How much can taste be affected

mysidx · February 2, 2012

Can growing conditions drastically change the taste of tomatoes? This fall I grew JD special TX for the first time. I planted them in a couple of containers. Weather conditions were not ideal, but I made my best effort bringing them inside during our few frosts we have had here. The few maters I got had to be the most tasteless fruit I have ever had. It was like eating solidified water. I've heard of fruit tasting better or not as good from changing weather conditions,soil, etc, but not tasteless.

I hope I get a different result this spring

easttx_hippie · February 2, 2012

I've always believed that flavor had a lot to do with where it was grown. The Vidalia onion is sweet because it's grown where there's a lack of sulfur in the soil. Add some sulfur to the farmland in Vidalia and they'll lose a great money crop. Two grapes of the same variety will taste different when grown on different hills. Maybe what you were using in those containers just had nothing to offer in the way of flavor.....or maybe it was just the high heat cooking the flavor out of everything.

Worth1 · February 2, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by mysidx

Can growing conditions drastically change the taste of tomatoes? This fall I grew JD special TX for the first time. I planted them in a couple of containers. Weather conditions were not ideal, but I made my best effort bringing them inside during our few frosts we have had here. The few maters I got had to be the most tasteless fruit I have ever had. It was like eating solidified water. I've heard of fruit tasting better or not as good from changing weather conditions,soil, etc, but not tasteless.

I hope I get a different result this spring

It sounds like you have come down with tomatumaslackamus.
It is rare and there is no cure.
What it is, is you cant taste tomaotes of any kind.
It will start out with one and work it's way to the rest.
Sorry to hear of your condition.

Worth

augiedog55 · February 2, 2012

east texashippie, i've got a question. if the same tomatoes are growing in containers in different part of the country how would that affect the taste since most containers tomatoes would be grown in soilless mixtures. Soil and taste would be out of the equation

Worth1 · February 2, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by augiedog55

east texashippie, i've got a question. if the same tomatoes are growing in containers in different part of the country how would that affect the taste since most containers tomatoes would be grown in soilless mixtures. Soil and taste would be out of the equation

Carma.

Worth

mysidx · February 2, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Worth1

It sounds like you have come down with tomatumaslackamus.
It is rare and there is no cure.
What it is, is you cant taste tomaotes of any kind.
It will start out with one and work it's way to the rest.
Sorry to hear of your condition.

Worth

You're funny Worth1, does my question sound that pathetic??

augiedog55 · February 2, 2012

that deep worth.. let me get back to you on that one

mysidx · February 2, 2012

The medium was a mixture of potting soil and soiless mix. Probably just a bad tomato, or maybe I'm coming down with what Dr. Worth1 diagnosed.

augiedog55 · February 2, 2012

you had to throw a little soil in the mix..

i guess worth was right. i'll go back to listening to the twilight zone extended version

...

Petronius_II · February 2, 2012

I'm thinking:

-- You may have given them more water than they really want. Easy to do once they get potbound. "Hot and dry" isn't going to impact tomato flavor negatively, as we can well testify in New Mexico. "Hot and humid" isn't necessarily going to have any serious effect on tomato flavor either, otherwise much of Indiana would be incapable of producing good 'maters, and I do remember from my boyhood, that just isn't so.

However, if you're trying to grow tomatoes in containers in Louisiana, the type of container might be a factor. Black plastic containers in particular tend to heat up ferociously, causing one to use huge amounts of water just to keep the plant from dying.

That much water going through the plant tissues on a regular basis, I hypothesize, is just not going to be good for flavor. I intend to grow some more container tomatoes, but if they're in black plastic pots they will be wrapped on the sunny side in aluminum foil to keep them from getting too hot.

