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Tomatoes - the wisdom of the masses

BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,718
in Fruit & veg
Most seasons I browse through gardening articles looking for recommended tomatoes for the year ahead. The problem is that it is only one person’s view. It would be helpful to me, and I hope others, to get the summarised wisdom of this forum.

Would you (@Pete8 and all others) be willing to give a single score out of 10 for what you have grown this year, and maybe past years. Your score should simply be an amalgam of what is important to you - taste obviously, colour, shape, skin thickness, yield etc. 

Perhaps by the end of the season we might have a GW tomato league table. For me, so far, my scores are

Suncherry 9
Sungold 8
Apero 7
Rutland, England
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Posts

  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    I've grown so many varieties over the years.
    It depends also on their end-use e.g. for sandwiches, salads, cooking etc

    But generally-

    I almost always grow Shirley as it's so easy, forgiving of poor care and a really decent slicing tomato 7/10

    I've grown Rosella for several years now - a really tasty cherry tom 8/10

    My 3rd year growing Stupice. Very few leaves, the first to ripen and a good tasty fruit 8/10

    My 2nd year growing Rose de Berne - absolutely outstanding 12/10 :)

    I've grown Moneymaker a couple of times in the past - the blandest tasting tomatoes I've ever had 1/10 (and that's only because they look ok)

    Sungold 7/10

    Sun Cherry 6/10

    Gardener's Delight 7/10

    Maskotka 6/10

    Akron 5/10

    Nepal 6/10

    Sparta 6/10

    Tumbling Tom 5/10

    That's about as far back as I can remember :)


    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    I always grow sungold because it is always the sweetest cherry tom - 7/10

    I've grown Urbikany instead of Stupice for the last couple of years - just as early but germinates more reliably for me. 6/10

    Latah is another good early fruiter - completely untrainable. 5/10

    I always grow Marmande (5/10 - it can be a bit fussy on the weather IME) and Costoluto Fiorentino (9/10) as slicing tomatoes - Costoluto is very reliable even in quite bad years for a beefsteak tom. Grows very odd shapes sometimes and has slightly peculiar habits but really tasty - one of the best.

    I'm not too fussed on Rosella - 6/10. 

    I also grow an oxheart semi-bush tomato called Grushovka which is really good for passata (7/10).



    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • purplerallimpurplerallim Posts: 5,287
    Sungold cherry 8/10
    Black cherry  9/10
    Alicante 9/10
    Gardeners delight 7/10
    Roma  ( cooking tom) 11/10
    Shirley 7/10
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Sweet million 3/10 really tough skin -unless it's my fault
    Sungold 8/10
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • Singing GardenerSinging Gardener Posts: 1,237
    I grow tomatoes but don't particularly like them raw so have asked OH for his scores:

    Sungold 9/10
    Gardeners delight 8/10
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    Tumbling Tom 5/10
    Maskotka (sp ?) 5/10
    Red Alert (grown this year) 8/10 so far
  • Blue OnionBlue Onion Posts: 2,995
    Sungold 9/10
    Sunsugar 8/10
    Jelly Bean 6/10 (Due to flavor and sweetness compared to above two, plant itself is fine)
    Chocolate Cherry 6/10 (Ditto above, and seems less robust as a plant.. pulled one out already due to possible blight, and now another is showing signs some distance away from the original, with the other varieties between.. could be down to being heirloom variety?)

    They do look lovely in a tomato salad together.
    Utah, USA.
  • 2 point 42 point 4 Posts: 60
    @BenCotto - I’ve deliberately grown my tomatoes this year to do a taste test!  I grow a lot of tomatoes to give to friends and family so the opportunity presented itself to keep one of everything I grew - outwith the usual suspects.

    Cherrola 9/10.  Grown last year for the first time and is now a firm favourite.
    Gardener’s Delight 8/10.  The ‘control’ sample.
    Red Alert 6/10. New this year, disappointing.
    Tumbling Tom 5/10. Have grown before to give away but have never kept a plant for myself.  Don’t think I will be rushing to do so either in the future.
    Sweet Success - not yet ripe.

    Matina 8/10.  Second year for this one and will be a regular in future years.
    Outdoor Girl 8/10.  Ditto.
    Orkado 8/10.
    Mountain Magic 7/10.
    Golden Sunrise 8/10 but if you leave them a moment past optimum ripening 5/10!
    Crimson Crush - not yet ripe.

    I’ve grown a lot of Harbinger in the past, 8/10 on taste but I find its very susceptible to BER.

    I normally gather up packets and packets of tomato seeds in the end of season seed sell-offs.  Suspect that it might be a bit different this year.


  • Kat1989Kat1989 Posts: 51
    All my toms are grown outdoors against walls to keep the warmth. 

    Sungold cherry 7/10
    Gardeners delight cherry 7/10
    Moneymaker cherry 6/10
    Alicante cherry 8/10
    Sweet million 7/10

    This year I thought I'd change the varieties. 
    Consuela cherry, very heavy stems and not as many fruits. Still waiting for them to ripen. 

    Solena cherry, masses of fruits and very tasty. 9/10 :)


    Tumbling toms from seed, taste 7/10
  • amancalledgeorgeamancalledgeorge Posts: 2,736
    Worth looking at the AGM list from last March by the RHS for varieties of tomatoes (and other fruit and veg) on this PDF https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-fruit-and-vegetables.pdf it may give us some ideas to grow some extra varieties next year. 
    To Plant a Garden is to Believe in Tomorrow
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