My tomatoes taste different every year

[SueCT]

As anyone else noticed this? I don't mean they will all be better one year or more productive or what ever else could be effected by weather, soil amendments, watering, fertilizer, etc. I mean I plant the same few tomatoes that are my "must haves" every year, all together in the same garden, which has basically the same soil and amendments and weather for all the tomatoes. One year the standout for taste will be Mortgage Lifter, another year it will be Brandywine or KB, and this year it is Cherokee Purple. CP has been good for past few years, but not great. However, it is outstanding this year. Last year it was SOTW. There are no "duds" in these tomatoes for me, they are all good. But one always seems outstanding and it can change year to year. Just makes me wonder what other variables might be at play here. Gardening is kind of like medicine, a science for sure, but also still an art. There is so much I still don't know. I never stop learning and it never gets boring. I love discovering which tomato it will be each year, and which ones will surprise me.

[MissS]

Yep. Every year is a new adventure. It is unusual to have the same #1 tomato two years in a row. That is why I have my top 10 list. A tomato will most likely always make it to that list if it is good but the order of goodness always changes.

[Gardeneer]

Other variables, other than soil chemistry ?: I can think of rain and temperatures.

[SueCT]

I include that under weather and watering, Gardeneer, . But I was trying to say, really, was any conditions that all the plants in the same small garden would all experience basically to the same degree. I wonder it if is conditions a particular variety prefers, seed source, individual plant genetics, or whatever. Just part of the fun of gardening I guess. Although, it just occurred to me to wonder if someone who planted all of the same variety would also find taste differences between plants. If not, I guess it would be variety related in some way, rather than individual plant genetics. Or maybe it is just a figment of my imagination or changing tastes from year to year. I don't think I can solve this, but wondered how many people had noticed it.

[Salsacharley]

I ain't no geneticist, so I'm probably starting off on a faulty hypothesis, which is that all the seeds from one plant will be identical. Heck, I don't even know if seeds from the same fruit are identical. Anyway, if identical twins have different nuances, although their DNA is identical, perhaps a tomato variety will have different nuances in its seeds from year to year even if the DNA is identical. Not enough difference to not be the same variety, but different enough for someone like you to notice.

[AlittleSalt]

Two of the biggest factors I've noticed how a tomato's taste is different. Too much rain and stink bugs.

[Spartanburg123]

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

Two of the biggest factors I've noticed how a tomato's taste is different. Too much rain and stink bugs.

I don't know about the stink bugs, but I also think water is a big issue. As a chemist who deals with solutions of chemicals in many different solvents, let me put a theory out there. In a tomato, you basically have a fruit that is filled with water than contains odor and flavor molecules in different ratios, depending on the variety. When those molecules are dilute (too much water), they can be harder to detect by our olfactory senses (imagine a tomato after several days of rain). But when the concentrations of these molecules is high, as in during drought conditions, then the flavor may "pop" and the taste will be intense.
As an alternative, it could be that dry conditions just force the plant to make more of the taste molecules that we love, while too much water shuts the plant down in the production of those molecules. I have always found that hot peppers are hottest when the plants are forced to struggle to find water- perhaps the same process holds in this case?

So it may just be a matter of concentration and what our sniffer/taste sensors can detect in these tomatoes.

[SteveP]

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

Two of the biggest factors I've noticed how a tomato's taste is different. Too much rain and stink bugs.

I had my worst year to date (5 years) with my tomatoes. Taste not as good as usual,
Production was WAY down and very poor growth. Not knowing for sure I put the blame on too much rain during the last 2 weeks of May. 25" that month with most coming the last 10 days of the month. I hope next year will be better.

[AlittleSalt]

In 2015, it rained 73+" here. Most of it was daily rain in May through mid-June. It didn't matter what variety was growing - they all had a washed out taste and the texture was mushy/mealy.

[SueCT]

Well I have definitely noticed water makes a difference in taste, and in a very wet year the tomatoes have less flavor. But that is over all. All the plants get pretty much the same amount of water in a given year, so I don't think that would account for differences between plants in the same year growing a few feet from each other. My lack of understanding about how to create a great tasting tomato sure makes me appreciate the ones I get anyway, lol.

[imp]

There are a lot of factors that play into tastes of tomatoes, and other veg too, many mentioned in this thread; one of the most important is the person eating that tomato ( or veg).

Your health, what else has been eaten before the tomato and how long before, smoker or not, and also the cycle point your taste buds are at, point of ripeness, warm/cold/room temp, any additions such as salt or ?, if the tomato is attractive looking to you, your emotional state, and of course, the best sauce of all ( as the French say) if you are hungry, are variables.

[AlittleSalt]

Originally Posted by SueCT

Well I have definitely noticed water makes a difference in taste, and in a very wet year the tomatoes have less flavor. But that is over all. All the plants get pretty much the same amount of water in a given year, so I don't think that would account for differences between plants in the same year growing a few feet from each other. My lack of understanding about how to create a great tasting tomato sure makes me the ones I get anyway, lol.

Sue, there is one component that we don't have a lot of control over. Our tastes changes. That is far from an answer, but could be part of it.

[BigVanVader]

Same here. I've also noticed tomatoes always taste best grown in virgin soil. Sweet Ozark Orange was a good example this year. All my fruit were near a pound and the taste was quite acidic. Last time I grew it the tomatoes were medium sized, very mild and sweet. Who knows...it doesn't seem to effect cherry tomatoes, they always taste how I expect.

[MissS]

Originally Posted by BigVanVader

Same here. I've also noticed tomatoes always taste best grown in virgin soil. Sweet Ozark Orange was a good example this year. All my fruit were near a pound and the taste was quite acidic. Last time I grew it the tomatoes were medium sized, very mild and sweet. Who knows...it doesn't seem to effect cherry tomatoes, they always taste how I expect.

I agree. Virgin soil grows the best tasting tomatoes ever. Makes you want to start a new bed every year. Even beds that are rotated do not match the tomatoes that are planted in virgin soil.

[SueCT]

Interesting. I did not plant in virgin soil, but I did add a large amount of new purchased soil last fall, so that might play a role, also.