Going for dependability and taste, not novelty

ScottinAtlanta · November 29, 2016

Folks, after years of trialing different tomatoes, I have decided to reduce my planting, in 2017, to the few who show dependability and taste. Many tomatoes have disappointed me over the years, but a solid few have not - and hence here is my Gold Standard for the Atlanta climate:

The two most reliable:
Cherokee Purple
Cherokee Green

Then:
Mule Team
Jaunne Flamme
Destor
Bloody Butcher
Spears Tennessee Green
Sweet Ozark Orange

Cherry:
Sungold F1

Dwarf:
Wild Fred
Perth Pride
Lime Green Salad
Maralinga F4 (now an F8 selected by me from the original F4 that Craig sent me - the best in taste and sheer massive production)

There it is, folks, my true tomato friends. I have never found a reliable red cherry - any thoughts?

LindyAdele · November 29, 2016

I am with you in this. The last three years I have tried planting half of what I know I liked, and half new fun varieties from swaps and new breeding projects. I wish I could say my experience yielded exciting discoveries, but last year I had quite a few plants only produces a couple of tomatoes, they were not what they were 'supposed' to be at all, and in general I was disappointend. I tried three dwarves, and didn't get much from them at all... they were late, weak, unproductive plants. This leads me to not want to grow dwarves again!

My always-grow productive plants are

Black Krim
Striped German
Sungold F1
Snow White (a pale yellow cherry)

As for red 'cherry' types, I tried so many that didn't work for me, I've been going to hybrids. Juliet was incredibly productive, but the taste was average. But I mostly used them along with the other coloured cherries in salads, so as long as they were 'red' and kept coming, I was happy.

nancyruhl · November 29, 2016

If you are going to cut your varieties down, I don't know if I personally would include 3 GWR. And just for interest, I would always include something new and unknown. It just makes the growing season more fun. But that is just me.

I have struggled with red cherry tomatoes. My favorite for flavor was Koralik, but the cracking was too bad. That is a result of the the thin skin, which is desirable to me. My husband really liked Val's Red Nibbler, but our seeds didn't grow out true one year, and no one has offered them since Gleckler's quit selling seeds.

And lastly, I might select a different dwarf from Dwarf Wild Fred just because of its similarity to Cherokee Purple. Personally, I would choose Tasmanian Chocolate, which is a brown tomato. For me, it is one of the first, last and best producing tomatoes in my garden. It has a great earthy rich flavor that is different than the purples.

What, no heart? I am crazy for Dwarf Scarlet Heart. It produces like crazy, starts early and is nice and meaty.

JMHO.

ScottinAtlanta · November 29, 2016

All good ideas. But I am going for what I have grown repeatedly and works repeatedly right here in my garden!

Patihum · November 29, 2016

Have you ever tried Iva's Red Berry? Our summers tend to be hot and humid here and that's a red cherry that's performed exceedingly well here and also happens to taste great.

BigVanVader · November 29, 2016

I feel you Scott. I have quickly learned that our climate is very unforgiving, and many tomatoes struggle. I have heard from other growers in our general area that Mule Team is very dependable, so I think I need to grow that one. Many of your dependable tomatoes I have had success with as well. The new ones I do try I look for reports of dependable tomatoes in climates same/similar to mine so I appreciate any reports like this. I was on the fence about trying Cherokee Green and now I might. Have you tried Prudens Purple? Does great for me and very productive for a large tomato.

Oh and the only cherry tomatoes I really eat much now are Fred's pink/sunrise BB and Sungold but SS100 always makes tons of tomatoes for me and many people love it. Me not so much...

natural · November 29, 2016

Scott,

I am about 45 minutes north of Atlanta. I have tried a lot of red cherries with little success. The best and most reliable is Ambrosia Red. Iva's Red Berry was good last year (a bit smaller) but that was my first year growing it.

Bill

Barb_FL · November 29, 2016

First time planting it, but I am so impressed with Lizzano.

It is thin skin, very tomato-y, has not cracked, super productive but it is determinate and SHORT!!!!! Seeds are not cheap; when they said 10 seeds per pack, there are 10. 100% germination though.