--Another working hypothesis has to do with whatever kind of fertilizers and growth enhancers you used. Soilless mix + potting soil which is low in organic nutrients if that's what you used + "the blue stuff" if that's what you used, sounds to me like it might be a great formula for really bland tomatoes. I'd consider throwing in some organic stuff: any workable combination of small quantities of bone meal for phosphorus, dried shredded citrus peel and banana peels for potassium, a few coffee grounds or very limited quantities of blood meal for nitrogen, maybe even some eggshell fragments to top everything off. Throw in a source of mycorrhizae to help digest everything and get it to the roots, if you can. I bet that would give you some tasty tomatoes.

Heritage · February 3, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by mysidx

You're funny Worth1, does my question sound that pathetic??

mysidx,

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain sucking on his cacti

If your night temps fall much below 55F while your tomatoes are ripening, they will have a taste and texture similar, or worse, than what you might buy in the supermarket. This is not a scientific fact, just my personal conclusion after 3 years of eliminating variables while unsuccessfully trying to get a good tasting tomato in an unheated greenhouse.

It doesn't matter which gods you pray to, or what you add to the soil, if the night temps are too cool at the critical time, the [tropical fruit] tomato cells will break down (burst?) and result in a mushy, flavorless mass of gel. (albeit, a beautiful specimen) Also, that is why you should never refrigerate a tomato.

For what it's Worth.

Steve

Worth1 · February 3, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heritage

mysidx,

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain sucking on his cacti

If your night temps fall much below 55F while your tomatoes are ripening, they will have a taste and texture similar, or worse, than what you might buy in the supermarket. This is not a scientific fact, just my personal conclusion after 3 years of eliminating variables while unsuccessfully trying to get a good tasting tomato in an unheated greenhouse.

It doesn't matter which gods you pray to, or what you add to the soil, if the night temps are too cool at the critical time, the [tropical fruit] tomato cells will break down (burst?) and result in a mushy, flavorless mass of gel. (albeit, a beautiful specimen) Also, that is why you should never refrigerate a tomato.

For what it's Worth.

Steve

b

Bingo

I have grown many a tomato in sand and blue stuff and they tasted great.
Karma with a c good lord I knew somthing was wrong.

Worth

Worth1 · February 3, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by mysidx

You're funny Worth1, does my question sound that pathetic??

No sometimes I just get full of it like today.
If all i'm good for is a laugh around here then my job is done.

Chow
Worth

Dewayne mater · February 3, 2012

Night time temps being low affects most varieties very negatively...though a few don't mind too much. I also think the amount and quality of sunshine affects it. You mention frost in southern La, so, you must mean this happened in late fall or later and after about October 1, sunshine is much less direct and it is difficult to get enough hours of intense sun. Between the cold and the lack of hours of direct sun, you end up with many varieties that are barely better than store boughts to me.

I'm trying to figure out what can take fall conditions and produce good tasting toms. Sun Gold seems fine with fall conditions, as does black and brown boar and purple haze, but, those are the only ones so far I'll repeat in the fall. In the not bad, but, nowhere near summer category for me this year was Earl's faux. Much smaller fruit (1/2 the size or less) than summer, mostly not mealy in consistency and a pleasant to good, just not stunning taste, and decent production...and this from a plant that survived the full 2011 raging summer in Texas and started producing again in the fall.

If anyone else has had fall varieties that worked well in the 5 state area around Texas, I'd love to hear about your success.

Dewayne Mater.

travis · February 3, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by mysidx

The medium was a mixture of potting soil and soiless mix. Probably just a bad tomato, or maybe I'm coming down with what Dr. Worth1 diagnosed.

I'm not going into a long ramble because others already have discussed it.

I grow at least 30 plants in containers each year specifically for seed or to make crosses. They never taste as good as the tomatoes I grow in the beds of native soil amended with heavy compost.

My theory is you have to water the containers too much. I dry farm in the beds, or use minimal irrigation only during extreme dry spells. Those are the tomatoes I eat, including JD's Special C-Tex which is one of the better tasting tomatoes. The ones in the containers get squeezed for seeds.

