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Help me pick next year's tomatoes!

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  • #1

    Help me pick next year's tomatoes!

    After trying to cram too many plants into my new little greenhouse this year, with the result that they got lots of disease issues due to being one big tomatoey tangle, and half just got shaded out by plants in front, so I have reluctantly given myself a limit of 5 (five) plants in there next year.

    It's really barely worth trying outdoor toms at the allotment, blight is endemic, and I rarely even get a single fruit from outdoor plants before they succumb. So, these 5 plants have to seriously earn their space.

    One is already taken, the ones my Mum grows, really productive, really, really, tasty tiny red cherries (actually the real seeds "not Gardener's Delight") variety.

    So... four plants to pick. I'd like at least one cooking variety, and I'd like multiple colours ideally, but they must be reliable heavy croppers, and they must (does this even need saying?) taste great.

    What would you choose?
    Last edited by hamamelis; 24-09-2016, 09:04 AM.
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  • #2
    Ham ~ a personal favourite that was a good cropper, tasted sweet with thin skins, no disease (though I might just have been lucky..) and a good colour ~ Black Cherry ....

    Not particularly 'black' ~ more of a dark muddy-brown, really.

    I really enjoyed them - many were eaten straight off the vine in the GH (by me of course, my reward for growing them...!!!)

    Just had to snip 'em off carefully, as being thin skinned they were prone to 'squishing' in between my fingers...!
    ~~~ Gardening is medicine that does not need
    a prescription ... And with no limit on dosage.
    - Author Unknown ~~~

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    • #3
      For a moment then, I thought you were recommending a variety called "Ham". I know there are a lot of strange tomato names out there, but that really would be odd!

      *Ahem*

      Black Cherry is one that has a lot of positive reviews in the 2016 tomato thread... I shall add it to The Short List.
      My spiffy new lottie blog

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      • #4
        Another extremly reliable cropper with a great taste is Sungold. It is an orange coloured cherry type.
        Amish Mayberry is a medium sized pink tomsto with good flavour.
        kenilworth King George is one I grew this year for the first time and it was very flavoursome. It is a red one.
        Good luck with your choices, its so fifficult.
        There sre so many good tasting tomatoes out there and of course, taste is different for everyone.

        And when your back stops aching,
        And your hands begin to harden.
        You will find yourself a partner,
        In the glory of the garden.

        Rudyard Kipling.sigpic

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        • #5
          I think Mum grew Sungold for a bit- aren't they an f1 though? I prefer to save my own seed. So I tend to avoid f1s, though I'll admit it was nice if it's the one I'm thinking of.

          Never heard of Amish Mayberry or Kenilworth King George, I shall have to look 'em up!





          This is going to end with me getting another greenhouse isn't it...
          My spiffy new lottie blog

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          • #6
            Scarlet's Black Icicle is doing well for me this year again.



            Easy to pick, great for slicing into sarnies, good flavour and should be called Brown Icicle.
            Attached Files

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            • #7
              If I could only have 5 plants I'd be devastated.

              1 Sungold
              2 Shirley
              3 Ferline (large fruit)
              4 Garden Pearl
              5 another Shirley because I love them

              On your allotment I would try Ferline and Mountain Magic, both of which are blight resistant. I grew both for the first time this year and I'm particularly impressed with Ferline, which I am choosing in preference to Sungold (!) as a salad tomato. Mountain Magic are nothing special taste wise but do produce large numbers of bigger than cherry sized fruit.
              You could also try balconi red and balconi yellow if you have a spare windowsill - they are small plants and produce a lot of fruit which has a reasonable flavour.

              Sadly all of my suggestions except Garden Pearl are F1s, sorry.
              A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP. - Leonard Nimoy

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              • #8
                Toms

                For flavour and productivity I always return to brandywine (red, pink or black) and Super Marmande. Both are large, flavourful and sweet, and can produce several pounds of fruit per plant. I slow roast the extras with garlic when I have a glut, to make a superb pasta sauce that freezes well.

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                • #9
                  I know 5 plants isn't much, but it's a lot better than the none I was managing there before! I went three years without a single homegrown tomato, except green ones picked as the plant was dying of blight.

                  I am going to try one or two at home as well, the back yard has, so far, not had any blight issues (even though the plot isn't very far away), but I'm a lodger, so there's a limit to what I can get away with planting there.

                  I shall maybe give some blight resistant varieties a go, some years are worse than others; Ferline does sound interesting! I do love homegrown toms, and any chance of extra plants is always welcome!
                  My spiffy new lottie blog

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                  • #10
                    I dis try something sold as Super Marmande this year, and was unimpressed; I'm starting to suspect they were mislabelled though, the fruit (of which there were 4 total) were small, round, and tasted of not much. They both looked and tasted like supermarket cheapo ones.
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                    • #11
                      In addition to the six plants in the greenhouse, you could try the blight resistant varieties Mountain Magic and Crimson Crush at the allotment.

                      I had (almost) given up growing tomatoes at the allotment (by which I mean I kept trying but never getting any fruit) however, this year I grew these two varieties from seed and planted them with a range of other varieties.

                      Neither have any signs of blight although all the others have succumbed and they are starting to ripen. Mountain Magic is particularly bountiful, its about the same size as Gardener's Delight and tastes reasonable.

                      I grow different varieties at home but the ones at the allotment are for bulk and sauces.

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                      • #12
                        These are my Ferline (right), grown outside:



                        I've never managed to grow a tomato larger than Shirley outside before, and there are quite a lot more than shown here from 3 plants.
                        Attached Files
                        Last edited by Penellype; 24-09-2016, 01:27 PM.
                        A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP. - Leonard Nimoy

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                        • #13
                          Another vote for Mountain Magic outside. I planted 12 plant of 6 various varieties at the allotment and all but the MM succumbed. I prefer these to Ferline as I can't cope with sprawling bush tomatoes, a nice tidy cordon for me!
                          The taste is ok, but I reckon some reasonable tomatoes is better than no great tasting ones. I'm going to cook them for sauces.
                          I like Gardener's Delight and Sungold too. Tossing up between Black Cherry and Rosella. Essex Wonder is a biggish tomato which isn't F1 if you want to seed save.

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                          • #14
                            Ferline a bush? Mine were grown as cordons.
                            A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP. - Leonard Nimoy

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                            • #15
                              Crimson Crush F2 grow outside on the allotment still producing fruit and still blight free Alans Allotment: F2 Crimson Crush Harvested.

                              I have grown 22 different varieties outside in flower buckets and so far this year they are still holding their own and blight free.

                              Next year I'm having a bash at Rapunzel see Alans Allotment: Ray Rascal & Rapunzel
                              Last edited by Cadalot; 24-09-2016, 04:00 PM.
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                              . .......Man Vs Slug
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