I find most cherry tomatoes have thick skin (exception is Sungold),
I don't think I will ever plant another red cherry again.

----
From your list, I also grow:

SunGold / Wild Fred every season and Perth Pride is back for the 2nd season.
Will have to try Maralina.

In my search for the perfect tomato, I try too many also.

Cole_Robbie · November 29, 2016

Lizzano is a sister variety of Terrenzo, which I like very much.

Ambrosia Red is the best-tasting red cherry I have tried. The Ambrosia Pink was good, too, but I like the red better. I also had a Russian variety that translates to "Sweet Cranberry." The first fruit were not good, but it got a lot better after that. Tommy Toe is a good producer. Flavor is decent.

I don't really think of Cherokee Green as a GWR. There's too much acidity in the flavor. Other GWR varieties have a much more intense sweetness. I like Cherokee Green a lot; it's just more like a yellow tomato to me. Unfortunately, all of the Cherokee varieties suffer from spiral cracking, which makes them hard for me to grow as market varieties.

Mano is still my champ as far as dwarf reds go. It has a light, citrusy flavor, different than a typical red. Utynok was also worth a re-grow due to its huge yield.

garyjr · November 29, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigVanVader

I feel you Scott. I have quickly learned that our climate is very unforgiving, and many tomatoes struggle. I have heard from other growers in our general area that Mule Team is very dependable, so I think I need to grow that one. Many of your dependable tomatoes I have had success with as well. The new ones I do try I look for reports of dependable tomatoes in climates same/similar to mine so I appreciate any reports like this. I was on the fence about trying Cherokee Green and now I might. Have you tried Prudens Purple? Does great for me and very productive for a large tomato.

Oh and the only cherry tomatoes I really eat much now are Fred's pink/sunrise BB and Sungold but SS100 always makes tons of tomatoes for me and many people love it. Me not so much...

Another vote for SS100. Here in hot and humid central VA it has done very well with little splitting and excellent taste. That and Sungold are my go to cherries.

AlittleSalt · November 29, 2016

Here's another vote for Ambrosia Red. Matt's Wild Cherry tastes pretty good grown here in Texas.

Most of our favorite cherry tomatoes are pink, yellow, orange, etc.

Chapinz8 · November 29, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScottinAtlanta

Folks, after years of trialing different tomatoes, I have decided to reduce my planting, in 2017, to the few who show dependability and taste. Many tomatoes have disappointed me over the years, but a solid few have not - and hence here is my Gold Standard for the Atlanta climate:

The two most reliable:
Cherokee Purple
Cherokee Green

Then:
Mule Team
Jaunne Flamme
Destor
Bloody Butcher
Spears Tennessee Green
Sweet Ozark Orange

Cherry:
Sungold F1

Dwarf:
Wild Fred
Perth Pride
Lime Green Salad
Maralinga F4 (now an F8 selected by me from the original F4 that Craig sent me - the best in taste and sheer massive production)

There it is, folks, my true tomato friends. I have never found a reliable red cherry - any thoughts?

I'm kind of between you and BigVanVader here in Chapin outside of Columbia. I can't plant many so am trying to do the same as you. Cherokee Purple is good some years and not in others. Mule Team is alway reliable. Druzba is always reliable. Sungold, honestly, I'm sick of it. It's beyond dependable. I grow a couple of Better Boys for my wife. Eva Purple Ball is always dependable and produces until you pull it.

Two years ago Carbon outproduced everything. This year, it immediately set 4 fruit and then zero for the rest of the year. Earl's Faux is my favorite tomato but I only get about 5 on average so I have dropped it.

I don't understand all I know about tomatoes.

joseph · November 29, 2016

The first thing I do when I get a new variety of tomato is to throw away the name. Then, I only save seeds from plants that produce reliably for me. That keeps me from being beguiled by a glossy photo and a glib description in a seed catalog or on-line forum. A variety has to perform well, every year if it is going to stay in my garden.

