comparing tom varieties - quality, taste and yield

foreign_correspondent

I have a fridge drawer full of tomato seeds now - and am itching to get started... won't be long now! What is everyone else growing this year?

Primrose

A week ago I sowed peppers, chillis, leeks & celeriac. I won't sow my climbing beans and tomatoes until mid April as I usually sow these too early and then fret about them getting leggy and having to be planted out with night time temperatures that are too cool. Last year I enjoyed exprimenting with different tomato varieties. This year I'll probably grow Ferline, Gardeners Delight, Sungold, Black Cherry, Ildi, plus one or two Red & Yellow Tumbers which cropped prolifically. I also saved from Ferline seeds from last year. I know they're F1 and won't come true but I'll be intrigued to see what they turn out like.
Right now we're trying to use up the leeks, beetroot, celeriac and Kale which are still growing in the vegetable patch so that I can give it a good digging over, although the soil is currently too wet to trample on.

RHYSDAD

Well, i'm trying Sungold F1, Harbinger and Ailsa Craig but after perusing allotment.org.uk, many on there feel Ailsa Craig are, well, carp. I will sow them anyway but i'm now going to invest in some Shirley as most peeps on there have had good luck with them. Alicante is another i might try.

foreign_correspondent

RHYSDAD wrote: »

Well, i'm trying Sungold F1, Harbinger and Ailsa Craig but after perusing allotment.org.uk, many on there feel Ailsa Craig are, well, carp. I will sow them anyway but i'm now going to invest in some Shirley as most peeps on there have had good luck with them. Alicante is another i might try.

What is their criticism of Ailsa Craig? It is a decent enough tomato, and tastes of tomato, unlike some! Shirley used to be grown commercially, (looks like it still is actually) it looks tidy and is reliable, but I am not overwhelmed with the flavour.

RHYSDAD

foreign_correspondent wrote: »

What is their criticism of Ailsa Craig? It is a decent enough tomato, and tastes of tomato, unlike some! Shirley used to be grown commercially, (looks like it still is actually) it looks tidy and is reliable, but I am not overwhelmed with the flavour.

I think the general consensus was that it performed poorly throughout, from germination to final fruiting. A few tales of just one truss eventually fruiting with small fruits. I am in no position to quantify this as i'm fairly new to tomatoes but if i try some Shirley as well, at least i'll have 4/5 varieties and will be able to see which performs best. Have you grown Ailsa well FC?

Primrose

I've been growing tomatoes for many years and find that often a variety can be condemned simply because it's been a poor summer weather-wise and the plants haven't performed well at a time when other varieties have performed poorly too. So I've learned, in poor summers, to treat any judgement I make as "probationary" and be prepared to give the variety a second chance the next year. I learned this particularly when growing mini cucumbers outdoors. With one variety in a good summer I had so many fruits from just two plants that I was overwhelmed. The next summer, with wet and cold weather, I was lucky to get around three fruits from three plants. Unfortunately we never know what the summer is going to be like in advance so can't sow a specific number of plants to rely on a certain quantity of crops. Last year's famously predicted "Barbeque Summer" was a case in point.

foreign_correspondent

RHYSDAD wrote: »

I think the general consensus was that it performed poorly throughout, from germination to final fruiting. A few tales of just one truss eventually fruiting with small fruits. I am in no position to quantify this as i'm fairly new to tomatoes but if i try some Shirley as well, at least i'll have 4/5 varieties and will be able to see which performs best. Have you grown Ailsa well FC?

My grandad used to grow it when I was a kid - it is an old variety and always did well for him - I do remember is as being a smallish but well flavoured tomato - my gran used to bottle a lot of them too. I may just pop a couple of plants in at the end of the greenhouse this year and see if they are as I remember them.

I agree, it is good to grow a few different varieties - both for experimental reasons, and to hedge your bets a little!

My problem is knowing when to stop I think - this year, I have my favourites tigerella and gardeners delight, alongside golden sunrise, white queen, principe borghese, egyptian, ghost, thai pink egg, gold medal, green zebra, sungold f1, golden cherry f1, berry f1, falcorosso f1 and black cherry...

Have been busy cleaning out the greenhouse this week in readiness...

oldsam

Last season I put in tomatoes that were a bit out the ordinary , They grow to a foot high spread to a foot wide , classed as pot tomatoes needed no staking , over 30 planted out , they were put in around the edges of raised beds. I managed to get cherry sized fruits which kept on producing until the first frosts in late October , Used fresh most them then stored frozen . POT TOMATOES - VILMA.

katskorner

I grow sungold, gardeners delight, Italian plum, red pear, gonna try shirley this year too. LOVE tumbling toms and sell the plants too. Great yield. I also grow a beefsteak variety with a really weird name and I can't remember it but it tastes great even if it looks a little weird. hmm will have to dig it out. not like me to forget.

foreign_correspondent

How are people getting on with their toms so far? Any exciting varieties - Rhysdad, I am trying Ailsa Craig this year, to see if your information is correct, or if they are good, as I remember them! will let you know how they get on!

I also have some more wierd and wonderful varieties to try - am really looking forward to seeing what Berry F1 come out like, they are supposed to be shaped like strawberries apparently!

I have also nabbed some seeds from my uncle who grew some plants last year from seeds a friend brought back from Cyprus - the tomatoes were big, beefsteak sized, but round, and absolutely perfect - they are called Ace - anyone tried them? The rest of the packet is in greek, so I know little about them.