February 2, 2012	#1
mysidx Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Baton Rouge,Louisiana Zone 8b Posts: 340	How much can taste be affected Can growing conditions drastically change the taste of tomatoes? This fall I grew JD special TX for the first time. I planted them in a couple of containers. Weather conditions were not ideal, but I made my best effort bringing them inside during our few frosts we have had here. The few maters I got had to be the most tasteless fruit I have ever had. It was like eating solidified water. I've heard of fruit tasting better or not as good from changing weather conditions,soil, etc, but not tasteless. I hope I get a different result this spring

February 2, 2012	#2
easttx_hippie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Piney Wood Hills Posts: 423	I've always believed that flavor had a lot to do with where it was grown. The Vidalia onion is sweet because it's grown where there's a lack of sulfur in the soil. Add some sulfur to the farmland in Vidalia and they'll lose a great money crop. Two grapes of the same variety will taste different when grown on different hills. Maybe what you were using in those containers just had nothing to offer in the way of flavor.....or maybe it was just the high heat cooking the flavor out of everything.

February 2, 2012	#4
augiedog55 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: oak grove mo Posts: 406	east texashippie, i've got a question. if the same tomatoes are growing in containers in different part of the country how would that affect the taste since most containers tomatoes would be grown in soilless mixtures. Soil and taste would be out of the equation

February 2, 2012	#10
Petronius_II Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Albuquerque, NM - Zone 7a Posts: 209	I'm thinking: -- You may have given them more water than they really want. Easy to do once they get potbound. "Hot and dry" isn't going to impact tomato flavor negatively, as we can well testify in New Mexico. "Hot and humid" isn't necessarily going to have any serious effect on tomato flavor either, otherwise much of Indiana would be incapable of producing good 'maters, and I do remember from my boyhood, that just isn't so. However, if you're trying to grow tomatoes in containers in Louisiana, the type of container might be a factor. Black plastic containers in particular tend to heat up ferociously, causing one to use huge amounts of water just to keep the plant from dying. That much water going through the plant tissues on a regular basis, I hypothesize, is just not going to be good for flavor. I intend to grow some more container tomatoes, but if they're in black plastic pots they will be wrapped on the sunny side in aluminum foil to keep them from getting too hot. --Another working hypothesis has to do with whatever kind of fertilizers and growth enhancers you used. Soilless mix + potting soil which is low in organic nutrients if that's what you used + "the blue stuff" if that's what you used, sounds to me like it might be a great formula for really bland tomatoes. I'd consider throwing in some organic stuff: any workable combination of small quantities of bone meal for phosphorus, dried shredded citrus peel and banana peels for potassium, a few coffee grounds or very limited quantities of blood meal for nitrogen, maybe even some eggshell fragments to top everything off. Throw in a source of mycorrhizae to help digest everything and get it to the roots, if you can. I bet that would give you some tasty tomatoes.

February 3, 2012	#14
Dewayne mater Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2008 Location: DFW, Texas Posts: 1,212	Night time temps being low affects most varieties very negatively...though a few don't mind too much. I also think the amount and quality of sunshine affects it. You mention frost in southern La, so, you must mean this happened in late fall or later and after about October 1, sunshine is much less direct and it is difficult to get enough hours of intense sun. Between the cold and the lack of hours of direct sun, you end up with many varieties that are barely better than store boughts to me. I'm trying to figure out what can take fall conditions and produce good tasting toms. Sun Gold seems fine with fall conditions, as does black and brown boar and purple haze, but, those are the only ones so far I'll repeat in the fall. In the not bad, but, nowhere near summer category for me this year was Earl's faux. Much smaller fruit (1/2 the size or less) than summer, mostly not mealy in consistency and a pleasant to good, just not stunning taste, and decent production...and this from a plant that survived the full 2011 raging summer in Texas and started producing again in the fall. If anyone else has had fall varieties that worked well in the 5 state area around Texas, I'd love to hear about your success. Dewayne Mater.