There were about 4 varieties out of the 72 new varieties that I trialed this year that did well for me. My old standbys produced small/medium fruits reliably, just like they always do. As distasteful as it is to me, I taste fruits from every plant before saving seeds. So my tomatoes taste great to people that actually like tomatoes.

For me, it's all about productivity. I don't care about the social history of a tomato's name.

agee12 · November 29, 2016

I am a new gardener in Atlanta and needed this list a week or two ago when I was finalizing my MMMM wishlist! Some of these made my list like Cherokee Purple, Jaunne Flamme, Lime Green Salad and Sungold. Oh well I will definitely follow this thread, it should help me with prioritizing.

Any thoughts on peppers? cucumbers? eggplant? peas?

Rajun Gardener · November 29, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by agee12

I am a new gardener in Atlanta and needed this list a week or two ago when I was finalizing my MMMM wishlist! Some of these made my list like Cherokee Purple, Jaunne Flamme, Lime Green Salad and Sungold. Oh well I will definitely follow this thread, it should help me with prioritizing.

Any thoughts on peppers? cucumbers? eggplant? peas?

Send a message to Tormato on the MMMM thread, he'll help if he can but do it now so he can see it.

November 29, 2016	#1
ScottinAtlanta Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Atlanta, Georgia Posts: 2,593	Going for dependability and taste, not novelty Folks, after years of trialing different tomatoes, I have decided to reduce my planting, in 2017, to the few who show dependability and taste. Many tomatoes have disappointed me over the years, but a solid few have not - and hence here is my Gold Standard for the Atlanta climate: The two most reliable: Cherokee Purple Cherokee Green Then: Mule Team Jaunne Flamme Destor Bloody Butcher Spears Tennessee Green Sweet Ozark Orange Cherry: Sungold F1 Dwarf: Wild Fred Perth Pride Lime Green Salad Maralinga F4 (now an F8 selected by me from the original F4 that Craig sent me - the best in taste and sheer massive production) There it is, folks, my true tomato friends. I have never found a reliable red cherry - any thoughts? Last edited by ScottinAtlanta; November 29, 2016 at 05:31 AM.

November 29, 2016	#6
BigVanVader Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Greenville, South Carolina Posts: 3,099	I feel you Scott. I have quickly learned that our climate is very unforgiving, and many tomatoes struggle. I have heard from other growers in our general area that Mule Team is very dependable, so I think I need to grow that one. Many of your dependable tomatoes I have had success with as well. The new ones I do try I look for reports of dependable tomatoes in climates same/similar to mine so I appreciate any reports like this. I was on the fence about trying Cherokee Green and now I might. Have you tried Prudens Purple? Does great for me and very productive for a large tomato. Oh and the only cherry tomatoes I really eat much now are Fred's pink/sunrise BB and Sungold but SS100 always makes tons of tomatoes for me and many people love it. Me not so much... Last edited by BigVanVader; November 29, 2016 at 07:43 AM.

November 29, 2016	#8
Barb_FL Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Indialantic, Florida Posts: 2,000	For red cherry tomatoes First time planting it, but I am so impressed with Lizzano. It is thin skin, very tomato-y, has not cracked, super productive but it is determinate and SHORT!!!!! Seeds are not cheap; when they said 10 seeds per pack, there are 10. 100% germination though. I find most cherry tomatoes have thick skin (exception is Sungold), I don't think I will ever plant another red cherry again. ---- From your list, I also grow: SunGold / Wild Fred every season and Perth Pride is back for the 2nd season. Will have to try Maralina. In my search for the perfect tomato, I try too many also.

November 29, 2016	#2
LindyAdele Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 323	I am with you in this. The last three years I have tried planting half of what I know I liked, and half new fun varieties from swaps and new breeding projects. I wish I could say my experience yielded exciting discoveries, but last year I had quite a few plants only produces a couple of tomatoes, they were not what they were 'supposed' to be at all, and in general I was disappointend. I tried three dwarves, and didn't get much from them at all... they were late, weak, unproductive plants. This leads me to not want to grow dwarves again! My always-grow productive plants are Black Krim Striped German Sungold F1 Snow White (a pale yellow cherry) As for red 'cherry' types, I tried so many that didn't work for me, I've been going to hybrids. Juliet was incredibly productive, but the taste was average. But I mostly used them along with the other coloured cherries in salads, so as long as they were 'red' and kept coming, I was happy.

