4/32 and 2 & 9/32 inches. I dont think that is what the original poster was looking for. :-)

And for the record: I'd say that being sweet does not rule out "depth of flavor"

http://www.google.com/search?tbm=isc...17l2-2.3.1l6l0

Worth, take a look at some Google Image pictures. While a few of Riesentraube are distorted you'll see that it's a round variety with a small nipple. Not all the pictures are of R, but if you just mouse over on a picture, as I'm sure you know it tells you what it is and the rigin of the picture.

Yes, the name does translate out to giant bunch of grapes, but those would be round grapes.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by swamper

Carolyn, I've looked for a definition of what is "cherry sized" and all I can find is extra small is less than 2 & 4/32". Can you give a source for what you refer to as "cherry sized"? I was going to add jolly f1 to my list, but thought it was too large.

A small tomato is actually between 2 & 4/32 and 2 & 9/32 inches. I dont think that is what the original poster was looking for. :-)

And for the record: I'd say that being sweet does not rule out "depth of flavor"

No I can't give you a source as to size although if you look at the thread on Cocktail Tomatoes a kind of definition for the size of those was given and I have no idea whatsoever if there's an accepted definition, even within the Tomato Industry for tht definition.

All currant ( S. pimpinellifolium) varieties I've grown have been between maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch and to me those are not cherry tomatoes. When it comes to cherry tomatoes I think I just have a much broader view of that after having grown about 3,000 tomato varieties and many of them cherries.

last I knew Glenn Drowns at Sandhill was listing Jaune Flammee as a cherry whereas I think it's much too large to be considered a cherry.

Such definitions of sizes reminds me of the various definitions put forth for what an heirloom tomato might be and there will never be consensus on that issue and I don't think there ever will be consensus on definitions of any shape or size of a tomato fruit. Beefsteak varieties come in all sizes as do globe shaped ones, etc.

[ContainerTed]

If it's bigger than a currant or garden pea, it's a cherry.

If it's bigger than one bite, it's a saladette.

If it's bigger than a saladette, it's a slicer.

If it's bigger than a slicer, it's a beefsteak.

If it's bigger than a beefsteak, it's usually on my BLT.

If it's bigger than that, it's on the evening news.

When y'all figure out what you want to call it, take a minute and tell me how it tastes.

[Too Tall Toms]

I have a saladette tomato on my grow list....I forget which one it is. Bloody Butcher??
I always considered a cherry tomato just to be bite size.

[Worth1]

Ok so I bought a box of small tomatoes red pink black and green striped yellow and orange.
Grape cherry and saladtititititee.
They were all good except the black and green striped it was as hard as a golf ball.

I couldn't stab it with a fork.
A sharp fork.

Worth

[puttgirl]

I could send you some Fox cherry tom seeds, if you'd like to try it.

[Too Tall Toms]

I've been reading up on some of these cherry tomatoes and they all seem to be very prone to cracking.
What's your experience with cracking?

[SEAMSFASTER]

I had rights to irrigation water just once a week, so I probably had more issues with fruit splitting than many other growers.

Among 22 cherry (3-18 gram range in my little sample) varieties I grew this year, Sweet 100 was the worst for splitting. I could not get any ripe ones to market and the firm ones were not worth eating. The ripe ones sure were tasty, but I couldn't eat enough...

Super Sweet 100, Red Grape, Bicolor Cherry and Green Grape also had some moderate problems with splitting. The other 17 varieties displayed only minor or no tendency to split.

I had more problems with splitting among the larger, softer-skinned varieties than among the cherries.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by SEAMSFASTER

I had rights to irrigation water just once a week, so I probably had more issues with fruit splitting than many other growers.

Among 22 cherry (3-18 gram range in my little sample) varieties I grew this year, Sweet 100 was the worst for splitting. I could not get any ripe ones to market and the firm ones were not worth eating. The ripe ones sure were tasty, but I couldn't eat enough...

Super Sweet 100, Red Grape, Bicolor Cherry and Green Grape also had some moderate problems with splitting. The other 17 varieties displayed only minor or no tendency to split.

I had more problems with splitting among the larger, softer-skinned varieties than among the cherries.

I've had the same experience. A given variety may split a lot one year and not the next time I grow it. For me it's always been a weather related problem as in how much rain and when that rain falls in terms of fruit development.

All the years I was selling to chefs and also fruits at a large farmstand one of the most popular items were pints of cherries, some all of one kind and some mixed cherries.

At the farmstand it was my job to stop by and remove the ones that were starting to rot and it was almost always the large fruited ones that had radial or concentric splitting that were normal for those varieties anyway. And the worst of those were the gold/red bicolors that have such soft flesh so a short shelf life. I knew that but folks wanted them, so I delivered them.

Overall I'd say that almost all of the cherries I've grown to date, which are many, were far less susceptible to splitting that were the larger fruited ones.

[swamper]

I found the variety sweet hearts, which is a grape, very resistant to splitting compared to the others. That said, I don't like its crunchy texture. Jelly bean would probably fit the same category. Grow the varieties you like and pick tight before a rain. Some of the slow ripening types like jolly or sweet treats, that stand well on the shelf, have excellent flavor, so may be a good choice if you're worried about splitting. I did not find a distinct advantage growing sun sugar next to sungold, some of the crack resistance claims are just claims.

[Too Tall Toms]

I'm not really that worried about splitting. I was just wondering if splitting is common among cherries.
Correct me if I'm wrong but the split-resistant varieties probably have a tougher skin. I don't like chewing on a leathery cherry tomato