November 29, 2016	#3
nancyruhl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Metro Detroit, Michigan Posts: 1,051	If you are going to cut your varieties down, I don't know if I personally would include 3 GWR. And just for interest, I would always include something new and unknown. It just makes the growing season more fun. But that is just me. I have struggled with red cherry tomatoes. My favorite for flavor was Koralik, but the cracking was too bad. That is a result of the the thin skin, which is desirable to me. My husband really liked Val's Red Nibbler, but our seeds didn't grow out true one year, and no one has offered them since Gleckler's quit selling seeds. And lastly, I might select a different dwarf from Dwarf Wild Fred just because of its similarity to Cherokee Purple. Personally, I would choose Tasmanian Chocolate, which is a brown tomato. For me, it is one of the first, last and best producing tomatoes in my garden. It has a great earthy rich flavor that is different than the purples. What, no heart? I am crazy for Dwarf Scarlet Heart. It produces like crazy, starts early and is nice and meaty. JMHO.

November 29, 2016	#5
Patihum Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Southeast Kansas Posts: 878	Have you ever tried Iva's Red Berry? Our summers tend to be hot and humid here and that's a red cherry that's performed exceedingly well here and also happens to taste great.

November 29, 2016	#7
natural Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: North GA Posts: 530	Scott, I am about 45 minutes north of Atlanta. I have tried a lot of red cherries with little success. The best and most reliable is Ambrosia Red. Iva's Red Berry was good last year (a bit smaller) but that was my first year growing it. Bill

November 29, 2016	#9
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	Lizzano is a sister variety of Terrenzo, which I like very much. Ambrosia Red is the best-tasting red cherry I have tried. The Ambrosia Pink was good, too, but I like the red better. I also had a Russian variety that translates to "Sweet Cranberry." The first fruit were not good, but it got a lot better after that. Tommy Toe is a good producer. Flavor is decent. I don't really think of Cherokee Green as a GWR. There's too much acidity in the flavor. Other GWR varieties have a much more intense sweetness. I like Cherokee Green a lot; it's just more like a yellow tomato to me. Unfortunately, all of the Cherokee varieties suffer from spiral cracking, which makes them hard for me to grow as market varieties. Mano is still my champ as far as dwarf reds go. It has a light, citrusy flavor, different than a typical red. Utynok was also worth a re-grow due to its huge yield.

November 29, 2016	#11
AlittleSalt BANNED FOR LIFE Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 13,333	Here's another vote for Ambrosia Red. Matt's Wild Cherry tastes pretty good grown here in Texas. Most of our favorite cherry tomatoes are pink, yellow, orange, etc.

November 29, 2016	#13
joseph Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: Cache Valley, N/E of The Great Salt Lake Posts: 1,244	The first thing I do when I get a new variety of tomato is to throw away the name. Then, I only save seeds from plants that produce reliably for me. That keeps me from being beguiled by a glossy photo and a glib description in a seed catalog or on-line forum. A variety has to perform well, every year if it is going to stay in my garden. There were about 4 varieties out of the 72 new varieties that I trialed this year that did well for me. My old standbys produced small/medium fruits reliably, just like they always do. As distasteful as it is to me, I taste fruits from every plant before saving seeds. So my tomatoes taste great to people that actually like tomatoes. For me, it's all about productivity. I don't care about the social history of a tomato's name.

November 29, 2016	#14
agee12 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Georgia Posts: 196	I am a new gardener in Atlanta and needed this list a week or two ago when I was finalizing my MMMM wishlist! Some of these made my list like Cherokee Purple, Jaunne Flamme, Lime Green Salad and Sungold. Oh well I will definitely follow this thread, it should help me with prioritizing. Any thoughts on peppers? cucumbers? eggplant? peas?